Johann Sebastian Bach

1. Johann Sebastian Bach Music 1010 Maria Gordon

2. The Life OF Bach Johann Sebastian Bach was born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany. Bach was the Youngest child of his siblings. He had eight brothers and sisters including himself

3. Love For Music • All of his family was musical so it isn’t really a surprise to me that he followed the rest of his family footsteps. According to Biography.com>people; “At age of 7, Bach received religious instructions and studied Latin in school. His Lutheran faith was an influence on his musical works and Bach also already knew how to play the violin. It is believed that his father taught Bach how to play.”

4. Bach and life • Bach’s family growing up consisted of 8 children including himself. His father’s name was Johann Ambrosius Bach and his mother was Maria Elisabetha. Sadly Bach was orphaned by the age of ten after first his father and then his mother passed away. • Bach grew up to have 20 children of his own some of which also became famous. • Bach had composed over 1,100 works in almost every musical genre except opera before he died in 1750”.

5. Bach and Work Bach’s early career was as an organ player, He provided musical services for the Church during religious and specialty events.

6. Towards the End In the end of Bach’s eyes weren’t nearly as good as they should be and he was going blind.

7. The Legend ]. Bach Pasted away after living with blindness for over a year,” he died from a stroke on July 28, 1750.” [Biography.com>people]

8. The art Of the Fugue A brief history

9. Fugue • Definition, Fugue- A composition written for three to six voices, beginning with the exposition, each voice enters at different times, creating counterpoints with one another. (http://classicalworks.com/html/glossary.html)

10. The Art of fugue, Bach composed much of this collection by 1742. • ContrapunctusXIV • The musical sheet to the left of slide. • Scholars argue that this song was never completed and far to complex to complete.

11. Contrapunctus II • Contrapunctus II • In Contrapunctus II, Bach introduces the first of numerous variations on the main AOF subject. This is a simple change from the main subject that introduces a dotted rhythm in the final two beats:

12. Listening Guide • ContrapunctusXIV • 0:00 Introduction, Fugue begins with a single viola player in minor mode, the decibel is quite, tone is soft and drawn out, almost giving the feeling of sadness. • 0:12 harmonies begin, a violin begins to play simultaneously, the rhythm of the music begins to come into place, violin is playing in a tritone, both are in triple meter. • 0:35 Tempo begins to pick up as the third violin begins to play the same harmony as the first violin and pitch becomes louder.

13. Listening guide • 0:55 harmony changes, The stretto is now in place and the music and the intermezzo is ending as all three instruments began to play simultaneously with one another. • 1:21 all instruments are now playing, The treble is a high pitch and all instruments are playing the same tune as the song becomes loader and they all play the same sequence creating almost a light feeling of hope in the song. • 1:45 pitch goes down as the sound of the bass seems to overtake the sounds of both violins and viola. Tempo slows down dramatically and there is a dreary feeling to the song.

14. Listening guide • 2.09 There is a crescendo as the cord beings to have a higher pitch and there is now polyphony of harmonies. • 2:20 instruments seem to go from a triple mode down to a double as the tone begins to become more flat and slow. • 2:29 Harmony become more timbre as violins now take the lead key overpowering the rest of the harmony being played by both the viola and bass.

15. Listening Guide • 2:42 Rhythm begins to slow as the string quartet begins to slow down the pace to almost a soft monotone. • 2:50 a single violin places its own harmony while the remaining instruments play the harmony. • 3:06 The duration of each tone that each player is playing seems to become more drawn out and softer, The song is still in minor mode. • 3:10 Pitch and volume becomes very loud as the violins play the harmony and bass and cello play the melody.

16. Listening guide • 3:23 pitch and volume continue to climax becoming more loud and vibrant. • 3:25 A sudden key change and drop in pitch as a duet begins for the two violinist, one is playing the main harmony while the other plays a single key or monotone as the melody or background music. This is one of my favorite parts of the song because it is simple and beautiful. • 3:44 The viola comes in overpowering the other players in a flat key for a moment and then they all begin to play the same harmony at different pitches and a slightly different tempos.

17. Listening Guide • 4:15 the song begins to slow down slightly keeping the same pitch but drawing out each note slightly longer the polyphony becoming slightly more drawn out. • 4:22 Violins once again begin to overpower the other instruments as the play simultaneously with one another as the harmony meanwhile the cell and bass play the melody. • 4:33 there is an octave change and all of the quartet quickly lowers pitch and almost comes to a stop. • 4:38 viola takes over as the lead player and the remaining quartet stops playing. The cello begins to play a solo.

18. Listening Guide • 4:53 a single violin comes in and plays the same melody as the viola is at the same pitch and tempo. • 4:59 Now the two instruments both begin to play different keys and they play at the same meter with each other, almost as if they were dancing back and forth creating a beautiful melody with one another. I believe this may be called a potramento. • 5:07 all the instruments are playing in rhythm with each other as the progression remains steady. The viola is playing a single note as a beat in the background.

19. Listening Guide • 5:17 pitch once again begins to become louder as all players begin to slightly pick up tempo. • 5:20 the melody and harmony are now being played. • 5:30 Melody changes over becoming an octave lower and giving the viola the lead melody while violins fade and start to play the harmony. • 5:42 the duration becomes slightly longer as the tempo of the song slows down dramatically and pitches becomes more flat. • 5:45 violins begin to play the medley.

