Johan Sebastian Bach
(1685 ~ 1750)
Types of Music Compositions
Type
Descriptions
Sonatas
A composition for 1 or 2 instruments
Concertos
A composition featuring one or more principal instruments with
orchestra accompaniment
Fugues
A type of music where the theme is repeated by each instrument
Minuets
Slow, stately dance music written in 3:4 time
Chamber
Music
Written for performance in a small room using only a few instruments
Cantatas
compositions usually featuring sacred (religious) text and sung by one
voice, accompanied by a chorus or instruments
masses
religious music
…
Johan Sebastian Bach
Some interesting facts:
• He was one of the greatest composers of classical music ever!
• He was the greatest composer of Baroque music.
• Many of his family were also very good composers, such as his uncle and several of his
sons (for example, C.P.E. Bach). In fact, you could say that the Bach family is the greatest
musical family the world has ever known!
• He wrote over 1000 pieces of music!
• Much of his music was written for the church.
• Much of his music was written to teach people how to play an instrument, especially
harpsichord or organ.
• He was thrown into prison by his boss (the Duke in Wiemer) for accepting another job
with better pay!
• His music is so amazing that much of it can be played in many different ways and still
sound right! For example, much of Bach’s music sounds right whether you play it fast or
slow, or loud or quiet!
• Much of his music has been lost :-(. But every so often, someone finds a new piece by
Bach!
• His music was mostly forgotten about soon after he died. It was Mendelssohn who
brought Bach’s music to everybody’s attention. And people have liked it ever since!
• He never wrote a piece for piano
P
Clavichord
Harpischord
Organ
From Clavichord to Modern Piano
Jan van Eyck
1390 - 1441
The Arnolfini Portrait
The Arnolfini Portrait
P
EXTRAS
Fantasía: Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor”