Michael Jackson
At the White House in 1984
Born Michael Joseph Jackson
August 29, 1958(1958-08-29)
Gary, Indiana, U.S.
Died June 25, 2009 (aged 50)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, choreographer, businessman
Years active 1964–2009
Net worth $236 million (2007)[1]
Spouse(s) Lisa Marie Presley (1994–1996)
Debbie Rowe (1996–1999)
Children Prince Michael Jackson I (b. 1997)
Paris Michael Katherine Jackson (b. 1998)
Prince Michael Jackson II (b. 2002)
Parents Joseph Jackson (father)
Katherine Jackson (mother)
Website
www.michaeljackson.com
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009), dubbed the King of Pop, was an American musician and entertainer. One of the most commercially successful recording artists of all time, his unique contributions to music and dance, along with a highly publicized personal life, made him a central part of popular culture around the world for four decades.
A double-inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, his other achievements feature multiple Guinness World Records—including the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles, and the sale of over 750 million records. He was also a notable philanthropist, donating millions of dollars to the 39 charities he supported, and raising more through his own Heal the World Foundation.
The seventh child of the Jackson family, he made his debut in 1964 as a member of The Jackson 5, beginning a solo career in 1971. His 1982 album Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time, with four others—Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995)—among the best selling. He popularized several physically complicated dance moves, such as the robot and the moonwalk, now iconic. His inventive music videos, including Thriller, "Beat It" and "Billie Jean", helped to transform the music video into an art form in addition to its original function as a promotional tool. He was the first African American artist to amass a strong crossover following on MTV, and his continually ground-breaking videos, such as "Black or White" and "Scream", ensured his popularity well into the 1990s.
Jackson's personal life generated significant controversy. His changing appearance was noticed from the early 1980s, his skin appearing paler and his facial features becoming almost androgynous.[2] He was accused in 1993 of child sexual abuse, and though no charges were brought, his health suffered when he started using painkillers to cope with the stress. He married twice, first in 1994 and again in 1996, and brought up three children, one of them born to a surrogate mother, actions that triggered more speculation about his life. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of different child molestation allegations, which provoked a further decline in his health. Jackson died at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009, in Los Angeles, after suffering from cardiac arrest. His memorial service was broadcast live around the world.
Life and career
1958–75: Early life, The Jackson 5, and Motown solo years
Jackson was born the seventh of nine children on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, an industrial suburb of Chicago, to an African American family. His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and his father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B band called The Falcons. Jackson had three sisters, Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet, and five brothers, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy.[3]
Jackson had a difficult relationship with his father. He stated that he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant rehearsals, whippings, and name-calling, though he credited his father's discipline for his success.[4] In one altercation recalled by Marlon, Joseph held Michael upside down by one leg and "pummeled him over and over again with his hand, hitting him on his back and buttocks".[5] Joseph would also trip or push the boys into walls. One night while Jackson was asleep, Joseph climbed into his room through the bedroom window, wearing a fright mask and screaming. He said he wanted to teach the children not to leave the window open when they went to sleep. For years afterward, Jackson said he suffered nightmares about being kidnapped from his room.[5] Joseph acknowledged in 2003 that he had whipped Jackson as a child.[6]
Jackson first spoke openly about his childhood abuse in an interview with Oprah Winfrey broadcast on February 10, 1993. He said that he had often cried from loneliness and would sometimes throw up when he saw his father. In an interview with Martin Bashir, aired on February 3, 2003 as Living with Michael Jackson, he covered his face with his hands and began crying when talking about his childhood abuse. He recalled that Joseph sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as he and his siblings rehearsed, and that "if you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you".[7][8]
He showed talent early in his life, performing in front of classmates during a Christmas recital at the age of five. In 1964, he and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed by brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—as backup musicians playing congas and tambourine. Jackson later began performing backup vocals and dancing; at the age of eight, he and Jermaine assumed lead vocals, and the group's name was changed to The Jackson 5.[3] The band toured the Midwest extensively from 1966 to 1968, frequently performing at a string of black clubs known as the "chitlin' circuit", where they often opened stripteases and other adult acts. In 1966, they won a major local talent show with renditions of Motown hits and James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)", led by Michael.[9]
The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "Big Boy", for the local record label Steeltown in 1967, and signed with Motown Records in 1968.[3] Rolling Stone magazine later described the young Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming musical gifts," writing that he "quickly emerged as the main draw and lead singer."[10] The group set a chart record when its first four singles ("I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save," and "I'll Be There") peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.[3] During The Jackson 5's early years, Motown's public relations team claimed that Jackson was nine years old, two years younger than he was, to make him appear cuter and more accessible.[11]
Starting in 1972, Jackson released a total of four solo studio albums with Motown, among them Got to Be There and Ben, released as part of the Jackson 5 franchise, and producing successful singles such as "Got to Be There", "Ben," and a remake of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin". The group's sales began declining in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's strict refusal to allow them creative control or input. Although they scored several top 40 hits, including the top 5 disco single "Dancing Machine" and the top 20 hit "I Am Love", the Jackson 5 left Motown in 1975.[12]
1975–81: Move to Epic, The Jacksons, and Off the Wall
The Jackson 5 signed a new contract with CBS Records in June 1975, joining the Philadelphia International Records division, later Epic Records,[12] and renaming themselves The Jacksons.[13] They continued to tour internationally, releasing six more albums between 1976 and 1984, during which Jackson was the lead songwriter, writing hits such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", "This Place Hotel," and "Can You Feel It".[9]
In 1978, he starred as the scarecrow in the musical, The Wiz,[14] and it was here that he teamed up with Quincy Jones, who was arranging the film's musical score. Jones agreed to produce Jackson's next solo album, Off the Wall.[15] In 1979, Jackson broke his nose during a complex dance routine. His subsequent rhinoplasty was not a complete success; he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his career. He was referred to Dr. Steven Hoefflin, who performed Jackson's second rhinoplasty and subsequent operations.[16]
Jones and Jackson produced Off the Wall together. Songwriters included Jackson, Heatwave's Rod Temperton, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney. Released in 1979, it was the first album to generate four U.S. top 10 hits, including the chart-topping singles "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You".[17] It reached number three on the Billboard 200 and eventually sold over 20 million copies worldwide.[18] In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the American Music Awards for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B Album, Favorite Male Soul/R&B Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". That year, he also won Billboard Music Awards for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, also for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".[17] Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release.[19] In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.[20]
1982–83: Thriller and the moonwalk
Main articles: Thriller (album), Thriller (song), and Thriller (music video)
In 1982, Jackson contributed the song "Someone In the Dark" to the storybook for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; the record won a Grammy for Best Album for Children.[21] That same year Jackson issued his second Epic album, Thriller, which became the most commercially successful album of all time. The album remained in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for 80 consecutive weeks and 37 of those weeks at the peak position. It was the first album to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "Billie Jean", "Beat It," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'."[22] Thriller was certified for 28 million shipments by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond status in the United States.[23] It is often cited as the best-selling album of all time, with worldwide sales between 47 million and 109 million copies.[24]
Jackson's attorney John Branca noted that Jackson had the highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point: approximately $2 for every album sold. He was also making record-breaking profits from sales of CDs and The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, a documentary produced by Jackson and John Landis. Funded by MTV, the documentary sold over 350,000 copies in a few months. The era saw the arrival of novelties like dolls modeled after Michael Jackson, which appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12.[25] Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that, "Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie—and started selling like a household staple."[26]
MichaelJacksonMoonwalk.ogg
Play video
Jackson debuts the moonwalk during his performance on Motown 25
Time described Jackson's influence at that point as "Star of records, radio, rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and color too".[25] The New York Times wrote that, "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else".[27] On March 25, 1983, he performed live on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special, both with The Jackson 5 and on his own singing "Billie Jean". Debuting his signature dance move, the moonwalk, his performances during the event were seen by 47 million viewers, and drew comparisons to Elvis Presley's and the The Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.[28] The New York Times said, "The moonwalk that he made famous is an apt metaphor for his dance style. How does he do it? As a technician, he is a great illusionist, a genuine mime. His ability to keep one leg straight as he glides while the other bends and seems to walk requires perfect timing."[29]
1984–85: Scalp burns, We Are The World, and the Beatles catalog
Jackson suffered a setback on January 27, 1984, which was to have repercussions for the rest of his life. While filming a Pepsi Cola commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, he suffered second degree burns to his scalp after pyrotechnics accidentally set his hair on fire. Happening in front of a full house of fans during a simulated concert, the incident elicited an outpouring of sympathy. Jackson had his third rhinoplasty shortly afterwards,[16] and began treatment to hide the scars on his scalp. It was during this period, friends say, that he began using the painkillers to which he later became addicted. Pepsi settled out of court, and Jackson donated his $1.5 million settlement to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, CA, which now has a "Michael Jackson Burn Center".[30]
Jackson at the White House South Portico with President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan, 1984
On May 14, 1984, he was invited to the White House to receive an award from President Ronald Reagan for his support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drug abuse.[31] Jackson won eight awards during the Grammys that year. Unlike later albums, Thriller did not have an official tour to promote it, but the 1984 Victory Tour, headlined by The Jacksons, showcased much of Jackson's new solo material to more than two million Americans. He donated his $5 million share from the Victory Tour to charity.[32] He also co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World" in 1985 with Lionel Richie, which was released worldwide to aid the poor in the U.S. and Africa. It became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with nearly 20 million copies sold and millions of dollars donated to famine relief.[33]
While working with Paul McCartney on the two hit singles "The Girl Is Mine" (1982) and "Say Say Say" (1983), the pair became friendly. McCartney told Jackson about the large amount of money he earned from owning music catalogs; he was earning approximately $40 million a year from other people's songs. Jackson subsequently began buying, selling, and distributing publishing rights to music from numerous artists. In 1985, ATV Music, a music publishing company owning thousands of music copyrights, including the Northern Songs catalogue that contained the majority of the Lennon-McCartney compositions recorded by the Beatles, was put up for sale.[34][35] Jackson took an immediate interest in the catalog, but was warned he would face strong competition. Excited, he skipped around saying, "I don't care. I want those songs. Get me those songs Branca [his attorney]". Branca contacted McCartney's attorney, who clarified that his client was not interested in bidding: "It's too pricey". After Jackson had started negotiations, McCartney changed his mind and tried to persuade Yoko Ono to join him in a joint bid, but she declined, so he pulled out. Jackson eventually beat the rest of the competition in negotiations that lasted 10 months, purchasing the catalog for $47.5 million.[34][36]
1986–87: Appearance, tabloids, Bad, autobiography, and films
See also: Michael Jackson's health and appearance
Jackson's skin had been a medium-brown color for the entire duration of his youth, but starting in the early 1980s, it gradually grew paler. The change gained widespread media coverage, including rumors that he was bleaching his skin.[37] According to J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography, in 1986, he was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus; the vitiligo partially lightened his skin, and the lupus was in remission; both illnesses made him sensitive to sunlight. The treatments he used for his condition further lightened his skin tone, and, with the application of pancake makeup to even out blotches, he could appear very pale.[38] The structure of his face changed too: several surgeons speculated that he had undergone multiple nasal surgeries, a forehead lift, thinned lips, and cheekbone surgery.[39]
He lost weight in the early 1980s because of a change in diet and a desire for "a dancer's body."[40] Witnesses reported that he was often dizzy and speculated that he was suffering from anorexia nervosa; periods of weight loss would become a recurring problem later in life.[41] Some medical professionals have said he was suffering from body dysmorphic disorder, a psychological condition whereby the sufferer dislikes his appearance and has no concept of how he is viewed by others.[38] He had a fourth rhinoplasty in 1986, and had a cleft put in his chin.[16][42]
Jackson two years after he was diagnosed with vitiligo, here in the early stages of the disease
He became the subject of increasingly sensational reports. In 1986, The National Enquirer published a series of photographs of him lying in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, claiming that he slept in the chamber to slow the aging process.[43] When Jackson bought a chimpanzee called Bubbles from a laboratory, it was reported as an example of increasing detachment from reality.[44] In 2003, the singer claimed that Bubbles had been trained to use the toilet and to clean his own bedroom.[43] Later, it was reported that he had offered $1 million for the bones of Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man."[45] The reports became embedded in the public consciousness, inspiring the nickname "Wacko Jacko." Despite Jackson's insistence that the reports were completely invented, a biographer said in 2004 that Jackson's publicists had leaked the rumors to the press for promotional reasons.[46] Jackson remarked to a reporter:
Why not just tell people I'm an alien from Mars. Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They'll believe anything you say, because you're a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, "I'm an alien from Mars and I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight," people would say, "Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He's cracked up. You can't believe a damn word that comes out of his mouth."[47]
Jackson wore a gold-plated military style jacket with belt in the Bad era.
Jackson starred in the Francis Ford Coppola-directed 3-D film Captain EO. It was the most expensive film produced on a per-minute basis at the time, and was later hosted in Disney theme parks. Disneyland featured the film in its Tomorrowland area for nearly 11 years, while Walt Disney World screened the film in its Epcot theme park from 1986 to 1994.[48] With the industry expecting another major hit, Jackson's first album in five years, Bad (1987), was highly anticipated.[49] It had lower sales than Thriller, but was still a substantial commercial success, spawning seven hit singles in the U.S., five of which ("I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana") reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, more than any other album.[50] As of 2008, the album had sold 30 million copies worldwide.[51]
In 1987, Jackson disassociated himself from the Jehovah's Witnesses, in response to their disapproval of the Thriller video.[52] The Bad World Tour began on September 12 that year, finishing on January 14, 1989.[53] In Japan alone, the tour had 14 sellouts and drew 570,000 people, nearly tripling the previous record of 200,000 in a single tour.[54] He broke a Guinness World Record when 504,000 people attended seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium. He performed a total of 123 concerts to an audience of 4.4 million people, and gained a further Guinness World Record when the tour grossed him $125 million. During the trip he invited underprivileged children to watch for free, and gave donations to hospitals, orphanages, and other charities.[53]
1988–90: Autobiography, changing appearance, and Neverland
In 1988, Jackson released his first autobiography, Moon Walk, which took four years to complete and sold 200,000 copies.[55] Jackson wrote about his childhood, The Jackson 5, and the abuse he had suffered.[56] He also spoke of his plastic surgery, saying he had had two rhinoplastic surgeries and the surgical creation of a cleft in his chin.[40] He attributed much of the change in the structure of his face to puberty, weight loss, a strict vegetarian diet, a change in hair style, and stage lighting.[40] Moon Walk reached the top position on The New York Times best sellers' list.[57] The musician then released a film called Moonwalker, which featured live footage and music videos that starred Jackson and Joe Pesci. Moonwalker debuted atop the Billboard Top Music Video Cassette chart, staying there for 22 weeks. It was eventually knocked off the top spot by Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues.[58]
In March 1988, Jackson purchased land near Santa Ynez, California to build Neverland Ranch at a cost of $17 million. He installed Ferris wheels, a menagerie, and a movie theater on the 2,700-acre (11 km2) property. A security staff of 40 patrolled the grounds. In 2003, it was valued at approximately $100 million.[10][59] In 1989, his annual earnings from album sales, endorsements, and concerts was estimated at $125 million for that year alone.[60] Shortly afterwards, he became the first Westerner to appear in a television ad in the Soviet Union.[58]
In 1989, after his brothers recorded and released the smash hit album 2300 Jackson Street without him, Jackson felt the urge to return to a band setting. He briefly joined BOSTON: unfortunately contractual issues and his inability to adjust to BOSTON bandleader Tom Scholz's personal quirks caused Jackson to leave the band after just a few months to return to a solo career.
His success resulted in his being dubbed the "King of Pop", a nickname conceived by Scholz. The honorific was popularized by Elizabeth Taylor when she presented him with an "Artist of the Decade" award in 1989, proclaiming him "the true king of pop, rock and soul."[61] President George H. W. Bush presented him with The White House's special "Artist of the Decade."[62] From 1985 to 1990, he donated $500,000 to the United Negro College Fund, and all of the profits from his single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity.[63][64] Jackson's live rendition of "You Were There" at Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th birthday celebration received an Emmy nomination.[58]
1991–93: Dangerous, Heal The World Foundation, and Super Bowl XXVII
In March 1991, Jackson renewed his contract with Sony for $65 million, a record-breaking deal at the time, displacing Neil Diamond's renewal contract with Columbia Records.[59] Jackson released his eighth album Dangerous in 1991. As of 2008, Dangerous had shipped seven million copies in the U.S. and had sold 32 million copies worldwide; it is the most successful new jack swing album of all time.[65][66][67] In the United States, the album's first single "Black or White" was its biggest hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and remaining there for seven weeks, with similar chart performances worldwide.[68] The album's second single "Remember the Time" spent eight weeks in the top five in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.[69] In 1993, Jackson performed the song at the Soul Train Awards in a chair, saying he had suffered an injury in rehearsals.[70] In the UK and other parts of Europe, "Heal the World" was the biggest hit from the album; it sold 450,000 copies in the UK and spent five weeks at number two in 1992.[69]
Jackson founded the "Heal the World Foundation" in 1992. The charity organization brought underprivileged children to Jackson's ranch to enjoy theme park rides that Jackson had built on the property. The foundation also sent millions of dollars around the globe to help children threatened by war and disease. The Dangerous World Tour began on June 27, 1992, and finished on November 11, 1993. Jackson performed to 3.5 million people in 67 concerts. All profits from the concerts went to the "Heal the World Foundation", raising millions of dollars in relief.[69][71] He sold the broadcast rights to his Dangerous world tour to HBO for $20 million, a record-breaking deal that still stands.[72] Following the illness and death of Ryan White, Jackson helped draw public attention to HIV/AIDS, something that was still controversial at the time. He publicly pleaded with the Clinton Administration at Bill Clinton's Inaugural Gala to give more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research.[73][74]
In a high-profile visit to Africa, Jackson visited several countries, among them Gabon and Egypt.[75] His first stop to Gabon was greeted with a sizable reception of more than 100,000 people in "spiritual bedlam", some of them carrying signs that read, "Welcome Home Michael".[75] In his trip to the Ivory Coast, Jackson was crowned "King Sani" by a tribal chief.[75] He then thanked the dignitaries in French and English, signed official documents formalizing his kingship and sat on a golden throne while presiding over ceremonial dances.[75]
One of Jackson's most acclaimed performances came during the halftime show at Super Bowl XXVII. As the performances began, Jackson was catapulted onto the stage as fireworks went off behind him. As he landed on the canvass, he maintained a motionless "clenched fist, standing statue stance", dressed in a gold and black military outfit and sunglasses; he remained completely motionless for several minutes while the crowd cheered. He then slowly removed his sunglasses, threw them away and began to sing and dance. His routine included four songs: "Jam", "Billie Jean", "Black or White" and "Heal the World". It was the first Super Bowl where the audience figures increased during the half-time show, and was viewed by 135 million Americans alone; Jackson's Dangerous album rose 90 places up the album chart.[37]
Jackson was given the "Living Legend Award" at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. "Black or White" was Grammy nominated for best vocal performance. "Jam" gained two nominations: Best R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.[69]
1993: First child sexual abuse allegations
Main article: 1993 child sexual abuse accusations against Michael Jackson
Jackson gave a 90-minute interview to Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, his second television interview since 1979. He grimaced when speaking of his childhood abuse at the hands of his father; he believed he had missed out on much of his childhood years, admitting that he often cried from loneliness. He denied tabloid rumors that he had bought the bones of the Elephant Man, slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, or bleached his skin, stating for the first time that he had vitiligo. The interview was watched by an American audience of 90 million, becoming the fourth most-viewed non-sport program in U.S. history. It also increased awareness of vitiligo, a relatively unknown condition. Dangerous re-entered the album chart in the top 10, more than a year after its original release.[37][8][69]
In the summer of 1993, Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse by a 13-year-old boy named Jordan Chandler and his father, Evan Chandler, a dentist.[76] A year after Jackson met the boy, under the influence of sodium amytal, a controversial sedative, Jordan told his father that Jackson had touched his penis.[77] The father was tape-recorded discussing his intention to pursue charges, where he said, "If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever ... Michael's career will be over".[78] He and Jackson engaged in unsuccessful negotiations to reach a financial settlement; the negotiations were initiated by Chandler but Jackson did make several counter offers. Jordan told a psychiatrist and later police that he and Jackson had engaged in acts of kissing, masturbation and oral sex, as well as giving a detailed description of what he alleged were the singer's genitals.[79]
An official investigation began, with Jordan's mother adamant that there was no wrongdoing on Jackson's part. Neverland Ranch was searched; and multiple children and family members denied that Jackson was a pedophile,[79] though his image took a further hit when his older sister, La Toya, accused him of being a pedophile, a statement she later retracted.[80] Jackson agreed to a 25-minute strip search, conducted by police and doctors at his ranch, required to see if a description provided by Jordan of Jackson's genitals was accurate. Doctors concluded there were strong similarities, but it was not a definitive match.[80] His friends said he never recovered from the humiliation. He described the search in an emotional public statement, and proclaimed his innocence.[76]
He began taking painkillers and sedatives, including Valium, Ativan, and Xanax, in part to ease chronic pain resulting from an accident with stage rigging during the Dangerous Tour, and for joint inflammation associated with the lupus, but also to ease the panic attacks stemming from the allegations against him. By the fall of 1993, he was addicted.[81] His health deteriorated to such an extent that he canceled the remainder of the Dangerous World Tour and went into rehab in London for a few months, dramatically disappearing from public view with the help of Elizabeth Taylor and Elton John.[82] The stress of the allegations also caused him to stop eating, and he lost a significant amount of weight.[83] With his health in decline, his friends and legal advisers took over his defense and finances. They called on him to settle the child-abuse allegations out of court, believing he could not endure a lengthy trial.[82][83]
The tabloids painted him in an extremely unfavorable light.[84] Complaints about them included bias against Jackson, paying for stories about alleged criminal activity, and buying leaked confidential material from the police investigation.[85] On January 1, 1994, Jackson settled with the Chandlers out of court for $22 million, after which Jordan stopped co-operating regarding criminal proceedings. Jackson was never charged, and the state closed its criminal investigation, citing lack of evidence.[86]
1994: First marriage
Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley on May 26, 1994.
