Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel's Lives and Music Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel are two very significant composers from the Baroque period. Pieces from both composers have stood the test of time and are still listened to, played and analysed to this date. The two composers both led very different lives despite being born one month apart and their approaches to music are also quite different even though they are the same style and they were composed in the same period. By researching the live of each of the composers and their own style of music I will be able to determine why these two great composers differed so much in their field of expertise. Born on the 31st of March 1685, Bach is now seen by …show more content…
One very famous piece composed by Bach is Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565). This piece is said to be composed around 1708. The song is played on an organ and is in the key of D minor. It begins with a toccata to start off the piece which represents Bach’s virtuosic musical ability. The toccata consists of fast arpeggios and scalic runs up and down the keyboard. Also because it is generally free form, it sometimes lacks a steady tempo and it nearly always has an improvised feel. In Bach’s piece he definitely includes an improvised feel with his toccata which is played at very quick tempo with many notes included in his runs. It has a surprisingly thickish texture even though it is only played on the organ. This is most likely because there is a lot going on at once therefore it merges together as one and sounds like there are many people playing. Also because the organ has very sustained notes, they are able to ring out even when a new melodic line is being played. After the toccata Bach introduces a fugue into the piece. A fugue consists of three sections, an exposition, a development and a recapitulation. The fugue begins with a ‘subject’ and in this particular piece the ‘answer’ comes in straight away after the main theme has been played and finished. The main theme is played in the tonic key, D minor and instead of moving to the dominant key in …show more content…
"Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toccata_and_Fugue_in_D_minor,_BWV_565 (accessed May 17, 2014). Wikimedia Foundation. "Toccata." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toccata (accessed May 17, 2014). Wikimedia Foundation. "Fugue." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue (accessed May 17, 2014). "Handel and JS Bach [M.Tevfik DORAK]." Handel and JS Bach [M.Tevfik DORAK]. http://www.dorak.info/music/jsbgfh.html (accessed May 22, 2014). Cudworth, Charles. "Music." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/254169/George-Frideric-Handel/36/Music (accessed May 22, 2014). On, Anna, and Kaitlyn Fujihara. "Bach vs Handel Differences." Bach vs Handel Differences. http://4943415.weebly.talkiforum.com/20100817/bach-vs-handel-differences-106670/ (accessed May 15, 2014). Wikimedia Foundation. "George Frideric Handel." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel (accessed May 22, 2014). Kamien, Roger. Music: an appreciation. 10th brief ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. "J. S. Bach: Baroque Composer - EnchantedLearning.com." J. S. Bach: Baroque Composer - EnchantedLearning.com. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/music/bios/bach/ (accessed May 12,
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, said to be one of the best organists of his time (Baroque Music). He was born in March 1685 in Eisenach, Thuringia as the youngest of eight children. His father Johann Ambrosius was also a musician and a court trumpeter for the Duke of Eisenach, and Director of the musicians in Eisenach (Baroque Music). Bach came from a family with a music talent, with his family members having held positions as organists, Cantors, instrumentalists in Thuringia.
The music of the Baroque period was focused on having music be a tool of communication to its listeners; conveying an arousal of emotions. Composers of this time thought to use this tool to have this effect or one similar to it to correctly match music from the Roman time period. One composer that goes by the name of Georg Phillip Telemann. He was a German composer born in 1681, he was known as one of the most prolific composers of the Baroque era, “At the age of just ten years old he was able to play four different instruments and had written arias, motets and instrumental works”(Norton Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music, 756). As well as learning many skills at a young age, his fame grew immensely in Germany becoming a very famous composer and was even assigned four times as much space as the famous J.S. Bach in some contemporary dictionaries. Telemann composed in all varieties of forms and styles, from Italian-style concertos to French-style overture suites and quartets. The Sonata in F minor was one of his pieces that was played at the concert. The piece first given appearance in 1728 in a German musical periodical; though it was originally written for a bassoon and continuo the piece was altered by the performers to be played with a bass trombone and piano. One way that an individual could tell it is a piec...
“For over one thousand years the official music of the Roman Catholic church had been Gregorian Chant, which consists of melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung without accompaniment” (Kamien 67). The credit for developing Gregorian chant music, also known as plain...
