Miscellaneous Stuff

The Life and Music of J. S. Bach

By Laurie Anne Woodill
Written October 3, 2004

     Johann Sebastian Bach is the most renowned of seven generations of Bachs to become musicians.
     He was born on March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany. He was taught to play the violin, viola, and organ when he was a young boy. Bach's first musical training was given to him by his father Johann Ambrosius, who was a town musician.
     When Bach was ten years old, his father died. Young Bach then went to live and study with his elder brother Johann Christoph, a student of the famous Pachelbel.
     When he was fifteen, Bach went to work as a chorister at a Lutheran church in Lüneburg. Three years later he became a violinist in the court of Prince Johann Ernst of Weimar. Later that year, he became a church organist in Arnstadt. Here he composed music for Sunday and holiday services.
     In 1707, J.S. Bach married a distant relation, Maria Barbara Bach. They had seven children.
     For nine years Bach worked as a musician in the court of Duke Wilhelm Ernst. During this period, he composed about thirty cantatas and wrote pieces for organ and harpsichord.
     Ten years later Bach became chapelmaster and court musician for Prince Leopold. He composed music for ensembles and wrote music books to help his sons learn organ and harpsichord. These, including the Little Organ Book and the Inventions, are still studied by piano students today.
     About this time, Bach's first wife died and he married Anna Magdalena Wilcken, who bore him thirteen children.
     The remainder of Bach's life was spent as choirmaster of St. Thomas' church. Here he wrote 295 cantatas and 19 fugues, which were all based on one musical theme.
     Bach was a devout Lutheran, as can be seen by his many religious compositions, among which were "The Passion of St. John" and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."
     Although Bach never studied in other countries, he was able to learn foreign styles by copying and arranging music of foreign composers. He put these styles to use in his compositions such as the French Suite in E flat. During his lifetime, Bach was regarded not as a composer, but as an organist. It wasn't until 1829 that Bach was recognized as the brilliant composer he was.
     Johann Sebastian Bach died July 28, 1750, in Leipzig, Germany, leaving behind compositions in every musical genre of the Baroque era except opera

NEW MUSICAL TERMS

In an effort to keep you abreast of the ever-changing world of musical terminology, we provide you with some terms with which you should be familiar:

Adagio Fromaggio: To play in a slow and cheesy manner.

AnDante: A musical composition that is infernally slow.

Angus Dei: To play with a divine, beefy tone.

Anti-phonal: Referring to the prohibition of cell phones in the concert hall.

A Patella: Unaccompanied knee-slapping.

Appologgiatura: A composition, solo or instrument, you regret playing.

Approximatura: A series of notes played by a performer, not intended by the composer.

Approximento: A musical entrance that is somewhere in the vicinity of the correct pitch.

Bar Line: What musicians form after a concert.

Concerto Grossissimo: A really bad performance.

Coral Symphony: (see Beethoven-Caribbean period).

Cornetti Trombosis Disastrous: The entanglement of brass instruments that can occur when musicians exit hastily down the stage stairs

Dill Piccolino: A wind instrument that plays only sour notes.

Fermantra: A note that is held over and over and over and ...

Fermoota: A rest of indefinite length and dubious value.

Fog Hornoso: A sound that is heard when the conductor's intentions are not clear.

Frugalhorn: A sensible, inexpensive brass instrument.

Gaul Blatter: A French horn player.

Good Conductor: A person who can give an electrifying performance or, alternative use, one who obeys the orchestra and/or chorus

Gregorian Champ: Monk who can hold a note the longest.

Kvetchendo: Gradually getting annoyingly louder.

Mallade: A romantic song that's pretty awful.

Molto bolto: Head straight for the ending.

Opera buffa: Musical stage production by nudists.

Poochini Musical: performance, accompanied by a dog.

Pre-Classical Conservatism: School of thought which fostered the idea, "if it ain't baroque, don't fix it."

Spritzicato: Plucking of a stringed instrument to produce a bright, bubbly sound, usually accompanied by sparkling water with lemon (wine optional).

Tempo Tantrumo: When a young band refuses to keep time with the conductor.

Tincanabulation: The annoying or irritating sounds made by extremely cheap bells.

Vesuvioso: A gradual buildup to a fiery conclusion.

ZZZfortzando: Playing REALLY loud in order to wake up the audience.

 

Band Photos


The band rehearsing at St. Mary's


The Spring 2003 Concert at Fellowship Alliance Chapel

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