In May 1994, Jackson married singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley. They had first met in 1975 during one of Jackson's family engagements at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and were reconnected through a mutual friend in early 1993.[84] They stayed in contact every day over the telephone. As child molestation accusations became public, Jackson became dependent on Lisa Marie for emotional support; she was concerned about his faltering health and addiction to drugs.[81] Lisa Marie explained, "I believed he didn't do anything wrong and that he was wrongly accused and yes I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it."[87] In a phone call he made to her, she described him as high, incoherent and delusional.[81] Shortly afterwards, she tried to persuade Jackson to settle the allegations out of court and go into rehabilitation to recover—he subsequently did both.[81] Jackson proposed to Lisa Marie over the telephone towards the fall of 1993, saying, "If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?".[81] Presley and Jackson married in the Dominican Republic in secrecy; the parties denied they had been married for nearly two months.[88] The marriage was, in her words, "a married couple's life ... that was sexually active".[89] At the time, the tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a ploy to prop up Jackson's public image in light of prior sexual abuse allegations.[88] Jackson and Presley divorced less than two years later, remaining friendly.[90]
1995–97: HIStory
In 1995, Jackson merged his ATV Music catalog with Sony's publishing division creating Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Jackson retained half-ownership of the company, earned $95 million upfront as well as the rights to even more songs.[35][91] He then released the double album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. The first disc, HIStory Begins, was a 15-track greatest hits album, and was later reissued as Greatest Hits – HIStory Vol. I in 2001, while the second disc, HIStory Continues, contained 15 new songs. The album debuted at number one on the charts and has been certified for seven million shipments in the US.[92] It is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time, with 20 million copies (40 million units) sold worldwide.[68][93] HIStory received a Grammy nomination for best album.[94]
One of many identical statues, positioned throughout Europe to promote HIStory. The statue illustrates the singer's flamboyant clothing and hair style, influenced by military imagery.
The first single released from the album was the double A-side "Scream/Childhood". "Scream" was a duet, performed with Jackson's youngest sister Janet. The single had the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number five, and received a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".[94] "You Are Not Alone" was the second single released from HIStory; it holds the Guinness World Record for the first song ever to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[60] It was seen as a major artistic and commercial success, receiving a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance".[94] In late 1995, Jackson was rushed to a hospital after collapsing during rehearsals for a televised performance; the incident was caused by a stress related panic attack.[95] "Earth Song" was the third single released from HIStory, and topped the UK singles chart for six weeks over Christmas 1995; it sold a million copies, making it Jackson's most successful single in the UK.[94] The HIStory World Tour began on September 7, 1996, and finished on October 15, 1997. Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans. The show, which visited five continents and 35 countries, became Jackson's most successful in terms of audience figures.[53]
1996–99: Second marriage and fatherhood
See also: Children of Michael Jackson
During the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson married dermatology nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe on November 14, 1996 in an impromptu ceremony close to his Sydney hotel room. She bore him two children: a son, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (whose name has since been changed to Prince Michael Jackson), and a daughter, Paris Katherine Michael Jackson.[90][96] Rowe had converted to Judaism at the time of her first marriage (to Richard Edelman in 1982) [1] [2] and therefore her two children with Michael Jackson are considered Jewish under Jewish law. Rowe herself regards her children as half-Jewish.[3] The pair first met in the mid-1980s, when Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo. She spent many years treating his illness as well as providing emotional support. They built a strong friendship, then became romantically involved.[97] Originally there were no plans to marry, but following Rowe's first pregnancy, Jackson's mother intervened and persuaded them to do so.[98] Jackson later claimed that he was in such a rush to leave the hospital with daughter Paris in 1998 that he cut the cord and left with the baby covered in blood, taking the placenta with him in his haste.[99] The couple divorced in 1999, and remained friends, with Rowe giving full custody of the children to Jackson.[100]
In 1997, Jackson released Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which contained remixes of hit singles from HIStory and five new songs. Worldwide sales stand at 6 million copies as of 2007, making it the best selling remix album ever released. It reached number one in the UK, as did the title track.[101][102] In the US, the album was certified platinum, but only reached number 24.[65][94] Forbes placed his annual income at $35 million in 1996 and $20 million in 1997.[59]
Throughout June 1999, Jackson was involved in a number of charitable events. He joined Luciano Pavarotti for a benefit concert in Modena, Italy. The show was in support of the non-profit organization War Child, and raised a million dollars for the refugees of Kosovo, as well as additional funds for the children of Guatemala.[103] Later that month, Jackson organized a set of "Michael Jackson & Friends" benefit concerts in Germany and Korea. Other artists involved included Slash, The Scorpions, Boyz II Men, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, A. R. Rahman, Prabhu Deva Sundaram, Shobana Chandrakumar, Andrea Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti. The proceeds went to the "Nelson Mandela Children's Fund", the Red Cross and UNESCO.[104]
2000–03: Label dispute, Invincible, United We Stand: What More Can I Give, and third child
In 2000, Jackson was listed in the book of Guinness World Records for his support of 39 charities, more than any other entertainer or personality.[105] At the time, Jackson was waiting for the licenses to the masters of his albums to revert to him; this allowed him to promote his old material how he liked and prevented Sony from getting a cut of the profit. Jackson expected this to occur early in the new millennium; however, due to various clauses in the contract, this revert date is still many years away. Jackson began an investigation, and it emerged that the attorney who represented the singer in the deal was also representing Sony, creating a conflict of interest.[102] Jackson was also concerned about another conflict of interest. For a number of years, Sony had been pushing to buy all of Jackson's share in their music catalog venture. If Jackson's career or financial situation were to deteriorate, he would have to sell his catalog. Thus, Sony had something to gain from Jackson's career failing.[106] Jackson was able to use these conflicts as leverage to exit his contract early.[102] Just before the release of Invincible, Jackson informed the head of Sony Music Entertainment, Tommy Mottola, that he was leaving Sony.[102] As a result, all singles releases, video shootings and promotions concerning the Invincible album were canceled. Jackson made allegations in July 2002 that Mottola was a "devil" and a "racist" who did not support his African-American artists, using them merely for his own personal gain.[102] He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger".[107] Sony disputed claims that they had failed to promote Invincible with sufficient energy, maintaining that Jackson refused to tour in the US.[108]
Six years after his last studio album and after spending much of the late 1990s out of the public eye, Jackson released Invincible in October 2001 to much anticipation. To help promote the album, a special 30th Anniversary celebration at Madison Square Garden occurred in September 2001 to mark the singer's 30th year as a solo artist. Jackson appeared onstage alongside his brothers for the first time since 1984.[109] The show also featured performances by Mýa, Usher, Whitney Houston, 'N Sync, and Slash, among other artists.[24] In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Jackson helped organize the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The concert was aired on October 21, 2001, and included performances from dozens of major artists, including Jackson, who performed his song "What More Can I Give" as the finale.[106] Invincible was a commercial success, debuting atop the charts in 13 countries and going on to sell approximately 10 million copies worldwide. It received double-platinum certification in the US.[65][68][106] However, the sales for Invincible were notably low compared to his previous releases, due in part to a diminishing pop music industry, the lack of promotion, no supporting world tour and the label dispute.[106] The album spawned three singles, "You Rock My World", "Cry" and "Butterflies", the latter without a music video.
Jackson's third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed "Blanket") was born in 2002.[110] The mother's identity was never released by Jackson, but he has said the child was the result of artificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his own sperm cells.[100] In November of that year, Jackson brought his newborn son onto the balcony of his room at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin, as fans stood below. Holding him in his right arm, with a cloth loosely draped over the baby's face, Jackson briefly extended the baby over the railing of the balcony, four stories above ground level, causing widespread criticism in the media. Jackson later apologized for the incident, calling it "a terrible mistake".[111] Sony released a compilation of Jackson's hits on CD and DVD. In the US, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA; in the UK it was certified for shipments of at least 1.2 million units.[65][112]
2003–05: Second child sexual abuse allegations
Further information: Living with Michael Jackson and People v. Jackson
Fans show their support for Jackson after he is accused of child molestation in 2003.
In a series of interviews with Martin Bashir, broadcast in 2003 as Living with Michael Jackson, Jackson was seen holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements with Gavin Arvizo, 13, who later accused him of sexual abuse.[113] Shortly after the documentary aired, Jackson was charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in relation to Arvizo.[113]
Jackson denied the allegations, saying the sleepovers were not sexual in nature. Elizabeth Taylor defended him, saying she had been there when they were in the bed. "There was nothing abnormal about it," she told Larry King. "There was no touchy-feely going on. We laughed like children and we watched a lot of Walt Disney. There was nothing odd about it."[114] During the investigation, Jackson was examined by mental health professional Dr. Stan Katz; the doctor spent several hours with the accuser too. Katz said Jackson was a regressed 10-year-old, and did not fit the profile of a pedophile.[115]
During the two years between the charges and the trial, Jackson reportedly became dependent on pethidine (Demerol), and lost a lot of weight. The People v. Jackson began on January 31, 2005, in Santa Maria, California, and lasted five months, until the end of May. Jackson was acquitted on all counts.[116][117][118] After the trial, he relocated to the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain, as a guest of Sheikh Abdullah.[119]
2006–09: Final years
Michael Jackson with his children in Disneyland Paris, 2006
Reports of financial problems for Jackson became frequent in 2006 after the closure of the main house on the Neverland Ranch as a cost-cutting measure.[120] One prominent financial issue concerned a $270 million loan secured against his music publishing holdings. After delayed repayments on the loan, a refinancing package shifted the loans from Bank of America to debt specialists Fortress Investments. A new package proposed by Sony would have had Jackson borrow an additional $300 million and reduce the interest rate payable on the loan, while giving Sony the future option to buy half of Jackson's stake in their jointly owned publishing company (leaving Jackson with a 25% stake).[91] Jackson agreed to a Sony-backed refinancing deal, although details were not made public.[121] Despite these loans, according to Forbes, Jackson was still making as much as $75 million a year from his publishing partnership with Sony alone.[122]
Jackson was awarded the Diamond Award on November 15, 2006, for selling over 100 million albums, at the World Music Awards.[68] Following the death of James Brown, Jackson returned to the U.S. to pay tribute during Brown's public funeral on December 30, 2006.[123] In late 2006, he agreed to share joint custody of his first two children with ex-wife Debbie Rowe.[124] Jackson and Sony bought Famous Music LLC from Viacom in 2007. This deal gave him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira and Beck, among others.[125]
I've been in the entertainment industry since I was six-years-old... As Charles Dickens says, "It's been the best of times, the worst of times." But I would not change my career... While some have made deliberate attempts to hurt me, I take it in stride because I have a loving family, a strong faith and wonderful friends and fans who have, and continue, to support me.[126]
—Michael Jackson
The 25th anniversary of Thriller was marked by the release of Thriller 25, which added the previously unreleased song "For All Time" and re-mixes. Two remixes were released as singles to moderate success: "The Girl Is Mine 2008" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008". Thriller 25 sold well as a re-issue, peaking at number one in eight countries and Europe.[127][128][129] In 12 weeks Thriller 25 sold over three million copies worldwide.[130] To celebrate Jackson's 50th birthday, Sony BMG released a series of compilation albums called King of Pop.[131][132] King of Pop did reach the top 10 in most countries where it was issued, and also sold well as an import in other countries.[133][134]
Fortress Investments threatened to foreclose on Neverland Ranch, which Jackson used as collateral for loans running into many tens of millions of dollars. However, Fortress opted to sell Jackson's debts to Colony Capital LLC. In November, Jackson transferred Neverland Ranch's title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, which was a joint venture between Jackson and Colony Capital LLC. This deal cleared Jackson's debt, and he reportedly even gained an extra $35 million from the venture. At the time of his death, Jackson still owned a stake in Neverland/Sycamore Valley, but it is unknown how large that stake was.[135][136][137]
Prior to his death, Jackson was scheduled to perform 50 sell out concerts to over one million people, at London's O2 arena. The concerts would have commenced on July 13, 2009 and finished on March 6, 2010. According to Jackson's website, ticket sales for the concerts broke several records. During a prior press conference, Jackson made suggestions of possible retirement.[138] Randy Phillips, president and chief executive of AEG Live stated that the first 10 dates alone would earn the singer approximately £50 million.[139]
Amanda Ghost, president of Epic Records (the label Jackson was signed to), has confirmed that new music from the ill-fated star will be released but it will not be a rushed process. Ghost recognises that there is an 'appetite' for the Jackson recordings to be released but also stated that the label "wants to be respectful to his memory, as well as making sure the music is fantastic so that it does not damage his legacy". [140] She revealed that the star had for several years before his death, been working on new material with Ne-Yo and Akon. will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas also worked with the late star on a dance album but revealed that he "would not leak the material" from his work with the King of Pop. [141]
Death and memorial
Main articles: Death of Michael Jackson and Michael Jackson memorial service
On June 25, 2009, Jackson collapsed at his rented mansion at 100 North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating him by his personal physician were unsuccessful.[142] Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:22 p.m. (PDT), arriving three minutes later at Jackson's location.[143][144] He was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed.[145] Resuscitation efforts continued en route to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and for an hour after arriving there at 1:13 p.m. (20:13 UTC).[142] He was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. local time (21:26 UTC).[146][147]
The memorial was held on July 7, 2009, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, preceded by a private family service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park's Hall of Liberty. Jackson's casket was present during the memorial, which was broadcast live around the world and watched by up to one billion people, but no information was released about the final disposition of the body.[148] Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Jermaine Jackson, and Shaheen Jafargholi sang Jackson's songs. Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson gave eulogies, while Queen Latifah read, "We had him," a poem written for the occasion by Maya Angelou.[149] The Reverend Al Sharpton received a standing ovation when he told Jackson's children, "There wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with."[150] Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris Katherine, cried as she told the crowd, "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine ... I just wanted to say I love him so much."[151]
Musical style and performance
Themes and genres
Steve Huey of Allmusic said that, throughout his solo career, Jackson's versatility allowed him to experiment with various themes and genres.[152] As a musician, he ranged from Motown's dance fare and ballads to techno and house-edged new jack swing to work that incorporates both funk rhythms and hard rock guitar.[10] Michael, himself, stated at his pre-release party for his Off The Wall album that Little Richard had a "huge influence" on him.[153]
Unlike many artists, Jackson did not write his songs on paper. Instead he would dictate into a sound recorder; when recording he would sing from memory.[16][154] Several critics observed Off the Wall was crafted from funk, disco-pop, soul, soft rock, jazz and pop ballads.[152][155][156] Prominent examples include the ballad "She's out of My Life", and the two disco tunes "Workin' Day and Night" and "Get on the Floor".[155]
According to Huey, Thriller refined the strengths of Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more aggressive, while the pop tunes and ballads were softer and more soulful.[152] Notable tracks included the ballads "The Lady in My Life", "Human Nature" and "The Girl Is Mine"; the funk pieces "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"; and the disco set "Baby Be Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".[152][157][158][159] With Thriller, Christopher Connelly of Rolling Stone commented that Jackson developed his long association with the subliminal theme of paranoia and darker imagery.[159] Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted this is evident on the songs "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".[158] In "Billie Jean", Jackson sings about an obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered a child of hers.[152] In "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he argues against gossip and the media.[159] The anti-gang violence rock song "Beat It" became a homage to West Side Story, and was Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece, according to Huey.[10][152] He also observed that the title track "Thriller" began Jackson's interest with the theme of the supernatural, a topic he revisited in subsequent years.[152] In 1985, Jackson co-wrote the charity anthem "We Are the World"; humanitarian themes later became a recurring theme in his lyrics and public persona.[152]
"Thriller"
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One of Jackson's signature pieces, "Thriller", released as a single in 1984, utilizes cinematic sound effects, horror film motifs and vocal trickery to convey a sense of danger.[15]
"Smooth Criminal"
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A single from the album Bad, released 1988, "Smooth Criminal" features digital drum sounds, keyboard-created bass lines and other percussion elements designed to give the impression of a pulsing heart.[160]
Problems listening to these files? See media help.
In Bad, Jackson's concept of the predatory lover can be seen on the rock song "Dirty Diana".[161] The lead single "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is a traditional love ballad, while "Man in the Mirror" is an anthemic ballad of confession and resolution.[49] "Smooth Criminal" was an evocation of bloody assault, rape and likely murder.[49] Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine states that Dangerous presents Jackson as a stark paradoxical individual.[162] He comments the album is more diverse than his previous Bad, as it appeals to an urban audience while also attracting the middle class with anthems like "Heal the World".[162] The first half of the record is dedicated to new jack swing, including songs like "Jam" and "Remember the Time".[163] The album is Jackson's first where social ills become a primary theme; "Why You Wanna Trip on Me", for example, protests against world hunger, AIDS, homelessness and drugs.[163] Dangerous contains sexually charged efforts like "In the Closet", a love song about desire and denial, risk and repression, solitude and connection, privacy and revelation.[163] The title track continues the theme of the predatory lover and compulsive desire.[163] The second half includes introspective, pop-gospel anthems such as "Will You Be There", "Heal the World" and "Keep the Faith"; these songs show Jackson finally opening up about various personal struggles and worries.[163] In the ballad "Gone Too Soon", Jackson gives tribute to his friend Ryan White and the plight of those with AIDS.[164]
HIStory creates an atmosphere of paranoia.[165] Its content focuses on the hardships and public struggles Jackson went through just prior to its production. In the new jack swing-funk-rock efforts "Scream" and "Tabloid Junkie", along with the R&B ballad "You Are Not Alone", Jackson retaliates against the injustice and isolation he feels, and directs much of his anger at the media.[166] In the introspective ballad "Stranger in Moscow", Jackson laments over his "fall from grace", while songs like "Earth Song", "Childhood", "Little Susie" and "Smile" are all operatic pop pieces.[165][166] In the track "D.S.", Jackson launched a verbal attack against Tom Sneddon. He describes Sneddon as an antisocial, white supremacist who wanted to "get my ass, dead or alive". Of the song, Sneddon said, "I have not — shall we say — done him the honor of listening to it, but I’ve been told that it ends with the sound of a gunshot".[167] Invincible found Jackson working heavily with producer Rodney Jerkins.[152] It is a record made up of urban soul like "Cry" and "The Lost Children", ballads such as "Speechless", "Break of Dawn" and "Butterflies" and mixes hip hop, pop and rap in "2000 Watts", "Heartbreaker" and "Invincible".[168][169]
Vocal style
Jackson sang from childhood, and over time his voice and vocal style changed noticeably, either through puberty or a personal preference to align his vocal interpretation to the themes and genres he chose to express. Between 1971 and 1975, Jackson's voice descended from boy soprano to androgynous high tenor.[170] In early 1973, the singer adopted a "vocal hiccup", first heard in the song "It's Too Late to Change the Time" from the Jackson 5's G.I.T.: Get It Together album.[171] Jackson did not employ the hiccup fully until the recording of Off the Wall; its usage can be seen in full force in the "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" promotional video. The purpose of the hiccup—somewhat like a gulping for air or gasping—was to help promote a certain emotion, be it excitement, sadness or fear.[12] With the arrival of Off the Wall in the late 1970s, Jackson's abilities as a vocalist were well regarded; Allmusic described him as a "blindingly gifted vocalist".[155] At the time, Rolling Stone compared his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie Wonder. Their analysis was also that "Jackson's feathery-timbred tenor is extraordinarily beautiful. It slides smoothly into a startling falsetto that's used very daringly".[156] 1982 saw the release of Thriller, and Rolling Stone were of the opinion that Jackson was then singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness".[159]
Michael Jackson - "Black or White"
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The lead single from Dangerous, "Black or White" was one of Jackson's most successful songs. The single has been described as a hard rock or rock 'n' roll dance song.[172][173][174] It contains many features of Jackson's vocal style, including the vocal hiccup he is known for.