According to the article, “Johann Sebastian Bach”, “his Lutheran faith would influence his late musical works.” A tragic event occurred as both of his parents had passed away a few years later, which prompted him to live with his brother’s family. It was there that he continued learning about music. He continued to live there for five years as he left his brother when he was 15. He soon was enrolled in a school at a place called Luneburg. He was enrolled there due to him having “a beautiful soprano singing voice.”(Johann Sebastian Bach) However, as he got older, his voice didn’t sound the way it used to be, so he quickly transitioned back to playing the violin. His first job had also to do with music as he began to work in Weimar as a musician. According to the article, “Johann Sebastian Bach”, there were various jobs he did like serve as a violinist or occasionally fill in
Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a family of musicians. It was only natural for him to pick up an instrument and excel in it. His father taught him how to play the violin and harpsichord at a very young age. All of Bach’s uncles were professional musicians, one of them; Johann Christoph Bach introduced him to the organ. Bach hit a turning point in his life when both of his parents died at the age of ten years old. Bach’s older brother Johann Christoph Bach took him in and immediately expanded his knowledge in the world of music. He taught him how to play the clavichord and exposed him to great composers at the time. At the age of fourteen, Bach and his good friend George Erdmann were awarded a choral scholarship to the prestigious musical school St. Michael’s in Luneburg. From then on, Bach began to build his career in the music industry. His first two years at the school he sang in the school’s a cappella choir. Historical evidence has shown that Bach at a young age would visit Johanniskirche and would listen to the works of organ player Jasper Johannsen. This was thought to have been the inspiration to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Studying at the prestigious musical school has help Bach network his way around and become acquaintances’ with some of the best organ players at the time such as Georg Böhm, and Johann Adam Reincken. Through his acquaintance with Böhm and Reincken Bach had access to some of the greatest and finest instruments.
During this point of the novel, the origin of the title is finally reveled. As Chief is about to be electricuted, he visualizes playing a game called Ting Tingle Tangle Toe. His grandmother chants a rhyme going “one flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest” (Kesey 239). The entire rhyme describes Mrs. Tingle Tangle Toe trying to catch hen’s and put them back their pens. While the goose flies over and attempts to puck Mrs. Tingle Tangle Toe. Chief continues to describe how he doesn’t like Tingle Tangle Toe but he does like the goose swooping over. Tingle Tangle Toe represents Nurse Rachet . She attempts to keep everything controlled and organized by keeping the hens in place. The hens are patients at the ward. The goose is the
Sherrane, Robert. “The Baroque Age: George Frideric Handel.” Music History 102. Accessed: 5/18/2010. Date: 2008.
Bach was born in 1685 in Germany amongst the turmoil of national reconstruction. He lived a quiet life with little musical influence, until the death of his parents at age ten. After their death, Bach’s older brother, who taught the very young Bach to play clavichord and harpsichord, raised Bach. Now, his life had the musical influence that is associated with Bach’s greatness. At the age of eighteen, he joined an orchestra where he learned to play the violin and organ. During this time the musical genius of Bach began to emerge (Jackson 15).
Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven both flourished in their compositions of classical music; however, their genre of music differed considerably. Bach was a German composer during the Baroque time era of western music which is estimated to have taken place during 1600 to 1750. It was during this time that he composed prolific church organ music which included such works as the Mass in B Minor, much scared choral music, and the St. Matthew Passion, as well as composing over a thousand works in nearly every musical genre except opera. On the other hand, Beethoven was a German composer whom began to emerge during the classical era of western music twenty years after Bach. This era took place throughout the years1750 and 1830. The large quantity of arrangements, over two hundred works in numerous musical genres composed by Beethoven was significantly influenced by his predecessors, onset of deafness, and his highly personal expression of intellectual depth. Such works include the first an...
George Frederic Handel was one of the greatest composers to ever live. While this may seem like a very bold statement, it can be supported up by the monumental accomplishments achieved by Handel during his lifetime. Along with being a musical genius, Handel was also one of the greatest composers of the baroque era. Handel never gave up his dream of becoming a world class musician, even though his father wanted him to become a lawyer. The operas and oratorios Handel created are still some of the greatest ever made, and his creativeness and speed is unmatched even today. In order to fully understand Handel and all the great musical pieces he created it’s essential that we know his history, accomplishments, and works.
Getzinger, Donna. Johnann Sebastian Bach and the art of baroque music. 1st ed. Greensboro: Morgan Reynolds, 2004
German-English composer, George Frederick Handel, is one of the greatest composers of the Baroque period if not of all time. His work, Messiah, is one of the most famous and beloved works of music in the world. During his career in music, Handel composed Italian cantatas, oratorios (like Messiah), Latin Church Music, and several operas. Handel moved around from country to country writing, composing, and producing music for royalty such as Queen Anne and George of Hanover. In his life, Handel mastered several instruments including the violin and the harpsichord.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born at Eisenach, in the region of Thuringia, Germany, in 1685. He was a composer and musician of the Baroque period. Bach was born in a family of long musical tradition as his antecessors had been professional musicians for several generations. Johann Sebastian grew under a strictly musical environment. All of his closest relatives were musicians, and by being surrounded by these influences, the young Johann Sebastian developed his musical and instrumental skills. Bach 's mother died in 1694, and his father died eight months later. Thus, at age 10, he had to move in with his oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach , who was an organist
He lived during the last a part of the Baroque amount. He never really left the place where he lived, basically all of his life in was in central Germany, however he studied all the music from composers of that era. His own music shows that he learned and adapted music of many different countries, including French, German and Italian composers. However most of his life, Bach was forced to write church music. Bach wrote music for all genres, except for opera.
Frideric Handel was the greatest composer during the Baroque period, one of his famous works was “Julius Caesar” the opera seria.