20. Listening Guide • 5:55 viola volume begins to increase causing the medley to become harder to hear and begins to fade into the background of the song. • 6:09 violins once again begin to play the melody at a forte pitch on a very high octave. Meanwhile remaining instruments continue to play harmoniously. • 6:17 key change with all of the string quartet and all of the instruments sound as though they dropped down an octave. • 6:27 the viola comes in and plays a monotone meanwhile the remaining instruments continue to play the medley.

21. Listening Guide • 6:39 Harmony comes in as they violins began to overpower the viola and are an octave higher than the viola. • 6:50 All of the string quartet is playing the same medley at the same time on the same octave, same pitch and same timbre. This is the first time I believe that this happens in this song. • 6:55 Forte begins between all of the instruments, All are still playing at the same pitch and speed. • 7:20 Violins are playing Medley. • 7:31 song begins a crescendo while all instruments continue to play the melody and harmony in counterpoint with one another.

22. Listening guide • 7:49 the tempo begins to slightly slow down between all of the instruments meanwhile the pitch and dynamics of the notes in the song continue to remain the same. • 7:55 The decibel of the song is now quickly becoming softer. • 7:58 The only instrument that is playing is the cello in a long and very beautiful solo playing on a few key notes throughout the length of the solo. • 8:04 The solo still continues with the cello but the viola is also playing an abrupt melody in the background that occasionally plays at the same tempo and key as the cello.

23. Listening Guide • 8:35 all instruments begin to play their own medley still leaving the cello as the main lead and melody in the song. All of this leaving the song still feeling legato. • 8:53 viola begins to play the melody. • 8:59 all but the cello began to play the same notes in the same octave. The cello is playing an octave lower and at a slower speed than violins and viola creating a harmony. • 9:10 Violins begin to play the melody. • 9:19 the pitch and decibel of the cello begins to come into the melody creating a rhythm.

24. Listening guide • 9:30 a forte begins to happen between all the instruments and they begin to become louder and louder. All playing within a counterpoint of one another. • 9:39 Viola is playing first key and main melody, Violins are now playing the secondary melody and the cello is playing harmony. All in minor and all at triple meter. • 9:47 a crescendo begins with all of the string quartet. • 9:56 the song completely stops. There is no final on this musical piece so the song feels incomplete when you reach the end of the song.

25. Listening guide • ContrapunctusII • 0:00intrduction, counter starts but the song still remains silent. • 0:03 viola comes in playing three low octave notes in a harmonic rhythm. I believe the song is in a three count mode. Also playing in a minor. • 0:10 violins come in and begin playing an octave higher with the viola at the same pace and tune. • 0:15 the rhythm changes, violins are playing a melody meanwhile both the cello and viola are playing harmony, both are accelerando, becoming slightly faster. Now switching to a major mode.

26. Listening guide • 0:25 violins step up another octave. But continue to play the same tune at the same decibel. • 0:33 Cello is now playing at a more dynamic volume then the rest of the string quartet. Cello now is the melody and violins and viola are the harmony. • 0:38 cello stops playing and violins and viola play a short abrupt duet with one another. • 0:58 the viola and violins both go up an octave key. • 1:14 Cello comes in and begins to play the same tune and tempo as the rest of the string quartet is playing. All are playing in triple mode. I think this part of the music is a cantabile.

27. Listening guide • 1:19 violins begin to play a different medley then the rest of the players, they become an octave higher and begin to play forte over the remaining players. • 1:25 all of the string quartet is now playing harmoniously with each other. At the same pace and pitch. • 1:44 violins are now playing the melody while the cello and viola are playing the harmony. Each are counterpointing one another making the song very vibrant. Remaining in major mode. • 1:49 violins begin to play long drawn out motif meanwhile the viola and cello continue to play a repetitive harmony, creating an intense drama feel. Still in triple time, major mode.

28. Listening guide • 2:05 cello and viola now continue to switch back and forth with both violins, making an upbeat rhythm, pitch of the violins remaining at a high octave meanwhile viola and cello remain an octave lower, playing a monotone key. • 2:11 the form of the song begins to slow down to a double meter. All of the instruments begin to play slower, all dropping an octave and the legato of the song begins to become more monotone.

29. Listening guide • 2:22 Violins abruptly stop playing; leaving only the viola and cello, the final begins. Sounds to be now in a minor mode. Both instruments are playing the same motif, creating an impression of a sad or dreary feeling. • 2:28 both the viola and cello become completely monotone, playing in the same octave. Playing one drawn out note and music slowly fades completely out.

30. References • Works Cited • Biography.com>people (http://www.biography.com/people/johann-sebastian-bach-9194289) Full address. • Enchantedlearning.com (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/music/bios/bach/) full address • Jsbach.org (http://www.jsbach.org/biography.html) full address • (http://classicalworks.com/html/glossary.html) • Classicforkids.com/html/bach/ (picture in my report)

31. References For Pictures • Baroquemusic.org Bach picture page 2 • Musicwithease.com Bach group picture page 5 • Bachclassicaltv.com Bach three pictures page 6 • Squidoo.com Bach black and white photo page 7 • Docstoc.com Contrapunctus XIV sheet music page 10 • Virtualsheetmusic.com Contrapunctus II sheet music page 11