The release of "Bad" in 1987 displayed gritty lead vocals on the verse and lighter tones employed on the chorus.[15] A distinctive deliberate mispronunciation of "come on", used frequently by Jackson, occasionally spelt "cha'mone" or "shamone", is also a staple in impressions and caricatures of him.[175] The turn of the 1990s saw the release of the introspective album Dangerous; here Jackson used his vocals to intensify the split themes and genres described earlier. The New York Times noted that on some tracks, "he gulps for breath, his voice quivers with anxiety or drops to a desperate whisper, hissing through clenched teeth" and he had a "wretched tone".[163] When singing of brotherhood or self-esteem the musician would return to "smooth" vocals.[163] "In the Closet" contained heavy breathing and a loop of five scat-sung syllables, whereas in the album's title track, Jackson performs a spoken rap.[160][163] When commenting on Invincible, Rolling Stone were of the opinion that—at the age of 43—Jackson still performed "exquisitely voiced rhythm tracks and vibrating vocal harmonies".[176] Nelson George summed up Jackson's vocals by stating "The grace, the aggression, the growling, the natural boyishness, the falsetto, the smoothness—that combination of elements mark him as a major vocalist".[160]
Music videos and choreography
Steve Huey of Allmusic observed how Jackson transformed the music video into an art form and a promotional tool through complex story lines, dance routines, special effects and famous cameo appearances; simultaneously breaking down racial barriers.[152] According to director Vincent Paterson, who collaborated with the singer on several music videos, Jackson conceptualized many of the darker, bleak themes in his filmography.[177]
US patent 5255452, filed by Jackson, described the anti-gravity lean used in the music video for "Smooth Criminal".
Before Thriller, Jackson struggled to receive coverage on MTV, allegedly because he was African American.[178] Pressure from CBS Records persuaded MTV to start showing "Billie Jean" and later "Beat It", leading to a lengthy partnership with Jackson, also helping other black music artists gain recognition.[179] MTV employees deny any racism in their coverage, or pressure to change their stance. MTV maintains that they played rock music, regardless of race.[180] The popularity of his videos on MTV helped to put the relatively young channel "on the map"; MTV's focus shifted in favor of pop and R&B.[179][181] Short films like Thriller largely remained unique to Jackson, while the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has frequently been imitated.[182] The choreography in Thriller has become a part of global pop culture, replicated everywhere from Indian films to prisons in the Philippines.[183] The Thriller short film marked an increase in scale for music videos, and has been named the most successful music video ever by the Guinness World Records.[60]
In the 19-minute music video for "Bad"—directed by Martin Scorsese—Jackson began using sexual imagery and choreography not previously seen in his work. He occasionally grabbed or touched his chest, torso and crotch. While he has described this as "choreography," it garnered a mixed reception from both fans and critics; Time magazine described it as "infamous". The video also featured Wesley Snipes; in the future Jackson's videos would often feature famous cameo roles.[46][184] For "Smooth Criminal", Jackson experimented with an innovative "anti-gravity lean" in his performances, for which he was granted U.S. Patent No. 5,255,452.[185] Although the music video for "Leave Me Alone" was not officially released in the US, in 1989, it was nominated for four Billboard Music Video Awards, winning three; the same year it won a Golden Lion Award for the quality of the special effects used in its production. In 1990, "Leave Me Alone" won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form.[58]
The MTV Video Vanguard Artist of the Decade Award was given to Jackson to celebrate his accomplishments in the art form in the 1980s; the following year the award was renamed in his honor.[69] "Black or White" was accompanied by a controversial music video, which, on November 14, 1991, simultaneously premiered in 27 countries with an estimated audience of 500 million people, the largest viewing ever for a music video.[68] It featured scenes construed as having a sexual nature as well as depictions of violence. The offending scenes in the final half of the 14-minute version were edited out to prevent the video from being banned, and Jackson apologized.[186] Along with Jackson, it featured Macaulay Culkin, Peggy Lipton and George Wendt. It helped usher in morphing as an important technology in music videos.[187]
Jackson and sister Janet angrily retaliate against the media for misrepresenting them to the public. The acclaimed video for "Scream" was shot primarily in black and white, and at a cost of $7 million.
"Remember the Time" was an elaborate production, and became one of his longest videos at over nine minutes. Set in ancient Egypt, it featured groundbreaking visual effects and appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman and Magic Johnson, along with a distinct complex dance routine.[188] The video for "In the Closet" was Jackson's most sexually provocative piece. It featured supermodel Naomi Campbell in a courtship dance with Jackson. The video was banned in South Africa because of its imagery.[69]
The music video for "Scream", directed by Mark Romanek and production designer Tom Foden, is one of Jackson's most critically acclaimed. In 1995, it gained 11 MTV Video Music Award Nominations—more than any other music video—and won "Best Dance Video", "Best Choreography", and "Best Art Direction".[189] The song and its accompanying video are a response to the backlash Jackson received from the media after being accused of child molestation in 1993.[190] A year later, it won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form; shortly afterwards Guinness World Records listed it as the most expensive music video ever made at a cost of $7 million.[94][191]
"Earth Song" was accompanied by an expensive and well-received music video that gained a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form in 1997. The video had an environmental theme, showing images of animal cruelty, deforestation, pollution and war. Using special effects, time is reversed so that life returns, wars ends, and the forests re-grow.[94][192] Released in 1997 and premiering at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, Ghosts was a short film written by Jackson and Stephen King and directed by Stan Winston. The video for Ghosts is over 38 minutes long and holds the Guinness World Record as the world's longest music video.[94][102][193][194]
Legacy and influence
See also: Records and achievements of Michael Jackson and List of awards received by Michael Jackson
Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, set in 1984
Jackson had a notable impact on music and culture throughout the world. He broke down racial barriers, transformed the art of the music video and paved the way for modern pop music in his own country. Jackson's work, distinctive musical sound and vocal style have influenced scores of hip hop, pop and R&B artists, including Mariah Carey,[195] Usher,[196] Britney Spears,[195] Justin Timberlake[106] and R. Kelly.[160] For much of his career, he had an "unparalleled" level of worldwide influence over the younger generation through his musical and humanitarian contributions.[197]
Michael Jackson was inducted onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984. Throughout his career he received numerous honors and awards, including the World Music Awards' Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium, the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award and the Bambi Pop Artist of the Millennium Award.[24][198] He was a double-inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1997 and later as a solo artist in 2001. Jackson was also an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.[24] His awards include multiple Guinness World Records (eight in 2006 alone), 13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era—and the sale of over 750 million records worldwide, making him the world's best selling male solo pop artist.[21][60][68][199][200][201]
Queues for a Michael Jackson concert in West Berlin in June 1988
He was characterized as "an unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of all the tools to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility and loads of sheer star power".[152] In the mid-1980s, Time described Jackson as "the hottest single phenomenon since Elvis Presley".[25] By 1990, Vanity Fair had already cited Jackson as the most popular artist in the history of show business.[58] Daily Telegraph writer Tom Utley called him an "extremely important figure in the history of popular culture" and a "genius".[202] In late 2007, Jackson said the following of his work and future influence, "Music has been my outlet, my gift to all of the lovers in this world. Through it, my music, I know I will live forever."[203]
His total lifetime earnings from royalties on his solo recordings and music videos, revenue from concerts and endorsements have been estimated at $500 million; some analysts have speculated that his music catalog holdings could be worth billions of dollars.[59][204] As one of the world's most famous men, Jackson's highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, made him a part of popular culture for four decades.[68][205]
Discography
Main articles: Michael Jackson album discography and Michael Jackson singles discography
See also: Jackson 5 discography
* Got to Be There (1972)
* Ben (1972)
* Music & Me (1973)
* Forever, Michael (1975)
* Off the Wall (1979)
* Thriller (1982)
* Bad (1987)
* Dangerous (1991)
* HIStory (1995)
* Invincible (2001)
See also
* List of awards received by Michael Jackson
* List of best-selling music artists
* List of Michael Jackson tours
* Michael Jackson videography
* Records and achievements of Michael Jackson
* Peter Pan syndrome
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sax made EASY
How the Saxophone works
The saxophone has a reed that, when made to vibrate , beats against the mouthpiece opening ('window'). This alternately opens and closes the mouthpiece which in turn sets up a vibrating air column in the resonator (the brass part) of the saxophone
When the player lifts one finger, a key pad opens. This reduces the wave length of the vibrating air column and raises the pitch of the sound. As the vibration of the air column changes, the vibration of the reed also changes instantly.
This is an essential point.
Although the reed starts and maintains the energy of the vibration, the resonator determines the wavelength and frequency.
The saxophone operates therefore under the principle of resonator control, combined with an obedient reed.
Whenever the resonator is shortened or lengthened, the vibrating air column changes its frequency, and the reed changes its vibration in sympathy with it.
Once this is understood, the next point is inevitable.
For what provides the energy to start and maintain the reed's vibration ? The air flow from the human body.
By blowing on the saxophone a second resonator is automatically connected to the system. This is the cavity within the body, consisting of the interconnected.
* mouth
* throat
* trachea
* and lungs
Sound waves travel in all directions, regardless of the direction of air flow. Therefore the reed sets up vibrations in both resonators, the saxophone and the human body.
Both resonators send out their own vibrations to the reed. The reed, trying to serve both masters, combines the two directives into one average vibration, which is spread through both resonators.
This point was experimentally proven by the late Dr. Peter Clinch. ('Oral tract fluctuations in clarinet and saxophone performance : An acoustical analysis' - Ph.D thesis, Monash University, Melbourne, 1980)
Clinch installed :
1. one sensor in the saxophone resonator
2. one sensor on the reed
3. and one sensor in the mouth of the player.
Wave frequency and shape were identical for all three sensors at all times.
When the (professional) player deliberately adapted a twisted poor playing position, the wave quality of all three sensors deteriorated markedly and identically.
When the player sat in a 'good' playing position the wave shapes improved instantly.
(Down - Up - Top)
OR 3 - Experiment
Let us conduct a simple experiment on the saxophone.
1. Play on your instrument one tone, the low G for example.
2. Now sing through the mouthpiece the same tone ("daaaaa", a full sound) while maintaining the G fingering on the saxophone.
3. Then, under continued singing of the low G, change the fingering down to F, E, and D. Then up through E, F, G, A, to B, and finally back to A and G.
What did you notice during this exercise ?
While both singing and fingering the low G you can feel a strong vibration through your body.
As soon as the fingering moves away from the G the body vibration reduces considerably. When it comes back to the G it increases again.
What happens ?
When the saxophone resonator is in phase with the tone produced by your body the sound waves (vibrations) are amplified.
In saxophone playing you aim to do the opposite to what you did in the experiment.
You must bring the body resonator in phase with the saxophone resonator.
No matter how good the instrument is, if the body sends out poor vibrations to the reed the overall sound will deteriorate. The body resonator then acts as a mute, it muffles the sound and reduces its quality.
If on the other hand the body resonator sends out the same or even better quality vibrations to the reed than the saxophone, the sound quality will be enhanced.
The tone will be in focus, amplified and projected forward.
The incorporation of tone, colour and feeling are elements exclusively produced by the body resonator.
(Down - Up - Top)
OR 4 - PAVE your way to a Superior Sound
A good tone requires therefore a well developed body resonator.
A good instrument, mouth piece and reed all can contribute to tone quality. But without a good body resonator the best accessories money can buy will not produce a good tone.
To develop a good body resonator one must work on four aspects.
Posture - Air support (breathing) - Voicing - Embouchure
sax0105.gif
P
A good posture is essential.
The body resonator must not be twisted, contracted or blocked. It must be stretched, but relaxed.
A
The body resonator must also be fully inflated.
This is achieved by good breathing and air support.
V
The pitch changes from note to note represent changes of wave length and frequency in the resonator. On the saxophone this is easily done by opening or closing key pads.
With the body this is (fortunately) not possible.
The body resonator therefore varies its shape from note to note to accommodate the shape (nodes and 'anti-nodes') of the wave form. This is referred to as voicing.
This is an essential part of the Saxophone Course. You will follow a series of tone and overtone exercises to develop flexibility and control of your oral tract over a wide pitch range (including the altissimo register) of your instrument.
E
The word embouchure is derived from the word 'bouche' which means 'mouth' in French. Embouchure means the placement of lips and facial muscles around the mouth piece of the instrument.
The embouchure connects the two resonators into one vibrating system. It does this near the critical point, the reed, where the vibrations of both resonators are combined.
The embouchure can therefore make or break the overall sound.
We will deal with all above elements in detail in the Saxophone Course.
(Down - Up - Top)
OR 5 - Getting started
While you are making up your mind, or are waiting for the Saxophone Course you just ordered to arrive in your mailbox, try this simple exercise to get you started.
The first objective on your way to a good tone is to get to know each tone on your instrument as a personal friend. Each tone is different. Some boom out with ease, others are stuffy and need a real effort to bring them to life.
Start by playing the C major scale over the lower register only. Do not use the tongue, always slur from one note to the next.
Play the notes of the scale slurred very slowly in groups of 2 notes.
(Clarinet or Piano sounds are used for all Audios. The Sax sounds on Midi are just too awful to listen to.)
Audio 1.1 : Alto - Tenor
sax0106.gif
Sustain the first note (of each combinantion of 2) until it sounds as good as you can possibly make it, then start the next note while maintaining the same tone quality you achieved for the first note. Sustain the second note about twice as long as the first one.
While playing :
* Sing the note in your mind.
* Imagine the tone centre gradually moving down in your body (from chest to tummy) as you descend from G to low C, and gradually moving up (from chest to throat) as you ascend from G the middle C.
Obviously the tone centre cannot possibly move below the tips of your lungs, but you can imagine it does. This is called organic imagery, a technique widely used by professional singers and also dealt with in the Saxophone Course.
* Listen to the tone you produce (not to the note in your mind).
The saxophone has a reed that, when made to vibrate , beats against the mouthpiece opening ('window'). This alternately opens and closes the mouthpiece which in turn sets up a vibrating air column in the resonator (the brass part) of the saxophone
When the player lifts one finger, a key pad opens. This reduces the wave length of the vibrating air column and raises the pitch of the sound. As the vibration of the air column changes, the vibration of the reed also changes instantly.
This is an essential point.
Although the reed starts and maintains the energy of the vibration, the resonator determines the wavelength and frequency.
The saxophone operates therefore under the principle of resonator control, combined with an obedient reed.
Whenever the resonator is shortened or lengthened, the vibrating air column changes its frequency, and the reed changes its vibration in sympathy with it.
Once this is understood, the next point is inevitable.
For what provides the energy to start and maintain the reed's vibration ? The air flow from the human body.
By blowing on the saxophone a second resonator is automatically connected to the system. This is the cavity within the body, consisting of the interconnected.
* mouth
* throat
* trachea
* and lungs
Sound waves travel in all directions, regardless of the direction of air flow. Therefore the reed sets up vibrations in both resonators, the saxophone and the human body.
Both resonators send out their own vibrations to the reed. The reed, trying to serve both masters, combines the two directives into one average vibration, which is spread through both resonators.
This point was experimentally proven by the late Dr. Peter Clinch. ('Oral tract fluctuations in clarinet and saxophone performance : An acoustical analysis' - Ph.D thesis, Monash University, Melbourne, 1980)
Clinch installed :
1. one sensor in the saxophone resonator
2. one sensor on the reed
3. and one sensor in the mouth of the player.
Wave frequency and shape were identical for all three sensors at all times.
When the (professional) player deliberately adapted a twisted poor playing position, the wave quality of all three sensors deteriorated markedly and identically.
When the player sat in a 'good' playing position the wave shapes improved instantly.
(Down - Up - Top)
OR 3 - Experiment
Let us conduct a simple experiment on the saxophone.
1. Play on your instrument one tone, the low G for example.
2. Now sing through the mouthpiece the same tone ("daaaaa", a full sound) while maintaining the G fingering on the saxophone.
3. Then, under continued singing of the low G, change the fingering down to F, E, and D. Then up through E, F, G, A, to B, and finally back to A and G.
What did you notice during this exercise ?
While both singing and fingering the low G you can feel a strong vibration through your body.
As soon as the fingering moves away from the G the body vibration reduces considerably. When it comes back to the G it increases again.
What happens ?
When the saxophone resonator is in phase with the tone produced by your body the sound waves (vibrations) are amplified.
In saxophone playing you aim to do the opposite to what you did in the experiment.
You must bring the body resonator in phase with the saxophone resonator.
No matter how good the instrument is, if the body sends out poor vibrations to the reed the overall sound will deteriorate. The body resonator then acts as a mute, it muffles the sound and reduces its quality.
If on the other hand the body resonator sends out the same or even better quality vibrations to the reed than the saxophone, the sound quality will be enhanced.
The tone will be in focus, amplified and projected forward.
The incorporation of tone, colour and feeling are elements exclusively produced by the body resonator.
(Down - Up - Top)
OR 4 - PAVE your way to a Superior Sound
A good tone requires therefore a well developed body resonator.
A good instrument, mouth piece and reed all can contribute to tone quality. But without a good body resonator the best accessories money can buy will not produce a good tone.
To develop a good body resonator one must work on four aspects.
Posture - Air support (breathing) - Voicing - Embouchure
sax0105.gif
P
A good posture is essential.
The body resonator must not be twisted, contracted or blocked. It must be stretched, but relaxed.
A
The body resonator must also be fully inflated.
This is achieved by good breathing and air support.
V
The pitch changes from note to note represent changes of wave length and frequency in the resonator. On the saxophone this is easily done by opening or closing key pads.
With the body this is (fortunately) not possible.
The body resonator therefore varies its shape from note to note to accommodate the shape (nodes and 'anti-nodes') of the wave form. This is referred to as voicing.
This is an essential part of the Saxophone Course. You will follow a series of tone and overtone exercises to develop flexibility and control of your oral tract over a wide pitch range (including the altissimo register) of your instrument.
E
The word embouchure is derived from the word 'bouche' which means 'mouth' in French. Embouchure means the placement of lips and facial muscles around the mouth piece of the instrument.
The embouchure connects the two resonators into one vibrating system. It does this near the critical point, the reed, where the vibrations of both resonators are combined.
The embouchure can therefore make or break the overall sound.
We will deal with all above elements in detail in the Saxophone Course.
(Down - Up - Top)
OR 5 - Getting started
While you are making up your mind, or are waiting for the Saxophone Course you just ordered to arrive in your mailbox, try this simple exercise to get you started.
The first objective on your way to a good tone is to get to know each tone on your instrument as a personal friend. Each tone is different. Some boom out with ease, others are stuffy and need a real effort to bring them to life.
Start by playing the C major scale over the lower register only. Do not use the tongue, always slur from one note to the next.
Play the notes of the scale slurred very slowly in groups of 2 notes.
(Clarinet or Piano sounds are used for all Audios. The Sax sounds on Midi are just too awful to listen to.)
Audio 1.1 : Alto - Tenor
sax0106.gif
Sustain the first note (of each combinantion of 2) until it sounds as good as you can possibly make it, then start the next note while maintaining the same tone quality you achieved for the first note. Sustain the second note about twice as long as the first one.
While playing :
* Sing the note in your mind.
* Imagine the tone centre gradually moving down in your body (from chest to tummy) as you descend from G to low C, and gradually moving up (from chest to throat) as you ascend from G the middle C.
Obviously the tone centre cannot possibly move below the tips of your lungs, but you can imagine it does. This is called organic imagery, a technique widely used by professional singers and also dealt with in the Saxophone Course.
* Listen to the tone you produce (not to the note in your mind).
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
HERITAGE
Jahdiel
Heritage lyrics
Oh I was made for this
To know your tender kiss to know this love is mine
To know this love is ours
And I was made to laugh
I was made to sing
Giving the gift of life
You gave me everything
My feet were made to dance
My spirit made to soar
My life is not by chance
You give me more and more
And I was made to laugh
I was made to sing
And all that stole my joy
I left it at the cross
[Chorus:]
This one na my heritage
This one na my culture
This one na my tradition
I go follow Jesus
I go carryt the gospel well well
I go carry Jesus higher higher
E mercies no dey cease
E love no dey die
For a very long time
I've come to know
I am from another country
For a very long time
I've come to know
I am from another nation
My name is Jahdiel
I come from zion
I'm representing the most high on Earth
I speak in tongues
I heal the sick
By the power of Jesus in me
This is the way of life
This is the thing I do
Am a christian
I am for the lord
[Chorus:]
This one na my heritage
This one na my culture
This one na my tradition
I go follow Jesus
I go carry the gospel well well
I go carry jesus higher higher
E mercies no dey ceas
E love no dey die
[Repeat 1st Verse]
[Chorus:]
This one na my heritage
This one na my culture
This one na my tradition
I go follow Jesus
I go carry the gospel well well
I go carry Jesus higher higher
E mercies no dey cease
E love no dey die
This one na my heritage
This one na my culture
This na my tradition
I go follow Jesus
I carry the gospel well well
I go carry Jesus higher higher
E mercies no dey cease
E love no dey die...
Heritage lyrics
Oh I was made for this
To know your tender kiss to know this love is mine
To know this love is ours
And I was made to laugh
I was made to sing
Giving the gift of life
You gave me everything
My feet were made to dance
My spirit made to soar
My life is not by chance
You give me more and more
And I was made to laugh
I was made to sing
And all that stole my joy
I left it at the cross
[Chorus:]
This one na my heritage
This one na my culture
This one na my tradition
I go follow Jesus
I go carryt the gospel well well
I go carry Jesus higher higher
E mercies no dey cease
E love no dey die
For a very long time
I've come to know
I am from another country
For a very long time
I've come to know
I am from another nation
My name is Jahdiel
I come from zion
I'm representing the most high on Earth
I speak in tongues
I heal the sick
By the power of Jesus in me
This is the way of life
This is the thing I do
Am a christian
I am for the lord
[Chorus:]
This one na my heritage
This one na my culture
This one na my tradition
I go follow Jesus
I go carry the gospel well well
I go carry jesus higher higher
E mercies no dey ceas
E love no dey die
[Repeat 1st Verse]
[Chorus:]
This one na my heritage
This one na my culture
This one na my tradition
I go follow Jesus
I go carry the gospel well well
I go carry Jesus higher higher
E mercies no dey cease
E love no dey die
This one na my heritage
This one na my culture
This na my tradition
I go follow Jesus
I carry the gospel well well
I go carry Jesus higher higher
E mercies no dey cease
E love no dey die...
JEBELE BY KWEEN
Artiste(s): Kween
Title: Jebele
Album: Kweendom Come
Genre: Naija
Year Realeased: 2007
VERSE 1
She called the house today
telling me this, telling me that
where you both slept last night
Boy you know that ain't right
She said your love's getting stronger
but I can't hold much longer
na you dey put asunder
I just can't help but wonder
honey mo
gini ka n mere gi
esigwa yin mo
Tell me what I've done wrong
can you give me one reason
just only one reason
I just might let you be
HOOK
Cos i no fit hold your handie o
I no fit tie your leg
I no fit pluck your eyes o
E no make sense abeg
If today I lose you
dem no make you for me
If I'm supposed to have you
nobody fit take you from me
So I say
CHORUS
Jebele jebele (2x)
make you dey go [Jebele jebele]
I no do again o [Jebele jebele]
If you dey chop dey go [jebele jebele]
Na today e finish [Jebele jebele]
Leave me alone [jebele jebele]
Your monkey don get belle
Verse 2
Yes i called her a monkey
She jumps on men like a junkie
You chose to be with her
and thats so sad
am going back to my dad
you were all I had
You broke my heart in two
and thats so sad
honey mo
gini ka n mere gi
oriaku mo
Tell what I've done wrong
can you give me one reason
just only one reason
I just might let you be
REPEAT HOOK
REPEAT CHORUS
BRIDGE
Boy I've made up my mind
cos this time you really stepped out of line
and I no fit waste my time [I no fit waste my time]
I don't think I can still spend my life with you
REPEAT HOOK
REPEAT CHORUS
Make u go your way
Make I do my thing
Soilder go, soilder come, Haha
Wetin you fit do I fit do better, Ha
Shayo na bassssssssssss
REPEAT CHORUS (till fade)
Title: Jebele
Album: Kweendom Come
Genre: Naija
Year Realeased: 2007
VERSE 1
She called the house today
telling me this, telling me that
where you both slept last night
Boy you know that ain't right
She said your love's getting stronger
but I can't hold much longer
na you dey put asunder
I just can't help but wonder
honey mo
gini ka n mere gi
esigwa yin mo
Tell me what I've done wrong
can you give me one reason
just only one reason
I just might let you be
HOOK
Cos i no fit hold your handie o
I no fit tie your leg
I no fit pluck your eyes o
E no make sense abeg
If today I lose you
dem no make you for me
If I'm supposed to have you
nobody fit take you from me
So I say
CHORUS
Jebele jebele (2x)
make you dey go [Jebele jebele]
I no do again o [Jebele jebele]
If you dey chop dey go [jebele jebele]
Na today e finish [Jebele jebele]
Leave me alone [jebele jebele]
Your monkey don get belle
Verse 2
Yes i called her a monkey
She jumps on men like a junkie
You chose to be with her
and thats so sad
am going back to my dad
you were all I had
You broke my heart in two
and thats so sad
honey mo
gini ka n mere gi
oriaku mo
Tell what I've done wrong
can you give me one reason
just only one reason
I just might let you be
REPEAT HOOK
REPEAT CHORUS
BRIDGE
Boy I've made up my mind
cos this time you really stepped out of line
and I no fit waste my time [I no fit waste my time]
I don't think I can still spend my life with you
REPEAT HOOK
REPEAT CHORUS
Make u go your way
Make I do my thing
Soilder go, soilder come, Haha
Wetin you fit do I fit do better, Ha
Shayo na bassssssssssss
REPEAT CHORUS (till fade)
IJOBA ORUN BY LARA GEORGE
Artiste(s): Lara George
Title: Ijoba Orun
Album: Single
Genre: Gospel
Year Realeased: 2008
Uhhhuhhhh
Uhuh
Ijoba orun
Ere Onigbagbo o
Ijoba orun
Ere Onigbagbo o
Ma je n kuna
Baba
Mu mi dele o
Ma je n kuna
Baba se
Mu mi dele o
Owo ti mo ni
ko le mu mi dele o
Moto ti mo ri ra
ko le wa mi dele o
Ore ti mo ni
ko le sinmi dele o
Gbogbo iwe ti mo ri ka
won o le gbe mi dele o
[lyrics from www.niglyrics.com]
Ma je n kuna
Baba
Mu mi dele o
ki n ma ku sajo bi efin
Mu mi dele o
Aye loja, oorun ni ile
Mu mi dele o
Aye loja yi, oorun nile se
Mu mi dele o
Mu mi dele o (x8)
Ma ma je n kuna
Baba ooo
Baba ooo
Mu mi dele o (x5)
Ile ogo
Ile ayo, Ile ayo
Ile alafia
Ile ogo
Ile ayo, Ile ayo
Ile alafia
Ijoba orun
Ere onigbagbo o
Ijoba oorun
Ere onigbagbo o
Ma je n kuna
Title: Ijoba Orun
Album: Single
Genre: Gospel
Year Realeased: 2008
Uhhhuhhhh
Uhuh
Ijoba orun
Ere Onigbagbo o
Ijoba orun
Ere Onigbagbo o
Ma je n kuna
Baba
Mu mi dele o
Ma je n kuna
Baba se
Mu mi dele o
Owo ti mo ni
ko le mu mi dele o
Moto ti mo ri ra
ko le wa mi dele o
Ore ti mo ni
ko le sinmi dele o
Gbogbo iwe ti mo ri ka
won o le gbe mi dele o
[lyrics from www.niglyrics.com]
Ma je n kuna
Baba
Mu mi dele o
ki n ma ku sajo bi efin
Mu mi dele o
Aye loja, oorun ni ile
Mu mi dele o
Aye loja yi, oorun nile se
Mu mi dele o
Mu mi dele o (x8)
Ma ma je n kuna
Baba ooo
Baba ooo
Mu mi dele o (x5)
Ile ogo
Ile ayo, Ile ayo
Ile alafia
Ile ogo
Ile ayo, Ile ayo
Ile alafia
Ijoba orun
Ere onigbagbo o
Ijoba oorun
Ere onigbagbo o
Ma je n kuna
LIFE AND WORKS OF JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Johann Sebastian Bach
"Bach" redirects here. For other uses, see Bach (disambiguation).
Bach in a 1748 portrait by HaussmannJohann Sebastian Bach (pronounced [joˈhan/ˈjoːhan zeˈbastjan ˈbax]) (31 March 1685 [O.S. 21 March] – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.[1] Although he introduced no new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and motivic organisation in composition for diverse instrumentation, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad, particularly Italy and France.
Revered for their intellectual depth, technical command and artistic beauty, Bach's works include the Brandenburg concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Partitas, the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Mass in B Minor, the St. Matthew Passion, the St. John Passion, the Magnificat, The Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue, the English Suites, the French Suites, the Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo, the Cello Suites, more than 200 surviving cantatas, and a similar number of organ works, including the celebrated Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.
While Bach's fame as an organist was great during his lifetime, he was not particularly well-known as a composer. His adherence to Baroque forms and contrapuntal style was considered "old-fashioned" by his contemporaries, especially late in his career when the musical fashion tended towards Rococo and later Classical styles. A revival of interest and performances of his music began early in the 19th century, and he is now widely considered to be one of the greatest composers in the Western tradition.
Contents
1 Childhood (1685–1703)
2 Arnstadt to Weimar (1703–08)
3 Weimar (1708–17)
4 Cöthen (1717–23)
5 Leipzig (1723–50)
6 Death (1750)
7 Musical style
8 Family members
9 Works
9.1 Organ works
9.2 Other keyboard works
9.3 Orchestral and chamber music
9.4 Vocal and choral works
10 Performances
11 Legacy
12 Media
13 See also
14 Notes
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links
Childhood (1685–1703)
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach. He was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, the director of the Stadtpfeifer or town musicians,[1] and Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. His father taught him to play violin and harpsichord. His uncles were all professional musicians, whose posts ranged from church organists and court chamber musicians to composers. One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach (1645–93), was especially famous and introduced him to the art of organ playing. Bach was proud of his family's musical achievements, and around 1735 he drafted a genealogy, "Origin of the musical Bach family".[2]
Johann Ambrosius Bach, Bach's fatherBach's mother died in 1694, and his father eight months later. The 10-year-old orphan moved in with his oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721), the organist at the Michaeliskirche in nearby Ohrdruf. There, he copied, studied and performed music, and apparently received valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on the clavichord. J.C. Bach exposed him to the works of the great South German composers of the day, such as Johann Pachelbel (under whom Johann Christoph had studied) and Johann Jakob Froberger; possibly to the music of North German composers, to Frenchmen, such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Louis Marchand, Marin Marais; and to the Italian clavierist Girolamo Frescobaldi. The young Bach probably witnessed and assisted in the maintenance of the organ music. Bach's obituary indicates that he copied music out of Johann Christoph's scores, but his brother had apparently forbidden him to do so, possibly because scores were valuable and private commodities at the time.
At the age of 14, Bach, along with his older school friend George Erdmann, was awarded a choral scholarship to study at the prestigious St. Michael's School in Lüneburg, not far from the northern seaport of Hamburg, one of the largest cities in the Holy Roman Empire.[3] This involved a long journey with his friend, probably undertaken partly on foot and partly by coach. His two years there appear to have been critical in exposing him to a wider palette of European culture than he would have experienced in Thuringia. In addition to singing in the a cappella choir, it is likely that he played the School's three-manual organ and its harpsichords. He probably learned French and Italian, and received a thorough grounding in theology, Latin, history, geography, and physics. He would have come into contact with sons of noblemen from northern Germany sent to the highly selective school to prepare for careers in diplomacy, government, and the military.
Although little supporting historical evidence exists at this time, it is almost certain that while in Lüneburg, young Bach would have visited the Johanniskirche (Church of St. John) and heard (and possibly played) the church's famous organ (built in 1549 by Jasper Johannsen and nicknamed the "Böhm organ" after its most prominent master). Given his innate musical talent, Bach would have had significant contact with prominent organists of the day in Lüneburg, most notably Georg Böhm (the organist at Johanniskirche) as well as organists in nearby Hamburg, such as Johann Adam Reincken. Through contact with these musicians, Bach probably gained access to the largest and finest instruments he had played thus far. It is likely that during this stage he became acquainted with the music of the German organ schools, especially the work of Dieterich Buxtehude, and with music manuscripts and treatises on music theory that were in the possession of these musicians.
Arnstadt to Weimar (1703–08)
St. Boniface's Church in ArnstadtIn January 1703, shortly after graduating and failing an audition for an organist's post at Sangerhausen[4], Bach took up a post as a court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar, a large town in Thuringia. His role there is unclear, but appears to have included menial, non-musical duties. During his seven-month tenure at Weimar, his reputation as a keyboard player spread. He was invited to inspect and give the inaugural recital on the new organ at St. Boniface's Church in Arnstadt. The Bach family had close connections with this oldest town in Thuringia, about 180 km to the southwest of Weimar at the edge of the great forest. In August 1703, he accepted the post of organist at that church, with light duties, a relatively generous salary, and a fine new organ tuned to a modern system that allowed a wide range of keys to be used. At this time, Bach was embarking on the serious composition of organ preludes; these works, in the North German tradition of virtuosic, improvisatory preludes, already showed tight motivic control (where a single, short music idea is explored cogently throughout a movement). However, in these works the composer had yet to fully develop his powers of large-scale organisation and his contrapuntal technique (where two or more melodies interact simultaneously).
Strong family connections and a musically enthusiastic employer failed to prevent tension between the young organist and the authorities after several years in the post. He was apparently dissatisfied with the standard of singers in the choir; more seriously, there was his unauthorised absence from Arnstadt for several months in 1705–06, when he visited the great master Dieterich Buxtehude and his Abendmusik in the northern city of Lübeck. This well-known incident in Bach's life involved his walking some 400 kilometres (250 mi) each way to spend time with the man he probably regarded as the father figure of German organists. The trip reinforced Buxtehude's style as a foundation for Bach's earlier works, and that he overstayed his planned visit by several months suggests that his time with the old man was of great value to his art. According to legend, both Bach and George Frederic Handel wanted to become amanuenses of Buxtehude, but neither wanted to marry his daughter, as that was a condition for the position.[5]
According to minutes from the proceedings of the Arnstadt consistory in August 1705, Bach was involved in a brawl in Arnstadt:
“ Johann Sebastian Bach, organist here at the New Church, appeared and stated that, as he walked home yesterday, fairly late night ... six students were sitting on the "Langenstein" (Long Stone), and as he passed the town hall, the student Geyersbach went after him with a stick, calling him to account: Why had he [Bach] made abusive remarks about him? He [Bach] answered that he had made no abusive remarks about him, and that no one could prove it, for he had gone his way very quietly. Geyersbach retorted that while he [Bach] might not have maligned him, he had maligned his bassoon at some time, and whoever insulted his belongings insulted him as well ... [Geyersbach] had at once struck out at him. Since he had not been prepared for this, he had been about to draw his dagger, but Geyersbach had fallen into his arms, and the two of them tumbled about until the rest of the students ... had rushed toward them and separated them.[6] ”
Places in which Bach lived throughout his lifeDespite his comfortable position in Arnstadt, by 1706 Bach appeared to have realised that he needed to escape from the family milieu and move on to further his career. He was offered a more lucrative post as organist at St. Blasius's in Mühlhausen, a large and important city to the north. The following year, he took up this senior post with significantly improved pay and conditions, including a good choir. Four months after arriving at Mühlhausen, he married his second cousin from Arnstadt, Maria Barbara Bach. They had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Two of them—Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach—became important composers in the ornate Rococo style that followed the Baroque.
The church and city government at Mühlhausen must have been proud of their new musical director. They readily agreed to his plan for an expensive renovation of the organ at St. Blasius's, and were so delighted at the elaborate, festive cantata he wrote for the inauguration of the new council in 1708—God is my king BWV 71, clearly in the style of Buxtehude—that they paid handsomely for its publication, and twice in later years had the composer return to conduct it. However, that same year, Bach was offered a better position in Weimar.
Weimar (1708–17)
A portrait of a young man, supposedly of Bach, but disputed[7]After barely a year at Mühlhausen, Bach left, to become the court organist and concertmaster at the ducal court in Weimar, a far cry from his earlier position there as 'lackey'. The munificent salary on offer at the court and the prospect of working entirely with a large, well-funded contingent of professional musicians may have prompted the move. The family moved into an apartment just five minutes' walk from the ducal palace. In the following year, their first child was born and they were joined by Maria Barbara's elder, unmarried sister, who remained with them to assist in the running of the household until her death in 1729. It was in Weimar that the two musically significant sons were born—Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
Bach's position in Weimar marked the start of a sustained period of composing keyboard and orchestral works, in which he had attained the technical proficiency and confidence to extend the prevailing large-scale structures and to synthesise influences from abroad. From the music of Italians such as Vivaldi, Corelli and Torelli, he learnt how to write dramatic openings and adopted their sunny dispositions, dynamic motor-rhythms and decisive harmonic schemes. Bach inducted himself into these stylistic aspects largely by transcribing for harpsichord and organ the ensemble concertos of Vivaldi; these works are still concert favourites. He may have picked up the idea of transcribing the latest fashionable Italian music from Prince Johann Ernst, one of his employers, who was a musician of professional calibre. In 1713, the Duke returned from a tour of the Low Countries with a large collection of scores, some of them possibly transcriptions of the latest fashionable Italian music by the blind organist Jan Jacob de Graaf. Bach was particularly attracted to the Italian solo-tutti structure, in which one or more solo instruments alternate section-by-section with the full orchestra throughout a movement.
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor (BWV 1001) in Bach's handwritingIn Weimar, he had the opportunity to play and compose for the organ, and to perform a varied repertoire of concert music with the duke's ensemble. A master of contrapuntal technique, Bach's steady output of fugues began in Weimar. The largest single body of his fugal writing is Das wohltemperierte Clavier ("The well-tempered keyboard"—Clavier meaning keyboard instrument). It consists of two collections compiled in 1722 and 1744, each containing a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key. This is a monumental work for its masterful use of counterpoint and its exploration, for the first time, of the full range of keys–and the means of expression made possible by their slight differences from each other—available to keyboardists when their instruments are tuned according to systems such as that of Andreas Werckmeister.
During his tenure at Weimar, Bach started work on The little organ book for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann; this contains traditional Lutheran chorales (hymn tunes), set in complex textures to assist the training of organists. The book illustrates two major themes in Bach's life: his dedication to teaching and his love of the chorale as a musical form.
Bach eventually fell out of favour in Weimar and was, according to the court secretary's report, jailed for almost a month before being unfavourably dismissed:
“ On November 6, [1717], the quondam concertmaster and organist Bach was confined to the County Judge's place of detention for too stubbornly forcing the issue of his dismissal and finally on December 2 was freed from arrest with notice of his unfavourable discharge.[8] ”
Cöthen (1717–23)
The palace and gardens at Cöthen in an engraving from Matthäus Merian's Topographia (1650)Bach began once again to search out a more stable job that was conducive to his musical interests. Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen hired Bach to serve as his Kapellmeister (director of music). Prince Leopold, himself a musician, appreciated Bach's talents, paid him well, and gave him considerable latitude in composing and performing. However, the prince was Calvinist and did not use elaborate music in his worship; thus, most of Bach's work from this period was secular, including the Orchestral suites, the Six suites for solo cello and the Sonatas and partitas for solo violin. The well-known Brandenburg concertos date from this period.
