Yup, no question about it. Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the biggest names in the classical music industry--er, I meant history.
And no, his nickname 'Old Wig' does not come from the fact that his portraits portray him wearing one, his son called him that because he was a staunch believer in the older forms of musical style. But at the same time, despite his adherence to the music theory of his time, he created music that surpasses the boundaries of the change of culture and society, pieces of distinct complexity that manages to be artistic and calculated at the same time.
He's revered as one of the greatest composers of all time with a huge amount of works for solo and ensemble, an individual who left behind a big number of pieces for pianists to slave their way through, ah, no, I meant work their way to.
Until now, his compositions are being used as study material for music students to analyze, to see the intricacy of his works, to check your own work against it and cry in despair... (Ha! I never expected to turn out as a composer anyway, so I'm safe from that particular anguish!) But really, Bach is used as a standard for studying music theory, especially when you're dealing with the basics, which are eighteenth-century rules.
But I can say with awe and admiration (and a crying heart for all the fugues that are used to trip pianists), that his music is on a level entirely of its own.
Before we get to our 'interesting' and 'weird' facts (that I hope will not change your view on his awesome works) about the esteemed Bach, let's read up a bit on his background.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 (that's like centuries ago) to a family of musicians. His father gave him his first music lessons, in which Bach proved to be a kid who took after his parents, he was musically talented. But before the age of ten, he was orphaned and his older brother, Johann Christoph, took him in.
Later, he studied in several places, one of them a monastery that accepted him due to the fact that he had a great voice.
At age eighteen, he set out for his Poke-, no, I mean he set out to find a job and was offered a position as organist for the church, though his responsibilities included that of a composer. Unfortunately, he didn't last long in his position, old stodgy men vs hot-blooded young man with 'ideas', so the young Bach looked around for another job, and got one in another small town.
At this point, he married his cousin Maria Barbara, whose father probably got along well with the son-in-law due to the fact that they had the same career, organist.
A few years later, the Duke of Weimar offered him a comfy position, as a violinist in his chamber orchestra, which Bach, of course, being savvy and all, accepted.
And, if you want to read more on Bach's life, to this website, because if I continue on, I won't be able to stop until the time of his death.
Now on to the facts on back to the facts on Bach! (I know, it sounds lame...)
Disclaimer: These facts are taken from internet sources, so along with each fact, I'll be including the link to the site where I got the fact from. (Because there's no way I'm a know-it-all who got all those directly from the sources, who have died years ago in the Baroque Period. Not unless I get a cool superpower like time traveling.)
7 Interesting and Weird Things... About Johann Sebastian Bach.
1. Bach got into a fight with his student, which he lost despite having a knife at hand (Site)
Lame. I'm just kidding, don't kill me!
The incident was in a way, because of Bach himself. Turns out, a student of his who played the bassoon was insulted by the composer during a rehearsal, so when the guy saw Bach strolling by on a date with Maria Barbara, he jumped at the chance for revenge! (Maybe he was also jealous of the lovey-dovey couple?)
(Not Bach and the bassoonist, but just imagine the guys in the photo were those two. And substitute the pitchfork with a knife.)
The bassoonist struck at Bach with his stick, Bach retaliated by pulling out his knife like a street fighter, and the two went at it. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on which side you're viewing it from, Bach's fighting skills sucked, he didn't even land a single slash on his opponent!
(At least he had piano skills, he wasn't aiming for a title in wrestling anyway.)
Bach - 0, Bassoonist - 1
2. Bach walked 200 miles to hear a concert and lost his job when he returned because his leave of one month turned into five. (Site)
)I guess, even in his day and age, being a fan meant going through all sorts of tribulations to meet your idol. In his case, Bach applied for a one-month leave from his job to listen to Dietrich Buxtehude, another famous organist of his time, play at a far-off place. And since he didn't have much cash, he walked those 200 miles by foot.
He stalked his idol for a few months more than he asked for, and when he returned, his bosses weren't happy with him.
3. He was supposed to have an organ duel with another famous musician, and the other guy got scared and ran away before the duel (Site)
The other guy, someone named Louis Marchand, was a French organist who wanted to pit his skills against a backwater musician who wasn't famous (You got that right, Bach wasn't famous like Mozart of Beethoven during his lifetime).
I'm thinking that Marchand probably thought that he had the contest in the bag, but for some reason, he became scared of Bach's gravity-defying--no, what I meant to say was great, skills in performance. So he did the best thing he could to save his face, if not his dignity, he ran away before the contest.
And Bach won without lifting a single finger. (Seriously, his aura must have been intimidating!)
(Ghosts, there are ghosts playing the piano! Bach and Marchand had their duel in the afterlife! Lol.)
Bach - 1, Marchand - -1
4. Bach wanted to change jobs, his boss refused and sent him to jail for a few weeks(Site)
Like most people, Bach wanted to a better job, with an increase in salary and better health benefits (no, scratch it! they didn't have that covered for employees during that time).
So when a prince offered him one that came with the snazzy 'Kappelmeister' title, he accepted. The Duke of Weimar, his current employer probably felt betrayed and insulted that Bach would actually dare leave, so his Grace put the poor musician in prison for going against him.
In the end, Bach was released, and off he went with his family to his new employer.
5. Bach was active in procreating, which resulted in 20 children (Site)
Er, was Bach aiming for a full orchestra?
Well, anyway, Bach had two wives (not at the same time). The first was Maria Barbara, who he had 7 children with. And the second was Anna Magdalena, and he had 13 kids with her (yup, not a lucky number at all).