On 7 July 1720, while Bach was abroad with Prince Leopold, tragedy struck: his wife, Maria Barbara, the mother of his first 7 children, died suddenly. The following year, the widower met Anna Magdalena Wilcke, a young, highly gifted soprano 17 years his junior, who performed at the court in Cöthen; they married on 3 December 1721. Together they had 13 more children, six of whom survived into adulthood: Gottfried Heinrich, Johann Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian, all of whom became significant musicians; Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (1726–81), who married Bach's pupil Johann Christoph Altnikol; Johanna Carolina (1737–81); and Regina Susanna (1742–1809).[9]
Commemorative statue of J.S. Bach in Leipzig
Leipzig (1723–50)
In 1723, Bach was appointed Cantor of Thomasschule, adjacent to the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas' Lutheran Church) in Leipzig, as well as Director of Music in the principal churches in the town. This was a prestigious post in the leading mercantile city in Saxony, a neighbouring electorate to Thuringia. Apart from his brief tenures in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, this was Bach's first government position in a career that had mainly involved service to the aristocracy. This final post, which he held for 27 years until his death, brought him into contact with the political machinations of his employer, the Leipzig Council. The Council comprised two factions: the Absolutists, loyal to the Saxon monarch in Dresden, Augustus the Strong; and the City-Estate faction, representing the interests of the mercantile class, the guilds and minor aristocrats. Bach was the nominee of the monarchists, in particular of the Mayor at the time, Gottlieb Lange, a lawyer who had earlier served in the Dresden court. In return for agreeing to Bach's appointment, the City-Estate faction was granted control of the School, and Bach was required to make a number of compromises with respect to his working conditions.[10] Although it appears that no one on the Council doubted Bach's musical genius, there was continual tension between the Cantor, who regarded himself as the leader of church music in the city, and the City-Estate faction, which saw him as a schoolmaster and wanted to reduce the emphasis on elaborate music in both the School and the Churches. The Council never honoured Lange's promise at interview of a handsome salary of 1,000 talers a year, although it did provide Bach and his family with a smaller income and a good apartment at one end of the school building, which was renovated at great expense in 1732.
St Thomas's Church, Leipzig, in the 21st centuryBach's job required him to instruct the students of the Thomasschule in singing and to provide weekly music at the two main churches in Leipzig, St. Thomas' and St Nicholas's. His post also obliged him to teach Latin, but he was allowed to employ a deputy to do this instead. In an astonishing burst of creativity, he wrote up to five annual cantata cycles during his first six years in Leipzig (two of which have apparently been lost). Most of these concerted works expound on the Gospel readings for every Sunday and feast day in the Lutheran year; many were written using traditional church hymns, such as Wachet auf! Ruft uns die Stimme and Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, as inspiration.
To rehearse and perform these works at St Thomas's Church, Bach probably sat at the harpsichord or stood in front of the choir on the lower gallery at the west end, his back to the congregation and the altar at the east end. He would have looked upwards to the organ that rose from a loft about four metres above. To the right of the organ in a side gallery would have been the winds, brass and timpani; to the left were the strings. The Council provided only about eight permanent instrumentalists, a source of continual friction with the Cantor, who had to recruit the rest of the 20 or so players required for medium-to-large scores from the University, the School and the public. The organ or harpsichord was probably played by the composer (when not standing to conduct), the in-house organist, or one of Bach's elder sons, Wilhelm Friedemann or Carl Philipp Emanuel.
Bach drew the soprano and alto choristers from the School, and the tenors and basses from the School and elsewhere in Leipzig. Performing at weddings and funerals provided extra income for these groups; it was probably for this purpose, and for in-school training, that he wrote at least six motets, mostly for double choir. As part of his regular church work, he performed motets of the Venetian school and Germans such as Heinrich Schütz, which would have served as formal models for his own motets.
Having spent much of the 1720s composing cantatas, Bach had assembled a huge repertoire of church music for Leipzig's two main churches. He now wished to broaden his composing and performing beyond the liturgy. In March 1729, he took over the directorship of the Collegium Musicum, a secular performance ensemble that had been started in 1701 by his old friend, the composer Georg Philipp Telemann. This was one of the dozens of private societies in the major German-speaking cities that had been established by musically active university students; these societies had come to play an increasingly important role in public musical life and were typically led by the most prominent professionals in a city. In the words of Christoph Wolff, assuming the directorship was a shrewd move that 'consolidated Bach's firm grip on Leipzig's principal musical institutions'.[11] During much of the year, Leipzig's Collegium Musicum gave twice-weekly, two-hour performances in Zimmerman's Coffeehouse on Catherine Street, just off the main market square. For this purpose, the proprietor provided a large hall and acquired several musical instruments. Many of Bach's works during the 1730s and 1740s were probably written for and performed by the Collegium Musicum; among these were almost certainly parts of the Clavier-Übung (Keyboard Practice) and many of the violin and harpsichord concertos.
Zimmerman's Coffeehouse in Leipzig, where Bach's Collegium Musicum gave regular concertsDuring this period, he composed the Kyrie and Gloria of the Mass in B Minor, and in 1733, he presented the manuscript to the Elector of Saxony in an ultimately successful bid to persuade the monarch to appoint him as Royal Court Composer. He later extended this work into a full Mass, by adding a Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei, the music for which was almost wholly taken from some of the best of his cantata movements. Bach's appointment as court composer appears to have been part of his long-term struggle to achieve greater bargaining power with the Leipzig Council. Although the complete mass was probably never performed during the composer's lifetime, it is considered to be among the greatest choral works of all time. Between 1737 and 1739, Bach's former pupil Carl Gotthelf Gerlach took over the directorship of the Collegium Musicum.
In 1747, Bach went to the court of Frederick II of Prussia in Potsdam, where the king played a theme for Bach and challenged him to improvise a fugue based on his theme. Bach improvised a three-part fugue on Frederick's pianoforte, then a novelty, and later presented the king with a Musical Offering which consists of fugues, canons and a trio based on the "royal theme", nominated by the monarch. Its six-part fugue includes a slightly altered subject more suitable for extensive elaboration.
The Art of Fugue, published posthumously but probably written years before Bach's death, is unfinished. It consists of 18 complex fugues and canons based on a simple theme. A magnum opus of thematic transformation and contrapuntal devices, this work is often cited as the summation of polyphonic techniques.
The final work Bach completed was a chorale prelude for organ, dictated to his son-in-law, Johann Altnikol, from his deathbed. Entitled Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit (Before thy throne I now appear, BWV 668a); when the notes on the three staves of the final cadence are counted and mapped onto the Roman alphabet, the initials "JSB" are found. The chorale is often played after the unfinished 14th fugue to conclude performances of The Art of Fugue.
Death (1750)
The 1750 "Volbach Portrait" may show Bach in the last months of his life[12]Bach's health may have been in decline in 1749, as on 2 June, Heinrich von Brühl wrote to one of the Leipzig burgomasters to request that his music director, Gottlob Harrer, immediately begin to audition someone to succeed to the Thomascantor and Director musices posts "upon the eventual... decease of Mr. Bach."[13] Bach became increasingly blind, and a celebrated British quack John Taylor (who had operated unsuccessfully on Handel) operated on Bach while visiting Leipzig in 1750. Bach died on 28 July 1750 at the age of 65. A contemporary newspaper reported the cause of death was "from the unhappy consequences of the very unsuccessful eye operation".[14] Some modern historians speculate the cause of death was a stroke complicated by pneumonia.[15][16][17] His estate was valued at 1159 Thalers and included 5 Clavecins, 2 Lute-Harpsichords, 3 violins, 3 violas, 2 cellos, a viola da gamba, a lute and a spinet, 52 "Sacred Books" (many by Martin Luther, Muller and Pfeiffer, also including Josephus' History of the Jews and 9 volumes of Wagner's Leipzig Song Book).[18]
During his life he composed more than 1,000 works.
At Leipzig, Bach seems to have maintained active relationships with several members of the faculty of the university. He enjoyed a particularly fruitful relationship with the poet Picander. Sebastian and Anna Magdalena welcomed friends, family, and fellow musicians from all over Germany into their home. Court musicians at Dresden and Berlin, and musicians including Georg Philipp Telemann (one of Emanuel's godfathers) made frequent visits to Bach's apartment and may have kept up frequent correspondence with him. Interestingly, George Frideric Handel, who was born in the same year as Bach in Halle, only 50 km from Leipzig, made several trips to Germany, but Bach was unable to meet him—a fact that Bach appears to have deeply regretted.[19]
Musical style
Bach's final resting place, St. Thomas' Church, LeipzigBach's musical style arose from his extraordinary fluency in contrapuntal invention and motivic control, his flair for improvisation at the keyboard, his exposure to South German, North German, Italian and French music, and his apparent devotion to the Lutheran liturgy. His access to musicians, scores and instruments as a child and a young man, combined with his emerging talent for writing tightly woven music of powerful sonority, appear to have set him on course to develop an eclectic, energetic musical style in which foreign influences were injected into an intensified version of the pre-existing German musical language. Throughout his teens and 20s, his output showed increasing skill in the large-scale organisation of musical ideas, and the enhancement of the Buxtehudian model of improvisatory preludes and counterpoint of limited complexity. The period 1713–14, when a large repertoire of Italian music became available to the Weimar court orchestra, was a turning point. From this time onwards, he appears to have absorbed into his style the Italians' dramatic openings, clear melodic contours, the sharp outlines of their bass lines, greater motoric and rhythmic conciseness, more unified motivic treatment, and more clearly articulated schemes for modulation.[20]
There are several more specific features of Bach's style. The notation of baroque melodic lines tended to assume that composers would write out only the basic framework, and that performers would embellish this framework by inserting ornamental notes and otherwise elaborating on it. Although this practice varied considerably between the schools of European music, Bach was regarded at the time as being on one extreme end of the spectrum, notating most or all of the details of his melodic lines—particularly in his fast movements—thus leaving little for performers to interpolate. This may have assisted his control over the dense contrapuntal textures that he favoured, which allow less leeway for the spontaneous variation of musical lines. Bach's contrapuntal textures tend to be more cumulative than those of Händel and most other composers of the day, who would typically allow a line to drop out after it had been joined by two or three others. Bach's harmony is marked by a tendency to employ brief tonicisation—subtle references to another key that lasts for only a few beats at the longest—particularly of the supertonic, to add colour to his textures.
The opening of the six-part fugue from The Musical Offering, in Bach's handAt the same time, Bach, unlike later composers, left the instrumentation of major works including The Art of Fugue and The Musical Offering open. It is likely that his detailed notation was less an absolute demand on the performer and more a response to a 17th-century culture in which the boundary between what the performer could embellish and what the composer demanded to be authentic was being negotiated.
Bach's apparently devout, personal relationship with the Christian God in the Lutheran tradition and the high demand for religious music of his times inevitably placed sacred music at the centre of his repertory; more specifically, the Lutheran chorale hymn tune, the principal musical aspect of the Lutheran service, was the basis of much of his output. He invested the chorale prelude, already a standard set of Lutheran forms, with a more cogent, tightly integrated architecture, in which the intervallic patterns and melodic contours of the tune were typically treated in a dense, contrapuntal lattice against relatively slow-moving, overarching statements of the tune.
Bach's theology also informed his compositional structures: Sei Gegrüsset is perhaps the finest example where there is a theme with 11 variations (making 12 movements) that, while still one work, becomes two sets of six—to match Lutheran preaching principles of repetition. At the same time the theological interpretation of 'master' and 11 disciples would not be lost on his contemporary audience. Further, the practical relationship of each variation to the next (in preparing registration and the expected textural changes) seems to show an incredible capacity to preach through the music using the musical forms available at the time.
Bach's seal, used throughout his Leipzig years. It contains the letters J S B superimposed over their mirror image topped with a crown.Bach's deep knowledge of and interest in the liturgy led to his developing intricate relationships between music and linguistic text. This was evident from the smallest to the largest levels of his compositional technique. On the smallest level, many of his sacred works contain short motifs that, by recurrent association, can be regarded as pictorial symbolism and articulations of liturgical concepts. For example, the octave leap, usually in a bass line, represents the relationship between heaven and earth; the slow, repeated notes of the bass line in the opening movement of Cantata 106 (Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit) depict the laboured trudging of Jesus as he was forced to drag the cross from the city to the crucifixion site.
On the largest level, the large-scale structure of some of his sacred vocal works is evidence of subtle, elaborate planning: for example, the overall form of the St. Matthew Passion illustrates the liturgical and dramatic flow of the Easter story on a number of levels simultaneously; the text, keys and variations of instrumental and vocal forces used in the movements of Cantata 11 (Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen) may form a structure that resembles the cross.
Beyond these specific musical features arising from Bach's religious affiliation is the fact that he was able to produce music for an audience that was committed to serious, regular worship, for which a concentrated density and complexity was accepted. His natural inclination may have been to reinvigorate existing forms, rather than to discard them and pursue more dramatic musical innovations. Thus, Bach's inventive genius was almost entirely directed towards working within the structures he inherited, according to most critics and historians.
Frontispiece of Bach's Clavier-Büchlein vor Anna Magdalena Bach, composed in 1722 for his second wifeBach's inner personal drive to display his musical achievements was evident in a number of ways. The most obvious was his successful striving to become the leading virtuoso and improviser of the day on the organ. Keyboard music occupied a central position in his output throughout his life, and he pioneered the elevation of the keyboard from continuo to solo instrument in his numerous harpsichord concertos and chamber movements with keyboard obbligato, in which he himself probably played the solo part. Many of his keyboard preludes are vehicles for a free improvisatory virtuosity in the German tradition, although their internal organisation became increasingly more cogent as he matured. Virtuosity is a key element in other forms, such as the fugal movement from Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, in which Bach himself may have been the first to play the rapid solo violin passages. Another example is in the organ fugue from BWV 548, a late work from Leipzig, in which virtuosic passages are mapped onto Italian solo-tutti alternation within the fugal development.
Related to his cherished role as teacher was his drive to encompass whole genres by producing collections of movements that thoroughly explore the range of artistic and technical possibilities inherent in those genres. The most famous examples are the two books of the Well Tempered Clavier, each of which presents a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key, in which a variety of contrapuntal and fugal techniques are displayed. The English and French Suites, and the Partitas, all keyboard works from the Cöthen period, systematically explore a range of metres and of sharp and flat keys. This urge to manifest structures is evident throughout his life: the Goldberg Variations (1746?), include a sequence of canons at increasing intervals (unison, seconds, thirds, etc.), and The Art of Fugue (1749) can be seen as a compendium of fugal techniques.
Family members
See also: Bach family
Bach married his second cousin Maria Barbara Bach in 1707. They had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood:
Catharina Dorothea (28 December 1708 – 14 January 1774).
Wilhelm Friedemann (22 November 1710 – 1 July 1784).
Carl Philipp Emanuel (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788).
Johann Gottfried Bernhard (11 May 1715 – 27 May 1739).
Maria died in 1720, and Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcke in 1721. They had a further thirteen children, six of whom survived to adulthood:
Gottfried Heinrich (1724–63)
Elisabeth Juliana Friederica, called "Lieschen" (1726–81)
Johann Christoph Friedrich, the 'Bückeburg' Bach (1732–95)
Johann Christian, the 'London' Bach (1735–82)
Johanna Carolina (1737–81)
Regina Susanna (1742–1809)
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–84)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–88)
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732–95)
Johann Christian Bach
(1735–82)
Works
Main articles: BWV and List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
See also: Category:Compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, List of fugal works by Johann Sebastian Bach, and List of transcriptions of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
J.S. Bach's works are indexed with BWV numbers, an initialism for Bach Werke Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue). The catalogue, published in 1950, was compiled by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue is organised thematically, rather than chronologically: BWV 1–224 are cantatas; BWV 225–249, the large-scale choral works; BWV 250–524, chorales and sacred songs; BWV 525–748, organ works; BWV 772–994, other keyboard works; BWV 995–1000, lute music; BWV 1001–40, chamber music; BWV 1041–71, orchestral music; and BWV 1072–1126, canons and fugues. In compiling the catalogue, Schmieder largely followed the Bach Gesellschaft Ausgabe, a comprehensive edition of the composer's works that was produced between 1850 and 1905. For a list of works catalogued by BWV number, see List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Organ works
Bach was best known during his lifetime as an organist, organ consultant, and composer of organ works in both the traditional German free genres—such as preludes, fantasias, and toccatas—and stricter forms, such as chorale preludes and fugues. He established a reputation at a young age for his great creativity and ability to integrate foreign styles into his organ works. A decidedly North German influence was exerted by Georg Böhm, with whom Bach came into contact in Lüneburg, and Dieterich Buxtehude in Lübeck, whom the young organist visited in 1704 on an extended leave of absence from his job in Arnstadt. Around this time, Bach copied the works of numerous French and Italian composers to gain insights into their compositional languages, and later arranged violin concertos by Vivaldi and others for organ and harpsichord. His most productive period (1708–14) saw the composition of several pairs of preludes & fugues and toccatas & fugues, and of the Orgelbüchlein ("Little organ book"), an unfinished collection of 45 short chorale preludes that demonstrate compositional techniques in the setting of chorale tunes. After he left Weimar, Bach's output for organ fell off, although his best-known works (the six trio sonatas, the "German Organ Mass" in Clavier-Übung III from 1739, and the "Great Eighteen" chorales, revised late in his life) were all composed after this time. Bach was extensively engaged later in his life in consulting on organ projects, testing newly built organs, and dedicating organs in afternoon recitals.[21][22] One of the high points may be the third part of the Clavier-Übung, a setting of 21 chorale preludes uniting the traditional Catholic Missa with the Lutheran catechism liturgy, the whole set interpolated between the mighty "St. Anne" Prelude and Fugue on the theme of the Trinity.
Other keyboard works
The title page of the third part of the Clavier-Übung, one of the few works by Bach that was published during his lifetime.Bach wrote many works for the harpsichord, some of which may also have been played on the clavichord. Many of his keyboard works are anthologies that show an eagerness to encompass whole theoretical systems in an encyclopaedic fashion.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2 (BWV 846–893). Each book comprises a prelude and fugue in each of the 24 major and minor keys in chromatic order from C major to B minor (thus, the whole collection is often referred to as 'the 48'). "Well-tempered" in the title refers to the temperament (system of tuning); many temperaments before Bach's time were not flexible enough to allow compositions to move through more than just a few keys.
The 15 Inventions and 15 Sinfonias (BWV 772–801). These short two- and three-part contrapuntal works are arranged in the same chromatic order as the Well-Tempered Clavier, omitting some of the less used keys. The pieces were intended by Bach for instructional purposes.
Three collections of dance suites: the English Suites (BWV 806–811), the French Suites (BWV 812–817) and the Partitas for keyboard (BWV 825–830). Each collection contains six suites built on the standard model (Allemande–Courante–Sarabande–(optional movement)–Gigue). The English Suites closely follow the traditional model, adding a prelude before the allemande and including a single movement between the sarabande and the gigue. The French Suites omit preludes, but have multiple movements between the sarabande and the gigue. The partitas expand the model further with elaborate introductory movements and miscellaneous movements between the basic elements of the model.
The Goldberg Variations (BWV 988), an aria with thirty variations. The collection has a complex and unconventional structure: the variations build on the bass line of the aria, rather than its melody, and musical canons are interpolated according to a grand plan. There are nine canons within the 30 variations, one placed every three variations between variations 3 and 27. These variations move in order from canon at the unison to canon at the ninth. The first eight are in pairs (unison and octave, second and seventh, third and sixth, fourth and fifth). The ninth canon stands on its own due to compositional dissimilarities.
Miscellaneous pieces such as the Overture in the French Style (French Overture, BWV 831), Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue (BWV 903), and the Italian Concerto (BWV 971).
Among Bach's lesser known keyboard works are seven toccatas (BWV 910–916), four duets (BWV 802–805), sonatas for keyboard (BWV 963–967), the Six Little Preludes (BWV 933–938), and the Aria variata alla maniera italiana (BWV 989).
Orchestral and chamber music
Bach wrote music for single instruments, duets and small ensembles. Bach's works for solo instruments—the six sonatas and partitas for violin (BWV 1001–1006), the six cello suites (BWV 1007–1012) and the Partita for solo flute (BWV 1013)—may be listed among the most profound works in the repertoire. Bach also composed a suite and several other works for solo lute. He wrote trio sonatas; solo sonatas (accompanied by continuo) for the flute and for the viola da gamba; and a large number of canons and ricercare, mostly for unspecified instrumentation. The most significant examples of the latter are contained in The Art of Fugue and The Musical Offering.
Bach's best-known orchestral works are the Brandenburg concertos, so named because he submitted them in the hope of gaining employment from Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt in 1721; his application was unsuccessful. These works are examples of the concerto grosso genre. Other surviving works in the concerto form include two violin concertos (BWV 1041 and BWV 1042); a Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor (BWV 1043), often referred to as Bach's "double" concerto; and concertos for one, two, three and even four harpsichords. It is widely accepted that many of the harpsichord concertos were not original works, but arrangements of his concertos for other instruments now lost. A number of violin, oboe and flute concertos have been reconstructed from these. In addition to concertos, Bach also wrote four orchestral suites, a series of stylised dances for orchestra, each preceded by a French overture. The work now known as the Air on the G String is an arrangement for the violin made in the nineteenth century from the second movement of the Orchestral Suite No. 3.
Vocal and choral works
Bach performed a cantata on Sunday at the Thomaskirche, on a theme corresponding to the lectionary readings of the week, as determined by the Lutheran Church Year calendar. He did not perform cantatas during the seasons of Lent and Advent. Although he performed cantatas by other composers, he also composed at least three entire sets of cantatas, one for each Sunday and holiday of the church year, at Leipzig, in addition to those composed at Mühlhausen and Weimar. In total he wrote more than 300 sacred cantatas, of which approximately 195 survive.
His cantatas vary greatly in form and instrumentation. Some of them are only for a solo singer; some are single choruses; some are for grand orchestras; some only a few instruments. A very common format, however, includes a large opening chorus followed by one or more recitative-aria pairs for soloists (or duets) and a concluding chorale. The recitative is part of the corresponding Bible reading for the week and the aria is a contemporary reflection on it. The melody of the concluding chorale often appears as a cantus firmus in the opening movement. Among the best known cantatas are BWV 4 ("Christ lag in Todesbanden"), BWV 21 ("Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis"), BWV 80 ("Ein' feste Burg"), BWV 106 ("Actus Tragicus"), BWV 140 ("Wachet auf") and BWV 147 ("Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben").
In addition, Bach wrote a number of secular cantatas, usually for civic events such as council inaugurations. These also include wedding cantatas, the Wedding Quodlibet, the Peasant Cantata and the Coffee Cantata, which concerns a girl whose father will not let her marry until she gives up her addiction to that extremely popular drink.
Bach's large choral-orchestral works include the famous St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, both written for Good Friday vespers services at St. Thomas' and St. Nicholas' Churches in alternate years, and the Christmas Oratorio (a set of six cantatas for use in the Liturgical season of Christmas). The Magnificat in two versions (one in E-flat major, with four interpolated Christmas-related movements, and the later and better-known version in D major) and the Easter Oratorio compare to large, elaborate cantatas, of a lesser extent than the Passions and the Christmas Oratorio.
Bach's other large work, the Mass in B minor, was assembled by Bach near the end of his life, mostly from pieces composed earlier (such as cantata BWV 191 and BWV 12). It was never performed in Bach's lifetime, or even after his death, until the 19th century.
All of these works, unlike the six motets (Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied; Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf; Jesu, meine Freude; Fürchte dich nicht; Komm, Jesu, komm!; and Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden), have substantial solo parts as well as choruses.
Bach's copy of a two volume Bible commentary by the orthodox Lutheran theologian, Abraham Calov, was discovered in the 1950s in a barn in Minnesota, purchased apparently in Germany as part of a "job lot" of old books and brought to America by an immigrant. Its provenance was verified and it was subsequently deposited in the rare book holdings of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. It contains his markings of texts for his cantatas and notes. It is only rarely displayed to the public. A study of the so-called Bach Bible was prepared by Robin Leaver, titled J.S. Bach and Scripture: Glosses from the Calov Bible Commentary (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1985).
Performances
Present-day Bach performers usually pursue either of two traditions: so-called "authentic performance practice", utilising historical techniques, or alternatively the use of modern instruments and playing techniques, with a tendency towards larger ensembles. In Bach's time orchestras and choirs were usually smaller than those known to, for example, Brahms, and even Bach's most ambitious choral works, such as his Mass in B minor and Passions, are composed for relatively modest forces. Some of Bach's important chamber music does not indicate instrumentation, which gives greater latitude for variety of ensemble.
Easy listening realisations of Bach's music and its use in advertising also contributed greatly to Bach's popularisation in the second half of the twentieth century. Among these were the Swingle Singers' versions of Bach pieces that are now well-known (for instance, the Air on the G string, or the Wachet Auf chorale prelude) and Wendy Carlos' 1968 ground-breaking recording Switched-On Bach, using the then recently-invented Moog electronic synthesiser. Jazz musicians have also adopted Bach's music, with Jacques Loussier, Ian Anderson, Uri Caine and the Modern Jazz Quartet among those creating jazz versions of Bach works.
Legacy
Since being moved in 1938, the Donndorf statue of Bach now stands in the Frauenplan in Eisenach. The pedestal has been shortened and the relief now is at the wall in the background.In his later years and after his death, Bach's reputation as a composer declined; his work was regarded as old-fashioned compared to the emerging classical style.[23] Initially he was remembered more as a player, teacher and as the father of his children, most notably Johann Christian and Carl Philipp Emanuel. (Two other children, Wilhelm Friedmann and Johann Christoph Friedrich, were also composers.)
During this time, his works for keyboard were those most appreciated and composers ever since have acknowledged his mastery of the genre. Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin were among his most prominent admirers. On a visit to Thomasschule, for example, Mozart heard a performance of one of the motets (BWV 225) and exclaimed "Now, here is something one can learn from!"; on being given the motets' parts, "Mozart sat down, the parts all around him, held in both hands, on his knees, on the nearest chairs. Forgetting everything else, he did not stand up again until he had looked through all the music of Sebastian Bach". Beethoven was a devotee, learning the Well-Tempered Clavier as a child and later calling Bach the "Urvater der Harmonie" ("Original father of Harmony") and, in a pun on the literal meaning of Bach's name, "nicht Bach, sondern Meer" ("not a brook, but a sea"). Before performing a concert, Chopin used to lock himself away and play Bach's music. Several notable composers, including Mozart, Beethoven, Robert Schumann, and Felix Mendelssohn began writing in a more contrapuntal style after being introduced to Bach's music.
Today the "Bach style" continues to influence musical composition, from hymns and religious works to pop and rock. Many of Bach's themes—particularly the theme from Toccata and Fugue in D minor—have been used in rock songs repeatedly and have received notable popularity. Bach has even been referred to as "the father of all music."[24]
The revival in the composer's reputation among the wider public was prompted in part by Johann Nikolaus Forkel's 1802 biography, which was read by Beethoven. Goethe became acquainted with Bach's works relatively late in life through a series of performances of keyboard and choral works at Bad Berka in 1814 and 1815; in a letter of 1827 he compared the experience of listening to Bach's music to "eternal harmony in dialogue with itself".[25] But it was Felix Mendelssohn who did the most to revive Bach's reputation with his 1829 Berlin performance of the St. Matthew Passion. Hegel, who attended the performance, later called Bach a "grand, truly Protestant, robust and, so to speak, erudite genius which we have only recently learned again to appreciate at its full value".[26] Mendelssohn's promotion of Bach, and the growth of the composer's stature, continued in subsequent years. The Bach Gesellschaft (Bach Society) was founded in 1850 to promote the works, publishing a comprehensive edition over the subsequent half century.
The Bach monument that was constructed in 1884 by Adolf von Donndorf and erected in front of the Georgenkirche at the Marktplatz in Eisenach.Thereafter, Bach's reputation has remained consistently high. During the twentieth century, the process of recognising the musical as well as the pedagogic value of some of the works has continued, perhaps most notably in the promotion of the Cello Suites by Pablo Casals. Another development has been the growth of the "authentic" or period performance movement, which, as far as possible, attempts to present the music as the composer intended it. Examples include the playing of keyboard works on the harpsichord rather than a modern grand piano and the use of small choirs or single voices instead of the larger forces favoured by nineteenth- and early twentieth-century performers.
Johann Sebastian Bach's contributions to music—or, to borrow a term popularised by his student Lorenz Christoph Mizler, his "musical science"—are frequently bracketed with those by William Shakespeare in English literature and Isaac Newton in physics. Scientist and author Lewis Thomas once suggested how the people of Earth should communicate with the universe: "I would vote for Bach, all of Bach, streamed out into space, over and over again. We would be bragging, of course, but it is surely excusable to put the best possible face on at the beginning of such an acquaintance. We can tell the harder truths later."
Some composers have paid tribute to Bach by setting his name in musical notes (B-flat, A, C, B-natural; B-natural is notated as "H" in German musical texts, while B-flat is just "B") or using contrapuntal derivatives. Liszt, for example, wrote a praeludium & fugue on this BACH motif (existing in versions both for organ and piano). Bach himself set the precedent for this musical acronym, most notably in Contrapunctus XIV from the Art of Fugue. Whereas Bach also conceived this cruciform melody (among other similar ones) as a sign of devotion to Christ and his cross, later composers have employed the BACH motif in homage to the composer himself.
Some of the greatest composers since Bach have written works that explicitly pay homage to him. Examples include Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues, and Brahms's Cello Sonata in E, whose finale is based on themes from the Art of Fugue. A 20th-century work very strongly influenced by Bach is Villa-Lobos' Bachianas brasileiras. Stephen Sondheim once claimed he listened to no one else except Bach.
He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 28 July.
Johann Sebastian Bach Straße in Wittenberg, GermanyBach is the most represented artist on the Voyager Golden Record, a phonograph record included in two Voyager missions. Bach's compositions comprise three of the 27 recordings chosen. Many early examples of synthesised music played on the Commodore 64 home computer's SID chip were realisations of Bach's contrapuntal works.
Although Bach fathered twenty children, only ten survived infancy. He has no known descendants living today. His great-granddaughter—Frau Carolina Augusta Wilhelmine Ritter, who died May 13, 1871—was his last known descendant.[27]
A modern reconstruction of Johann Sebastian Bach's head using computer modeling techniques, unveiled 3 March 2008 in Berlin, showed the composer as a strong-jawed man with a slight underbite, his large head topped with short, silver hair.[28]
Media
A number of recordings are available at List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
See also
Abraham Calovius-the commentator for his 3-volume study Bible.[29]
Agenda-as appointed by Church Order, this directed worship.
Chorale-a hymn sung by the entire congregation.
Divine Service (Gottesdienst)-liturgy used among Lutherans for a mass.
Law and Gospel-his sacred cantatas reflect this hermeneutic.[30]
List of students of Johann Sebastian Bach
Lutheran Orthodoxy-religious convictions which motivated his sacred works.[31]
Luther's Small Catechism-he taught this catechism as the Thomascantor in Leipzig[32] and some of his pieces represent it.[33]
Notes
^ a b Grout, Donald (1980). A History of Western Music. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 435. ISBN 0-393-95136-7.
^ Printed in translation in The Bach Reader (ISBN 0393002594)
^ Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 41–43. ISBN 0-393-04825-X.
^ Rich, Alan (1995). Johann Sebastiam Bach: Play by Play. Harper Collins. pp. 27. ISBN 0-06-263547-6.
^ "Classical Net - Basic Repertoire List - Buxtehude". Classical.net. http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/buxtehude.php. Retrieved on 2008-09-20.
^ Mendel 1999, p. 43
^ "The Face Of Bach". Nathan P. Johansen. http://www.npj.com/thefaceofbach/09w624.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ Mendel 1999, p. 80
^ Wolff 1983, p. 98, 111
^ Butt, John (1997-06-28). The Cambridge Companion to Bach. Cambridge University Press. pp. 17–34. ISBN 0521587808.
^ Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 341. ISBN 0-393-04825-X.
^ Towe, Teri Noel (2000-08-28). "The Inscrutable Volbach Portrait". The Face of Bach. http://www.npj.com/thefaceofbach/08w828.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
^ Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 442. ISBN 0-393-04825-X.
^ Mendel 1999, p. 188
^ Breitenfeld, Tomislav; Solter, Vesna Vargek; Breitenfeld, Darko; Zavoreo, Iris; Demarin, Vida (2006-01-03). "Johann Sebastian Bach's Strokes" (PDF). Acta Clinica Croatica (Sisters of Charity Hospital) 45 (1). http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak_download&id_clanak_jezik=21520. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
^ Baer, Ka. (1956). "Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) in medical history". Bulletin of the Medical Library Association (Medical Library Association) 39 (206).
^ Breitenfeld, D.; Thaller, V; Breitenfeld, T; Golik-Gruber, V; Pogorevc, T; Zoričić, Z; Grubišić, F (2000). "The pathography of Bach's family". Alcoholism 36: 161–164.
^ Mendel 1999, pp. 191–97
^ Mendel 1999, p. 407
^ Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 401. ISBN 0-393-04825-X.
^ "Bach, Johann Sebastian". ClassicalPlus. http://classicalplus.gmn.com/composers/composer.asp?id=2. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ "Arnstadt (1703–1707)". Northern Arizona University. http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/arnstadt.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ Beethoven: The Universal Composer. Edmund Morris. 2005. p. 2 - noting that Bach was "mocked as passe even in his own lifetime."
^ "Why was Bach considered the father of all music???". Able2Know. http://www.able2know.org/forums/about41366.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ "Wittheits-Vortrag über „Goethe und Johann Sebastian Bach“" (in German). Bremen. http://www2.bremen.de/web/owa/p_anz_presse_mitteilung?pi_mid=76241. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244". Bach Cantatas. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV244-Spering.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ Terry, C. Sanford (1930-06-01). "Has Bach Surviving Descendants?". The Musical Times (JSTOR) 71 (1048): 511–513. doi:10.2307/917359. http://j.s.bach.gr.jp/tomita/script/bach2.pl?22=10824. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
^ Terry, C. Sanford (2008-03-03). "What did Bach look like?" ([dead link] – Scholar search). The Musical Times (CNN) 71: 511. doi:10.2307/917359. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/03/reconstructing.bach.ap/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
^ Maxwell, D.R.Theological Symbolism in the Organ Works of J.S. Bach
^ Analyzing Bach Cantatas By Chafe, E.T.Analyzing Bach Cantatas. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2000.
^ Herl, J. Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism: Choir, Congregation, and Three Centuries of Conflict. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
^ Leaver, R.A.Luther's Liturgical Music. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2007.
^ For example, see Grove, G. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 4. New York: Macmillian, 1980. p. 335.
References
Mendel, Arthur (1999), The New Bach Reader, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0393319563 .
Wolff, Christopher (1983), The New Grove: Bach Family, Papermac, ISBN 0333343506 .
Further reading
Baron, Carol K. (2006-06-09). Bach's Changing World:: Voices in the Community. University of Rochester. ISBN 1580461905.
Boyd, Malcolm (2001-01-18). Bach. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195142225.
Eidam, Klaus (2001-07-03). The True Life Of J.s. Bach. Basic Books. ISBN 0465018610.
Geck, Martin (2006-12-04). Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work. Harcourt Trade Publishers. ISBN 0151006482.
Hofstadter, Douglas (1999-02-04). Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. Basic Books. ISBN 0465026567.
Schweitzer, Albert (1967-06-01). J. S. Bach (Vol 1). Dover Publications. ISBN 0486216314.
Spitta, Philipp (1997-07-03). Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750 (Volume II). Dover Publications. ISBN 0486274136.
Stauffer, George (February 1986). J. S. Bach As Organist: His Instruments, Music, and Performance Practices. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253331811.
Williams, Peter (2007-03-05). J.S. Bach: A Life in Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521870747.
Wolff, Christoph (September 2001). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393322564
"Bach" redirects here. For other uses, see Bach (disambiguation).
Bach in a 1748 portrait by HaussmannJohann Sebastian Bach (pronounced [joˈhan/ˈjoːhan zeˈbastjan ˈbax]) (31 March 1685 [O.S. 21 March] – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.[1] Although he introduced no new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and motivic organisation in composition for diverse instrumentation, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad, particularly Italy and France.
Revered for their intellectual depth, technical command and artistic beauty, Bach's works include the Brandenburg concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Partitas, the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Mass in B Minor, the St. Matthew Passion, the St. John Passion, the Magnificat, The Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue, the English Suites, the French Suites, the Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo, the Cello Suites, more than 200 surviving cantatas, and a similar number of organ works, including the celebrated Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.
While Bach's fame as an organist was great during his lifetime, he was not particularly well-known as a composer. His adherence to Baroque forms and contrapuntal style was considered "old-fashioned" by his contemporaries, especially late in his career when the musical fashion tended towards Rococo and later Classical styles. A revival of interest and performances of his music began early in the 19th century, and he is now widely considered to be one of the greatest composers in the Western tradition.
Contents
1 Childhood (1685–1703)
2 Arnstadt to Weimar (1703–08)
3 Weimar (1708–17)
4 Cöthen (1717–23)
5 Leipzig (1723–50)
6 Death (1750)
7 Musical style
8 Family members
9 Works
9.1 Organ works
9.2 Other keyboard works
9.3 Orchestral and chamber music
9.4 Vocal and choral works
10 Performances
11 Legacy
12 Media
13 See also
14 Notes
15 References
16 Further reading
17 External links
Childhood (1685–1703)
Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach. He was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, the director of the Stadtpfeifer or town musicians,[1] and Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. His father taught him to play violin and harpsichord. His uncles were all professional musicians, whose posts ranged from church organists and court chamber musicians to composers. One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach (1645–93), was especially famous and introduced him to the art of organ playing. Bach was proud of his family's musical achievements, and around 1735 he drafted a genealogy, "Origin of the musical Bach family".[2]
Johann Ambrosius Bach, Bach's fatherBach's mother died in 1694, and his father eight months later. The 10-year-old orphan moved in with his oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach (1671–1721), the organist at the Michaeliskirche in nearby Ohrdruf. There, he copied, studied and performed music, and apparently received valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on the clavichord. J.C. Bach exposed him to the works of the great South German composers of the day, such as Johann Pachelbel (under whom Johann Christoph had studied) and Johann Jakob Froberger; possibly to the music of North German composers, to Frenchmen, such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Louis Marchand, Marin Marais; and to the Italian clavierist Girolamo Frescobaldi. The young Bach probably witnessed and assisted in the maintenance of the organ music. Bach's obituary indicates that he copied music out of Johann Christoph's scores, but his brother had apparently forbidden him to do so, possibly because scores were valuable and private commodities at the time.
At the age of 14, Bach, along with his older school friend George Erdmann, was awarded a choral scholarship to study at the prestigious St. Michael's School in Lüneburg, not far from the northern seaport of Hamburg, one of the largest cities in the Holy Roman Empire.[3] This involved a long journey with his friend, probably undertaken partly on foot and partly by coach. His two years there appear to have been critical in exposing him to a wider palette of European culture than he would have experienced in Thuringia. In addition to singing in the a cappella choir, it is likely that he played the School's three-manual organ and its harpsichords. He probably learned French and Italian, and received a thorough grounding in theology, Latin, history, geography, and physics. He would have come into contact with sons of noblemen from northern Germany sent to the highly selective school to prepare for careers in diplomacy, government, and the military.
Although little supporting historical evidence exists at this time, it is almost certain that while in Lüneburg, young Bach would have visited the Johanniskirche (Church of St. John) and heard (and possibly played) the church's famous organ (built in 1549 by Jasper Johannsen and nicknamed the "Böhm organ" after its most prominent master). Given his innate musical talent, Bach would have had significant contact with prominent organists of the day in Lüneburg, most notably Georg Böhm (the organist at Johanniskirche) as well as organists in nearby Hamburg, such as Johann Adam Reincken. Through contact with these musicians, Bach probably gained access to the largest and finest instruments he had played thus far. It is likely that during this stage he became acquainted with the music of the German organ schools, especially the work of Dieterich Buxtehude, and with music manuscripts and treatises on music theory that were in the possession of these musicians.
Arnstadt to Weimar (1703–08)
St. Boniface's Church in ArnstadtIn January 1703, shortly after graduating and failing an audition for an organist's post at Sangerhausen[4], Bach took up a post as a court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar, a large town in Thuringia. His role there is unclear, but appears to have included menial, non-musical duties. During his seven-month tenure at Weimar, his reputation as a keyboard player spread. He was invited to inspect and give the inaugural recital on the new organ at St. Boniface's Church in Arnstadt. The Bach family had close connections with this oldest town in Thuringia, about 180 km to the southwest of Weimar at the edge of the great forest. In August 1703, he accepted the post of organist at that church, with light duties, a relatively generous salary, and a fine new organ tuned to a modern system that allowed a wide range of keys to be used. At this time, Bach was embarking on the serious composition of organ preludes; these works, in the North German tradition of virtuosic, improvisatory preludes, already showed tight motivic control (where a single, short music idea is explored cogently throughout a movement). However, in these works the composer had yet to fully develop his powers of large-scale organisation and his contrapuntal technique (where two or more melodies interact simultaneously).