It's likely due to horrible medical conditions at that time, that only 10 of Bach's 20 children survived past the age of childhood. (Just think about it, they believed in leeches as an all-cure! Those slimy, icky creatures sucking the blood right out of you like a vampire...)
6. Bach wrote a cantata with coffee as one of the main subjects (Site)
I thought this was a hoax, but turns out it was true. Bach did compose a 'Coffee' cantata.
The story is about a woman addicted to coffee and would do her best to get her hands (or mouth) on a cup, who has a father did his best to keep her away from it. Not sure how the story ends, but I'm pretty certain that the lady got her coffee.
(Though, I'm still not sure as to the reason why Bach wrote it. Did he have a weird sense of humor?)
7. Bach never got to meet Handel, but they were sent to the underworld by the same quack doctor (Site)
This is the reason why you should always check the license of your doctor (and get some health insurance as well).
Handel got scammed, Bach got scammed, and they both suffered the consequences of poor medical care. They had eye operations done on them by a person of dodgy quality. Their ghosts probably retaliated on the 'doctor' by giving him horrifying musical nightmares. Just think about all those pieces that are full of dissonances and ends in sevenths or sixths... Spine-tingling.
Hope that doctor got what was coming for him.
And that's the end for this post.
I'm going to write a weekly '7 Interesting and Weird Facts About...' post on musicians or on compositions, so stay tuned for more next week!
This was in part made due to @bengy, who nominated Bach as composer of the week.
Hope you had fun reading about Bach!
If you're interested in classical music, or you're a classical musician, please join us in Discord!
Credits for all the photos in the post goes to Wikimedia Commons.
All videos come from Youtube and belong to their respective owners.
Hi tin-tin,
Thank you for this post. It was entertaining and informative. I especially appreciated the story about @jsbach walking 200 miles to hear a concert and returning from his leave 4 months later than agreed. Not the sort of behavior I would have anticipated from a church organist!
I wanted to let you and your readers know that this post was selected for sharing on the Steemit's Best Classical Music Facebook page, and included in our Roundup Issue #24.
Thanks a lot! I'm writing these posts to generate interest in music, kind of like letting people know that classical musicians are not BORING XD Well, anyway, I do hope it sparks the interest of other people in classical music. And it's actually helping me remember stuff that I studied in music history class!
Love the post! Lots of extra stuff to learn about one of our greatest composers!
Please let any classical musicians or classical music lovers that you know to subscribe to @classical-music, and to start using the #classical-music hashtag, so we can try and grow our community! Join us at our Dischord: https://discord.gg/ppVmmgt
Ok! (I'd upvote, but it's not worth anything now....huhu..)
This is great! Someday I hope to learn the coffee cantata ☕️
I wrote a blog last year after singing in Bach’s B minor mass. Here’s the link if you want to check it out! You’ll have to scroll a little.
http://sopranicipriani.com/blog/
It probably would be a fun performance :)
I read your post on 'The Perfect American' opera, it was interesting! Though fictional, it makes you wonder what really went on in Walt Disney's mind, to make such fictional characters :) And on Bach's mass, it's something to read about it from the perspective of a performer/singer. (＾ω＾)
I’m happy to hear you read both! You can listen to the Madrid production of The Perfect American on YouTube. It is a bit more tonal for Glass which is nice, but I really love the chorus parts the most.
I really should write another blog soon. I just performed Verdi’s Requiem and that was an amazing experience. That would be fun to write a little something on.
Oh, I think I've heard that on Youtube. Our music history teacher made us listen to different versions of it, from the Gregorian chant up to the contemporary version of it (which sounded like something that came out from a movie soundtrack!).
Each version had their own interpretation of it, but how did you find Verdi's? As a person who performed it, it must have been something :)
I really loved singing in it. It was a beautiful experience and the church we sang it really let it ring out. It was hard work, but it paid off.
If I remember correctly, Verdi's Requiem was pretty difficult. With church acoustics (especially those really good ones), the sound must have been brilliant!
Even though I haven't heard the performance I'll just say it, Good Job! (＾＾)ｂ
Great write up! I love Buxtehude so I'm so happy you snuck his work in!
Also, funny to see some of my colleagues from an orchestra I play in, just much younger!
I'm learning about the charm of Buxtehude's works. I think there are also a lot of other Baroque composers with excellent music, they've just been overshadowed by Bach.
And, which video has your colleagues in it? Surprised, the world seems to be a small place :)
Yes, definitely overshadows other composers, but this is my field of expertise so I get to play lots of other composers from this era.
Coffee cantata is the video.
nice post, interesting enough for a somewhat boring bach ... and he is not actually that boring! LOL
Thank you. He justs seems boring, but hides more than what the eye can see, including in his music :)
Wonderful post! Thank you!
Glad you liked it :)
Amazing stuff. 😁
Love your writing
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Thank you, glad you liked it! :)
Bach, so many masterpieces! So many cantatas that are gems as well. He really overshadows other composers from that period.
I know! But there are also other composers that I like from that period, like Purcell. But Bach is the main representative of the period :)
Check out Rameau for some really French Baroque, a very different style.
Yup! Just listened to some works by him on Youtube. Less intense than Bach, a little lighter in overall feel, but still very Baroque.
I'm seriously enjoying listening to him, thanks for the recommendation!
You should hear it in large orchestra formation. Single violin part, 2 viola parts The continuo section from hell! Bass violins, Basses, plucked instruments and keyboard galore.
The earth shakes!
I loved this post @tin-tin I love so much Bach and this is something i did not know about him!
Thank you!
Bach is awesome, his pieces are just cool. There are also some things I didn't know until I made this post! Turns out he was hot-headed in his youth :)