Strong family connections and a musically enthusiastic employer failed to prevent tension between the young organist and the authorities after several years in the post. He was apparently dissatisfied with the standard of singers in the choir; more seriously, there was his unauthorised absence from Arnstadt for several months in 1705–06, when he visited the great master Dieterich Buxtehude and his Abendmusik in the northern city of Lübeck. This well-known incident in Bach's life involved his walking some 400 kilometres (250 mi) each way to spend time with the man he probably regarded as the father figure of German organists. The trip reinforced Buxtehude's style as a foundation for Bach's earlier works, and that he overstayed his planned visit by several months suggests that his time with the old man was of great value to his art. According to legend, both Bach and George Frederic Handel wanted to become amanuenses of Buxtehude, but neither wanted to marry his daughter, as that was a condition for the position.[5]
According to minutes from the proceedings of the Arnstadt consistory in August 1705, Bach was involved in a brawl in Arnstadt:
“ Johann Sebastian Bach, organist here at the New Church, appeared and stated that, as he walked home yesterday, fairly late night ... six students were sitting on the "Langenstein" (Long Stone), and as he passed the town hall, the student Geyersbach went after him with a stick, calling him to account: Why had he [Bach] made abusive remarks about him? He [Bach] answered that he had made no abusive remarks about him, and that no one could prove it, for he had gone his way very quietly. Geyersbach retorted that while he [Bach] might not have maligned him, he had maligned his bassoon at some time, and whoever insulted his belongings insulted him as well ... [Geyersbach] had at once struck out at him. Since he had not been prepared for this, he had been about to draw his dagger, but Geyersbach had fallen into his arms, and the two of them tumbled about until the rest of the students ... had rushed toward them and separated them.[6] ”
Places in which Bach lived throughout his lifeDespite his comfortable position in Arnstadt, by 1706 Bach appeared to have realised that he needed to escape from the family milieu and move on to further his career. He was offered a more lucrative post as organist at St. Blasius's in Mühlhausen, a large and important city to the north. The following year, he took up this senior post with significantly improved pay and conditions, including a good choir. Four months after arriving at Mühlhausen, he married his second cousin from Arnstadt, Maria Barbara Bach. They had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Two of them—Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach—became important composers in the ornate Rococo style that followed the Baroque.
The church and city government at Mühlhausen must have been proud of their new musical director. They readily agreed to his plan for an expensive renovation of the organ at St. Blasius's, and were so delighted at the elaborate, festive cantata he wrote for the inauguration of the new council in 1708—God is my king BWV 71, clearly in the style of Buxtehude—that they paid handsomely for its publication, and twice in later years had the composer return to conduct it. However, that same year, Bach was offered a better position in Weimar.
Weimar (1708–17)
A portrait of a young man, supposedly of Bach, but disputed[7]After barely a year at Mühlhausen, Bach left, to become the court organist and concertmaster at the ducal court in Weimar, a far cry from his earlier position there as 'lackey'. The munificent salary on offer at the court and the prospect of working entirely with a large, well-funded contingent of professional musicians may have prompted the move. The family moved into an apartment just five minutes' walk from the ducal palace. In the following year, their first child was born and they were joined by Maria Barbara's elder, unmarried sister, who remained with them to assist in the running of the household until her death in 1729. It was in Weimar that the two musically significant sons were born—Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
Bach's position in Weimar marked the start of a sustained period of composing keyboard and orchestral works, in which he had attained the technical proficiency and confidence to extend the prevailing large-scale structures and to synthesise influences from abroad. From the music of Italians such as Vivaldi, Corelli and Torelli, he learnt how to write dramatic openings and adopted their sunny dispositions, dynamic motor-rhythms and decisive harmonic schemes. Bach inducted himself into these stylistic aspects largely by transcribing for harpsichord and organ the ensemble concertos of Vivaldi; these works are still concert favourites. He may have picked up the idea of transcribing the latest fashionable Italian music from Prince Johann Ernst, one of his employers, who was a musician of professional calibre. In 1713, the Duke returned from a tour of the Low Countries with a large collection of scores, some of them possibly transcriptions of the latest fashionable Italian music by the blind organist Jan Jacob de Graaf. Bach was particularly attracted to the Italian solo-tutti structure, in which one or more solo instruments alternate section-by-section with the full orchestra throughout a movement.
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor (BWV 1001) in Bach's handwritingIn Weimar, he had the opportunity to play and compose for the organ, and to perform a varied repertoire of concert music with the duke's ensemble. A master of contrapuntal technique, Bach's steady output of fugues began in Weimar. The largest single body of his fugal writing is Das wohltemperierte Clavier ("The well-tempered keyboard"—Clavier meaning keyboard instrument). It consists of two collections compiled in 1722 and 1744, each containing a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key. This is a monumental work for its masterful use of counterpoint and its exploration, for the first time, of the full range of keys–and the means of expression made possible by their slight differences from each other—available to keyboardists when their instruments are tuned according to systems such as that of Andreas Werckmeister.
During his tenure at Weimar, Bach started work on The little organ book for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann; this contains traditional Lutheran chorales (hymn tunes), set in complex textures to assist the training of organists. The book illustrates two major themes in Bach's life: his dedication to teaching and his love of the chorale as a musical form.
Bach eventually fell out of favour in Weimar and was, according to the court secretary's report, jailed for almost a month before being unfavourably dismissed:
“ On November 6, [1717], the quondam concertmaster and organist Bach was confined to the County Judge's place of detention for too stubbornly forcing the issue of his dismissal and finally on December 2 was freed from arrest with notice of his unfavourable discharge.[8] ”
Cöthen (1717–23)
The palace and gardens at Cöthen in an engraving from Matthäus Merian's Topographia (1650)Bach began once again to search out a more stable job that was conducive to his musical interests. Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen hired Bach to serve as his Kapellmeister (director of music). Prince Leopold, himself a musician, appreciated Bach's talents, paid him well, and gave him considerable latitude in composing and performing. However, the prince was Calvinist and did not use elaborate music in his worship; thus, most of Bach's work from this period was secular, including the Orchestral suites, the Six suites for solo cello and the Sonatas and partitas for solo violin. The well-known Brandenburg concertos date from this period.
On 7 July 1720, while Bach was abroad with Prince Leopold, tragedy struck: his wife, Maria Barbara, the mother of his first 7 children, died suddenly. The following year, the widower met Anna Magdalena Wilcke, a young, highly gifted soprano 17 years his junior, who performed at the court in Cöthen; they married on 3 December 1721. Together they had 13 more children, six of whom survived into adulthood: Gottfried Heinrich, Johann Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian, all of whom became significant musicians; Elisabeth Juliane Friederica (1726–81), who married Bach's pupil Johann Christoph Altnikol; Johanna Carolina (1737–81); and Regina Susanna (1742–1809).[9]
Commemorative statue of J.S. Bach in Leipzig
Leipzig (1723–50)
In 1723, Bach was appointed Cantor of Thomasschule, adjacent to the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas' Lutheran Church) in Leipzig, as well as Director of Music in the principal churches in the town. This was a prestigious post in the leading mercantile city in Saxony, a neighbouring electorate to Thuringia. Apart from his brief tenures in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, this was Bach's first government position in a career that had mainly involved service to the aristocracy. This final post, which he held for 27 years until his death, brought him into contact with the political machinations of his employer, the Leipzig Council. The Council comprised two factions: the Absolutists, loyal to the Saxon monarch in Dresden, Augustus the Strong; and the City-Estate faction, representing the interests of the mercantile class, the guilds and minor aristocrats. Bach was the nominee of the monarchists, in particular of the Mayor at the time, Gottlieb Lange, a lawyer who had earlier served in the Dresden court. In return for agreeing to Bach's appointment, the City-Estate faction was granted control of the School, and Bach was required to make a number of compromises with respect to his working conditions.[10] Although it appears that no one on the Council doubted Bach's musical genius, there was continual tension between the Cantor, who regarded himself as the leader of church music in the city, and the City-Estate faction, which saw him as a schoolmaster and wanted to reduce the emphasis on elaborate music in both the School and the Churches. The Council never honoured Lange's promise at interview of a handsome salary of 1,000 talers a year, although it did provide Bach and his family with a smaller income and a good apartment at one end of the school building, which was renovated at great expense in 1732.
St Thomas's Church, Leipzig, in the 21st centuryBach's job required him to instruct the students of the Thomasschule in singing and to provide weekly music at the two main churches in Leipzig, St. Thomas' and St Nicholas's. His post also obliged him to teach Latin, but he was allowed to employ a deputy to do this instead. In an astonishing burst of creativity, he wrote up to five annual cantata cycles during his first six years in Leipzig (two of which have apparently been lost). Most of these concerted works expound on the Gospel readings for every Sunday and feast day in the Lutheran year; many were written using traditional church hymns, such as Wachet auf! Ruft uns die Stimme and Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, as inspiration.
To rehearse and perform these works at St Thomas's Church, Bach probably sat at the harpsichord or stood in front of the choir on the lower gallery at the west end, his back to the congregation and the altar at the east end. He would have looked upwards to the organ that rose from a loft about four metres above. To the right of the organ in a side gallery would have been the winds, brass and timpani; to the left were the strings. The Council provided only about eight permanent instrumentalists, a source of continual friction with the Cantor, who had to recruit the rest of the 20 or so players required for medium-to-large scores from the University, the School and the public. The organ or harpsichord was probably played by the composer (when not standing to conduct), the in-house organist, or one of Bach's elder sons, Wilhelm Friedemann or Carl Philipp Emanuel.
Bach drew the soprano and alto choristers from the School, and the tenors and basses from the School and elsewhere in Leipzig. Performing at weddings and funerals provided extra income for these groups; it was probably for this purpose, and for in-school training, that he wrote at least six motets, mostly for double choir. As part of his regular church work, he performed motets of the Venetian school and Germans such as Heinrich Schütz, which would have served as formal models for his own motets.
Having spent much of the 1720s composing cantatas, Bach had assembled a huge repertoire of church music for Leipzig's two main churches. He now wished to broaden his composing and performing beyond the liturgy. In March 1729, he took over the directorship of the Collegium Musicum, a secular performance ensemble that had been started in 1701 by his old friend, the composer Georg Philipp Telemann. This was one of the dozens of private societies in the major German-speaking cities that had been established by musically active university students; these societies had come to play an increasingly important role in public musical life and were typically led by the most prominent professionals in a city. In the words of Christoph Wolff, assuming the directorship was a shrewd move that 'consolidated Bach's firm grip on Leipzig's principal musical institutions'.[11] During much of the year, Leipzig's Collegium Musicum gave twice-weekly, two-hour performances in Zimmerman's Coffeehouse on Catherine Street, just off the main market square. For this purpose, the proprietor provided a large hall and acquired several musical instruments. Many of Bach's works during the 1730s and 1740s were probably written for and performed by the Collegium Musicum; among these were almost certainly parts of the Clavier-Übung (Keyboard Practice) and many of the violin and harpsichord concertos.
Zimmerman's Coffeehouse in Leipzig, where Bach's Collegium Musicum gave regular concertsDuring this period, he composed the Kyrie and Gloria of the Mass in B Minor, and in 1733, he presented the manuscript to the Elector of Saxony in an ultimately successful bid to persuade the monarch to appoint him as Royal Court Composer. He later extended this work into a full Mass, by adding a Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei, the music for which was almost wholly taken from some of the best of his cantata movements. Bach's appointment as court composer appears to have been part of his long-term struggle to achieve greater bargaining power with the Leipzig Council. Although the complete mass was probably never performed during the composer's lifetime, it is considered to be among the greatest choral works of all time. Between 1737 and 1739, Bach's former pupil Carl Gotthelf Gerlach took over the directorship of the Collegium Musicum.
In 1747, Bach went to the court of Frederick II of Prussia in Potsdam, where the king played a theme for Bach and challenged him to improvise a fugue based on his theme. Bach improvised a three-part fugue on Frederick's pianoforte, then a novelty, and later presented the king with a Musical Offering which consists of fugues, canons and a trio based on the "royal theme", nominated by the monarch. Its six-part fugue includes a slightly altered subject more suitable for extensive elaboration.
The Art of Fugue, published posthumously but probably written years before Bach's death, is unfinished. It consists of 18 complex fugues and canons based on a simple theme. A magnum opus of thematic transformation and contrapuntal devices, this work is often cited as the summation of polyphonic techniques.
The final work Bach completed was a chorale prelude for organ, dictated to his son-in-law, Johann Altnikol, from his deathbed. Entitled Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit (Before thy throne I now appear, BWV 668a); when the notes on the three staves of the final cadence are counted and mapped onto the Roman alphabet, the initials "JSB" are found. The chorale is often played after the unfinished 14th fugue to conclude performances of The Art of Fugue.
Death (1750)
The 1750 "Volbach Portrait" may show Bach in the last months of his life[12]Bach's health may have been in decline in 1749, as on 2 June, Heinrich von Brühl wrote to one of the Leipzig burgomasters to request that his music director, Gottlob Harrer, immediately begin to audition someone to succeed to the Thomascantor and Director musices posts "upon the eventual... decease of Mr. Bach."[13] Bach became increasingly blind, and a celebrated British quack John Taylor (who had operated unsuccessfully on Handel) operated on Bach while visiting Leipzig in 1750. Bach died on 28 July 1750 at the age of 65. A contemporary newspaper reported the cause of death was "from the unhappy consequences of the very unsuccessful eye operation".[14] Some modern historians speculate the cause of death was a stroke complicated by pneumonia.[15][16][17] His estate was valued at 1159 Thalers and included 5 Clavecins, 2 Lute-Harpsichords, 3 violins, 3 violas, 2 cellos, a viola da gamba, a lute and a spinet, 52 "Sacred Books" (many by Martin Luther, Muller and Pfeiffer, also including Josephus' History of the Jews and 9 volumes of Wagner's Leipzig Song Book).[18]
During his life he composed more than 1,000 works.
At Leipzig, Bach seems to have maintained active relationships with several members of the faculty of the university. He enjoyed a particularly fruitful relationship with the poet Picander. Sebastian and Anna Magdalena welcomed friends, family, and fellow musicians from all over Germany into their home. Court musicians at Dresden and Berlin, and musicians including Georg Philipp Telemann (one of Emanuel's godfathers) made frequent visits to Bach's apartment and may have kept up frequent correspondence with him. Interestingly, George Frideric Handel, who was born in the same year as Bach in Halle, only 50 km from Leipzig, made several trips to Germany, but Bach was unable to meet him—a fact that Bach appears to have deeply regretted.[19]
Musical style
Bach's final resting place, St. Thomas' Church, LeipzigBach's musical style arose from his extraordinary fluency in contrapuntal invention and motivic control, his flair for improvisation at the keyboard, his exposure to South German, North German, Italian and French music, and his apparent devotion to the Lutheran liturgy. His access to musicians, scores and instruments as a child and a young man, combined with his emerging talent for writing tightly woven music of powerful sonority, appear to have set him on course to develop an eclectic, energetic musical style in which foreign influences were injected into an intensified version of the pre-existing German musical language. Throughout his teens and 20s, his output showed increasing skill in the large-scale organisation of musical ideas, and the enhancement of the Buxtehudian model of improvisatory preludes and counterpoint of limited complexity. The period 1713–14, when a large repertoire of Italian music became available to the Weimar court orchestra, was a turning point. From this time onwards, he appears to have absorbed into his style the Italians' dramatic openings, clear melodic contours, the sharp outlines of their bass lines, greater motoric and rhythmic conciseness, more unified motivic treatment, and more clearly articulated schemes for modulation.[20]
There are several more specific features of Bach's style. The notation of baroque melodic lines tended to assume that composers would write out only the basic framework, and that performers would embellish this framework by inserting ornamental notes and otherwise elaborating on it. Although this practice varied considerably between the schools of European music, Bach was regarded at the time as being on one extreme end of the spectrum, notating most or all of the details of his melodic lines—particularly in his fast movements—thus leaving little for performers to interpolate. This may have assisted his control over the dense contrapuntal textures that he favoured, which allow less leeway for the spontaneous variation of musical lines. Bach's contrapuntal textures tend to be more cumulative than those of Händel and most other composers of the day, who would typically allow a line to drop out after it had been joined by two or three others. Bach's harmony is marked by a tendency to employ brief tonicisation—subtle references to another key that lasts for only a few beats at the longest—particularly of the supertonic, to add colour to his textures.
The opening of the six-part fugue from The Musical Offering, in Bach's handAt the same time, Bach, unlike later composers, left the instrumentation of major works including The Art of Fugue and The Musical Offering open. It is likely that his detailed notation was less an absolute demand on the performer and more a response to a 17th-century culture in which the boundary between what the performer could embellish and what the composer demanded to be authentic was being negotiated.
Bach's apparently devout, personal relationship with the Christian God in the Lutheran tradition and the high demand for religious music of his times inevitably placed sacred music at the centre of his repertory; more specifically, the Lutheran chorale hymn tune, the principal musical aspect of the Lutheran service, was the basis of much of his output. He invested the chorale prelude, already a standard set of Lutheran forms, with a more cogent, tightly integrated architecture, in which the intervallic patterns and melodic contours of the tune were typically treated in a dense, contrapuntal lattice against relatively slow-moving, overarching statements of the tune.
Bach's theology also informed his compositional structures: Sei Gegrüsset is perhaps the finest example where there is a theme with 11 variations (making 12 movements) that, while still one work, becomes two sets of six—to match Lutheran preaching principles of repetition. At the same time the theological interpretation of 'master' and 11 disciples would not be lost on his contemporary audience. Further, the practical relationship of each variation to the next (in preparing registration and the expected textural changes) seems to show an incredible capacity to preach through the music using the musical forms available at the time.
Bach's seal, used throughout his Leipzig years. It contains the letters J S B superimposed over their mirror image topped with a crown.Bach's deep knowledge of and interest in the liturgy led to his developing intricate relationships between music and linguistic text. This was evident from the smallest to the largest levels of his compositional technique. On the smallest level, many of his sacred works contain short motifs that, by recurrent association, can be regarded as pictorial symbolism and articulations of liturgical concepts. For example, the octave leap, usually in a bass line, represents the relationship between heaven and earth; the slow, repeated notes of the bass line in the opening movement of Cantata 106 (Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit) depict the laboured trudging of Jesus as he was forced to drag the cross from the city to the crucifixion site.
On the largest level, the large-scale structure of some of his sacred vocal works is evidence of subtle, elaborate planning: for example, the overall form of the St. Matthew Passion illustrates the liturgical and dramatic flow of the Easter story on a number of levels simultaneously; the text, keys and variations of instrumental and vocal forces used in the movements of Cantata 11 (Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen) may form a structure that resembles the cross.
Beyond these specific musical features arising from Bach's religious affiliation is the fact that he was able to produce music for an audience that was committed to serious, regular worship, for which a concentrated density and complexity was accepted. His natural inclination may have been to reinvigorate existing forms, rather than to discard them and pursue more dramatic musical innovations. Thus, Bach's inventive genius was almost entirely directed towards working within the structures he inherited, according to most critics and historians.
Frontispiece of Bach's Clavier-Büchlein vor Anna Magdalena Bach, composed in 1722 for his second wifeBach's inner personal drive to display his musical achievements was evident in a number of ways. The most obvious was his successful striving to become the leading virtuoso and improviser of the day on the organ. Keyboard music occupied a central position in his output throughout his life, and he pioneered the elevation of the keyboard from continuo to solo instrument in his numerous harpsichord concertos and chamber movements with keyboard obbligato, in which he himself probably played the solo part. Many of his keyboard preludes are vehicles for a free improvisatory virtuosity in the German tradition, although their internal organisation became increasingly more cogent as he matured. Virtuosity is a key element in other forms, such as the fugal movement from Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, in which Bach himself may have been the first to play the rapid solo violin passages. Another example is in the organ fugue from BWV 548, a late work from Leipzig, in which virtuosic passages are mapped onto Italian solo-tutti alternation within the fugal development.
Related to his cherished role as teacher was his drive to encompass whole genres by producing collections of movements that thoroughly explore the range of artistic and technical possibilities inherent in those genres. The most famous examples are the two books of the Well Tempered Clavier, each of which presents a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key, in which a variety of contrapuntal and fugal techniques are displayed. The English and French Suites, and the Partitas, all keyboard works from the Cöthen period, systematically explore a range of metres and of sharp and flat keys. This urge to manifest structures is evident throughout his life: the Goldberg Variations (1746?), include a sequence of canons at increasing intervals (unison, seconds, thirds, etc.), and The Art of Fugue (1749) can be seen as a compendium of fugal techniques.
Family members
See also: Bach family
Bach married his second cousin Maria Barbara Bach in 1707. They had seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood:
Catharina Dorothea (28 December 1708 – 14 January 1774).
Wilhelm Friedemann (22 November 1710 – 1 July 1784).
Carl Philipp Emanuel (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788).
Johann Gottfried Bernhard (11 May 1715 – 27 May 1739).
Maria died in 1720, and Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcke in 1721. They had a further thirteen children, six of whom survived to adulthood:
Gottfried Heinrich (1724–63)
Elisabeth Juliana Friederica, called "Lieschen" (1726–81)
Johann Christoph Friedrich, the 'Bückeburg' Bach (1732–95)
Johann Christian, the 'London' Bach (1735–82)
Johanna Carolina (1737–81)
Regina Susanna (1742–1809)
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–84)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–88)
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732–95)
Johann Christian Bach
(1735–82)
Works
Main articles: BWV and List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
See also: Category:Compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, List of fugal works by Johann Sebastian Bach, and List of transcriptions of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
J.S. Bach's works are indexed with BWV numbers, an initialism for Bach Werke Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue). The catalogue, published in 1950, was compiled by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue is organised thematically, rather than chronologically: BWV 1–224 are cantatas; BWV 225–249, the large-scale choral works; BWV 250–524, chorales and sacred songs; BWV 525–748, organ works; BWV 772–994, other keyboard works; BWV 995–1000, lute music; BWV 1001–40, chamber music; BWV 1041–71, orchestral music; and BWV 1072–1126, canons and fugues. In compiling the catalogue, Schmieder largely followed the Bach Gesellschaft Ausgabe, a comprehensive edition of the composer's works that was produced between 1850 and 1905. For a list of works catalogued by BWV number, see List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Organ works
Bach was best known during his lifetime as an organist, organ consultant, and composer of organ works in both the traditional German free genres—such as preludes, fantasias, and toccatas—and stricter forms, such as chorale preludes and fugues. He established a reputation at a young age for his great creativity and ability to integrate foreign styles into his organ works. A decidedly North German influence was exerted by Georg Böhm, with whom Bach came into contact in Lüneburg, and Dieterich Buxtehude in Lübeck, whom the young organist visited in 1704 on an extended leave of absence from his job in Arnstadt. Around this time, Bach copied the works of numerous French and Italian composers to gain insights into their compositional languages, and later arranged violin concertos by Vivaldi and others for organ and harpsichord. His most productive period (1708–14) saw the composition of several pairs of preludes & fugues and toccatas & fugues, and of the Orgelbüchlein ("Little organ book"), an unfinished collection of 45 short chorale preludes that demonstrate compositional techniques in the setting of chorale tunes. After he left Weimar, Bach's output for organ fell off, although his best-known works (the six trio sonatas, the "German Organ Mass" in Clavier-Übung III from 1739, and the "Great Eighteen" chorales, revised late in his life) were all composed after this time. Bach was extensively engaged later in his life in consulting on organ projects, testing newly built organs, and dedicating organs in afternoon recitals.[21][22] One of the high points may be the third part of the Clavier-Übung, a setting of 21 chorale preludes uniting the traditional Catholic Missa with the Lutheran catechism liturgy, the whole set interpolated between the mighty "St. Anne" Prelude and Fugue on the theme of the Trinity.
Other keyboard works
The title page of the third part of the Clavier-Übung, one of the few works by Bach that was published during his lifetime.Bach wrote many works for the harpsichord, some of which may also have been played on the clavichord. Many of his keyboard works are anthologies that show an eagerness to encompass whole theoretical systems in an encyclopaedic fashion.
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 and 2 (BWV 846–893). Each book comprises a prelude and fugue in each of the 24 major and minor keys in chromatic order from C major to B minor (thus, the whole collection is often referred to as 'the 48'). "Well-tempered" in the title refers to the temperament (system of tuning); many temperaments before Bach's time were not flexible enough to allow compositions to move through more than just a few keys.
The 15 Inventions and 15 Sinfonias (BWV 772–801). These short two- and three-part contrapuntal works are arranged in the same chromatic order as the Well-Tempered Clavier, omitting some of the less used keys. The pieces were intended by Bach for instructional purposes.
Three collections of dance suites: the English Suites (BWV 806–811), the French Suites (BWV 812–817) and the Partitas for keyboard (BWV 825–830). Each collection contains six suites built on the standard model (Allemande–Courante–Sarabande–(optional movement)–Gigue). The English Suites closely follow the traditional model, adding a prelude before the allemande and including a single movement between the sarabande and the gigue. The French Suites omit preludes, but have multiple movements between the sarabande and the gigue. The partitas expand the model further with elaborate introductory movements and miscellaneous movements between the basic elements of the model.
The Goldberg Variations (BWV 988), an aria with thirty variations. The collection has a complex and unconventional structure: the variations build on the bass line of the aria, rather than its melody, and musical canons are interpolated according to a grand plan. There are nine canons within the 30 variations, one placed every three variations between variations 3 and 27. These variations move in order from canon at the unison to canon at the ninth. The first eight are in pairs (unison and octave, second and seventh, third and sixth, fourth and fifth). The ninth canon stands on its own due to compositional dissimilarities.
Miscellaneous pieces such as the Overture in the French Style (French Overture, BWV 831), Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue (BWV 903), and the Italian Concerto (BWV 971).
Among Bach's lesser known keyboard works are seven toccatas (BWV 910–916), four duets (BWV 802–805), sonatas for keyboard (BWV 963–967), the Six Little Preludes (BWV 933–938), and the Aria variata alla maniera italiana (BWV 989).
Orchestral and chamber music
Bach wrote music for single instruments, duets and small ensembles. Bach's works for solo instruments—the six sonatas and partitas for violin (BWV 1001–1006), the six cello suites (BWV 1007–1012) and the Partita for solo flute (BWV 1013)—may be listed among the most profound works in the repertoire. Bach also composed a suite and several other works for solo lute. He wrote trio sonatas; solo sonatas (accompanied by continuo) for the flute and for the viola da gamba; and a large number of canons and ricercare, mostly for unspecified instrumentation. The most significant examples of the latter are contained in The Art of Fugue and The Musical Offering.
Bach's best-known orchestral works are the Brandenburg concertos, so named because he submitted them in the hope of gaining employment from Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt in 1721; his application was unsuccessful. These works are examples of the concerto grosso genre. Other surviving works in the concerto form include two violin concertos (BWV 1041 and BWV 1042); a Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor (BWV 1043), often referred to as Bach's "double" concerto; and concertos for one, two, three and even four harpsichords. It is widely accepted that many of the harpsichord concertos were not original works, but arrangements of his concertos for other instruments now lost. A number of violin, oboe and flute concertos have been reconstructed from these. In addition to concertos, Bach also wrote four orchestral suites, a series of stylised dances for orchestra, each preceded by a French overture. The work now known as the Air on the G String is an arrangement for the violin made in the nineteenth century from the second movement of the Orchestral Suite No. 3.
Vocal and choral works
Bach performed a cantata on Sunday at the Thomaskirche, on a theme corresponding to the lectionary readings of the week, as determined by the Lutheran Church Year calendar. He did not perform cantatas during the seasons of Lent and Advent. Although he performed cantatas by other composers, he also composed at least three entire sets of cantatas, one for each Sunday and holiday of the church year, at Leipzig, in addition to those composed at Mühlhausen and Weimar. In total he wrote more than 300 sacred cantatas, of which approximately 195 survive.
His cantatas vary greatly in form and instrumentation. Some of them are only for a solo singer; some are single choruses; some are for grand orchestras; some only a few instruments. A very common format, however, includes a large opening chorus followed by one or more recitative-aria pairs for soloists (or duets) and a concluding chorale. The recitative is part of the corresponding Bible reading for the week and the aria is a contemporary reflection on it. The melody of the concluding chorale often appears as a cantus firmus in the opening movement. Among the best known cantatas are BWV 4 ("Christ lag in Todesbanden"), BWV 21 ("Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis"), BWV 80 ("Ein' feste Burg"), BWV 106 ("Actus Tragicus"), BWV 140 ("Wachet auf") and BWV 147 ("Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben").
In addition, Bach wrote a number of secular cantatas, usually for civic events such as council inaugurations. These also include wedding cantatas, the Wedding Quodlibet, the Peasant Cantata and the Coffee Cantata, which concerns a girl whose father will not let her marry until she gives up her addiction to that extremely popular drink.
Bach's large choral-orchestral works include the famous St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, both written for Good Friday vespers services at St. Thomas' and St. Nicholas' Churches in alternate years, and the Christmas Oratorio (a set of six cantatas for use in the Liturgical season of Christmas). The Magnificat in two versions (one in E-flat major, with four interpolated Christmas-related movements, and the later and better-known version in D major) and the Easter Oratorio compare to large, elaborate cantatas, of a lesser extent than the Passions and the Christmas Oratorio.
Bach's other large work, the Mass in B minor, was assembled by Bach near the end of his life, mostly from pieces composed earlier (such as cantata BWV 191 and BWV 12). It was never performed in Bach's lifetime, or even after his death, until the 19th century.
All of these works, unlike the six motets (Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied; Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf; Jesu, meine Freude; Fürchte dich nicht; Komm, Jesu, komm!; and Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden), have substantial solo parts as well as choruses.
Bach's copy of a two volume Bible commentary by the orthodox Lutheran theologian, Abraham Calov, was discovered in the 1950s in a barn in Minnesota, purchased apparently in Germany as part of a "job lot" of old books and brought to America by an immigrant. Its provenance was verified and it was subsequently deposited in the rare book holdings of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. It contains his markings of texts for his cantatas and notes. It is only rarely displayed to the public. A study of the so-called Bach Bible was prepared by Robin Leaver, titled J.S. Bach and Scripture: Glosses from the Calov Bible Commentary (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1985).
Performances
Present-day Bach performers usually pursue either of two traditions: so-called "authentic performance practice", utilising historical techniques, or alternatively the use of modern instruments and playing techniques, with a tendency towards larger ensembles. In Bach's time orchestras and choirs were usually smaller than those known to, for example, Brahms, and even Bach's most ambitious choral works, such as his Mass in B minor and Passions, are composed for relatively modest forces. Some of Bach's important chamber music does not indicate instrumentation, which gives greater latitude for variety of ensemble.
Easy listening realisations of Bach's music and its use in advertising also contributed greatly to Bach's popularisation in the second half of the twentieth century. Among these were the Swingle Singers' versions of Bach pieces that are now well-known (for instance, the Air on the G string, or the Wachet Auf chorale prelude) and Wendy Carlos' 1968 ground-breaking recording Switched-On Bach, using the then recently-invented Moog electronic synthesiser. Jazz musicians have also adopted Bach's music, with Jacques Loussier, Ian Anderson, Uri Caine and the Modern Jazz Quartet among those creating jazz versions of Bach works.
Legacy
Since being moved in 1938, the Donndorf statue of Bach now stands in the Frauenplan in Eisenach. The pedestal has been shortened and the relief now is at the wall in the background.In his later years and after his death, Bach's reputation as a composer declined; his work was regarded as old-fashioned compared to the emerging classical style.[23] Initially he was remembered more as a player, teacher and as the father of his children, most notably Johann Christian and Carl Philipp Emanuel. (Two other children, Wilhelm Friedmann and Johann Christoph Friedrich, were also composers.)
During this time, his works for keyboard were those most appreciated and composers ever since have acknowledged his mastery of the genre. Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin were among his most prominent admirers. On a visit to Thomasschule, for example, Mozart heard a performance of one of the motets (BWV 225) and exclaimed "Now, here is something one can learn from!"; on being given the motets' parts, "Mozart sat down, the parts all around him, held in both hands, on his knees, on the nearest chairs. Forgetting everything else, he did not stand up again until he had looked through all the music of Sebastian Bach". Beethoven was a devotee, learning the Well-Tempered Clavier as a child and later calling Bach the "Urvater der Harmonie" ("Original father of Harmony") and, in a pun on the literal meaning of Bach's name, "nicht Bach, sondern Meer" ("not a brook, but a sea"). Before performing a concert, Chopin used to lock himself away and play Bach's music. Several notable composers, including Mozart, Beethoven, Robert Schumann, and Felix Mendelssohn began writing in a more contrapuntal style after being introduced to Bach's music.
Today the "Bach style" continues to influence musical composition, from hymns and religious works to pop and rock. Many of Bach's themes—particularly the theme from Toccata and Fugue in D minor—have been used in rock songs repeatedly and have received notable popularity. Bach has even been referred to as "the father of all music."[24]
The revival in the composer's reputation among the wider public was prompted in part by Johann Nikolaus Forkel's 1802 biography, which was read by Beethoven. Goethe became acquainted with Bach's works relatively late in life through a series of performances of keyboard and choral works at Bad Berka in 1814 and 1815; in a letter of 1827 he compared the experience of listening to Bach's music to "eternal harmony in dialogue with itself".[25] But it was Felix Mendelssohn who did the most to revive Bach's reputation with his 1829 Berlin performance of the St. Matthew Passion. Hegel, who attended the performance, later called Bach a "grand, truly Protestant, robust and, so to speak, erudite genius which we have only recently learned again to appreciate at its full value".[26] Mendelssohn's promotion of Bach, and the growth of the composer's stature, continued in subsequent years. The Bach Gesellschaft (Bach Society) was founded in 1850 to promote the works, publishing a comprehensive edition over the subsequent half century.
The Bach monument that was constructed in 1884 by Adolf von Donndorf and erected in front of the Georgenkirche at the Marktplatz in Eisenach.Thereafter, Bach's reputation has remained consistently high. During the twentieth century, the process of recognising the musical as well as the pedagogic value of some of the works has continued, perhaps most notably in the promotion of the Cello Suites by Pablo Casals. Another development has been the growth of the "authentic" or period performance movement, which, as far as possible, attempts to present the music as the composer intended it. Examples include the playing of keyboard works on the harpsichord rather than a modern grand piano and the use of small choirs or single voices instead of the larger forces favoured by nineteenth- and early twentieth-century performers.
Johann Sebastian Bach's contributions to music—or, to borrow a term popularised by his student Lorenz Christoph Mizler, his "musical science"—are frequently bracketed with those by William Shakespeare in English literature and Isaac Newton in physics. Scientist and author Lewis Thomas once suggested how the people of Earth should communicate with the universe: "I would vote for Bach, all of Bach, streamed out into space, over and over again. We would be bragging, of course, but it is surely excusable to put the best possible face on at the beginning of such an acquaintance. We can tell the harder truths later."
Some composers have paid tribute to Bach by setting his name in musical notes (B-flat, A, C, B-natural; B-natural is notated as "H" in German musical texts, while B-flat is just "B") or using contrapuntal derivatives. Liszt, for example, wrote a praeludium & fugue on this BACH motif (existing in versions both for organ and piano). Bach himself set the precedent for this musical acronym, most notably in Contrapunctus XIV from the Art of Fugue. Whereas Bach also conceived this cruciform melody (among other similar ones) as a sign of devotion to Christ and his cross, later composers have employed the BACH motif in homage to the composer himself.
Some of the greatest composers since Bach have written works that explicitly pay homage to him. Examples include Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, Shostakovich's Preludes and Fugues, and Brahms's Cello Sonata in E, whose finale is based on themes from the Art of Fugue. A 20th-century work very strongly influenced by Bach is Villa-Lobos' Bachianas brasileiras. Stephen Sondheim once claimed he listened to no one else except Bach.
He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 28 July.
Johann Sebastian Bach Straße in Wittenberg, GermanyBach is the most represented artist on the Voyager Golden Record, a phonograph record included in two Voyager missions. Bach's compositions comprise three of the 27 recordings chosen. Many early examples of synthesised music played on the Commodore 64 home computer's SID chip were realisations of Bach's contrapuntal works.
Although Bach fathered twenty children, only ten survived infancy. He has no known descendants living today. His great-granddaughter—Frau Carolina Augusta Wilhelmine Ritter, who died May 13, 1871—was his last known descendant.[27]
A modern reconstruction of Johann Sebastian Bach's head using computer modeling techniques, unveiled 3 March 2008 in Berlin, showed the composer as a strong-jawed man with a slight underbite, his large head topped with short, silver hair.[28]
Media
A number of recordings are available at List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach
See also
Abraham Calovius-the commentator for his 3-volume study Bible.[29]
Agenda-as appointed by Church Order, this directed worship.
Chorale-a hymn sung by the entire congregation.
Divine Service (Gottesdienst)-liturgy used among Lutherans for a mass.
Law and Gospel-his sacred cantatas reflect this hermeneutic.[30]
List of students of Johann Sebastian Bach
Lutheran Orthodoxy-religious convictions which motivated his sacred works.[31]
Luther's Small Catechism-he taught this catechism as the Thomascantor in Leipzig[32] and some of his pieces represent it.[33]
Notes
^ a b Grout, Donald (1980). A History of Western Music. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 435. ISBN 0-393-95136-7.
^ Printed in translation in The Bach Reader (ISBN 0393002594)
^ Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 41–43. ISBN 0-393-04825-X.
^ Rich, Alan (1995). Johann Sebastiam Bach: Play by Play. Harper Collins. pp. 27. ISBN 0-06-263547-6.
^ "Classical Net - Basic Repertoire List - Buxtehude". Classical.net. http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/buxtehude.php. Retrieved on 2008-09-20.
^ Mendel 1999, p. 43
^ "The Face Of Bach". Nathan P. Johansen. http://www.npj.com/thefaceofbach/09w624.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ Mendel 1999, p. 80
^ Wolff 1983, p. 98, 111
^ Butt, John (1997-06-28). The Cambridge Companion to Bach. Cambridge University Press. pp. 17–34. ISBN 0521587808.
^ Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 341. ISBN 0-393-04825-X.
^ Towe, Teri Noel (2000-08-28). "The Inscrutable Volbach Portrait". The Face of Bach. http://www.npj.com/thefaceofbach/08w828.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
^ Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 442. ISBN 0-393-04825-X.
^ Mendel 1999, p. 188
^ Breitenfeld, Tomislav; Solter, Vesna Vargek; Breitenfeld, Darko; Zavoreo, Iris; Demarin, Vida (2006-01-03). "Johann Sebastian Bach's Strokes" (PDF). Acta Clinica Croatica (Sisters of Charity Hospital) 45 (1). http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak_download&id_clanak_jezik=21520. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
^ Baer, Ka. (1956). "Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) in medical history". Bulletin of the Medical Library Association (Medical Library Association) 39 (206).
^ Breitenfeld, D.; Thaller, V; Breitenfeld, T; Golik-Gruber, V; Pogorevc, T; Zoričić, Z; Grubišić, F (2000). "The pathography of Bach's family". Alcoholism 36: 161–164.
^ Mendel 1999, pp. 191–97
^ Mendel 1999, p. 407
^ Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 401. ISBN 0-393-04825-X.
^ "Bach, Johann Sebastian". ClassicalPlus. http://classicalplus.gmn.com/composers/composer.asp?id=2. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ "Arnstadt (1703–1707)". Northern Arizona University. http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/arnstadt.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ Beethoven: The Universal Composer. Edmund Morris. 2005. p. 2 - noting that Bach was "mocked as passe even in his own lifetime."
^ "Why was Bach considered the father of all music???". Able2Know. http://www.able2know.org/forums/about41366.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ "Wittheits-Vortrag über „Goethe und Johann Sebastian Bach“" (in German). Bremen. http://www2.bremen.de/web/owa/p_anz_presse_mitteilung?pi_mid=76241. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244". Bach Cantatas. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV244-Spering.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
^ Terry, C. Sanford (1930-06-01). "Has Bach Surviving Descendants?". The Musical Times (JSTOR) 71 (1048): 511–513. doi:10.2307/917359. http://j.s.bach.gr.jp/tomita/script/bach2.pl?22=10824. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
^ Terry, C. Sanford (2008-03-03). "What did Bach look like?" ([dead link] – Scholar search). The Musical Times (CNN) 71: 511. doi:10.2307/917359. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/03/reconstructing.bach.ap/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
^ Maxwell, D.R.Theological Symbolism in the Organ Works of J.S. Bach
^ Analyzing Bach Cantatas By Chafe, E.T.Analyzing Bach Cantatas. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2000.
^ Herl, J. Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism: Choir, Congregation, and Three Centuries of Conflict. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
^ Leaver, R.A.Luther's Liturgical Music. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2007.
^ For example, see Grove, G. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 4. New York: Macmillian, 1980. p. 335.
References
Mendel, Arthur (1999), The New Bach Reader, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0393319563 .
Wolff, Christopher (1983), The New Grove: Bach Family, Papermac, ISBN 0333343506 .
Further reading
Baron, Carol K. (2006-06-09). Bach's Changing World:: Voices in the Community. University of Rochester. ISBN 1580461905.
Boyd, Malcolm (2001-01-18). Bach. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195142225.
Eidam, Klaus (2001-07-03). The True Life Of J.s. Bach. Basic Books. ISBN 0465018610.
Geck, Martin (2006-12-04). Johann Sebastian Bach: Life and Work. Harcourt Trade Publishers. ISBN 0151006482.
Hofstadter, Douglas (1999-02-04). Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. Basic Books. ISBN 0465026567.
Schweitzer, Albert (1967-06-01). J. S. Bach (Vol 1). Dover Publications. ISBN 0486216314.
Spitta, Philipp (1997-07-03). Johann Sebastian Bach: His Work and Influence on the Music of Germany, 1685–1750 (Volume II). Dover Publications. ISBN 0486274136.
Stauffer, George (February 1986). J. S. Bach As Organist: His Instruments, Music, and Performance Practices. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253331811.
Williams, Peter (2007-03-05). J.S. Bach: A Life in Music. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521870747.
Wolff, Christoph (September 2001). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393322564
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