Bach, JOHANN SEBASTIAN, was born at Eisenach in 1685, probably on 21st March. The family, which traced its origin from one Veit Bach, a baker and miller who lived about 1550, and was exceedingly fond of music, had already produced many musicians, among whom two brothers, cousins of Sebastian's father, Ambrosius, were the most eminent. Johann Christoph and Johann Michael Bach wrote several excellent motets, and their writings had considerable influence on their illustrious kinsman. The love of music was so general throughout the family, that at Erfurt, where one branch of the clan was settled for many years, the town-musicians were commonly called 'the Bachs,' even though there might not be any member of the family among them at the time. Before he was ten years old, Sebastian lost his father, and was placed under the care of an elder brother, Johann Christoph, who was organist at Ohrdruf. He undertook the boy's musical education, but apparently in dread of his too rapid progress, kept from him a manuscript volume of organ pieces by various masters. Sebastian managed to obtain possession of the book by drawing it through the lattice of the bookcase in which it was locked away, and to copy its contents, working only by the light of the moon for fear of detection; his sole reward for six months' labour was the confiscation of his copy on its discovery by his brother. In 1700 he entered the choir of St Michael's school at Lüneburg, remaining there, after his beautiful soprano voice had broken, as accompanist on the harpsichord, and also as a violinist. During this period he made several excursions to Hamburg, where a cousin of his, Johann Ernst Bach, was living, in order that he might hear the famous organist Reincken play. In 1703 he was given a court appointment at Weimar, where he had the opportunity of hearing a great deal of Italian instrumental music; in the following year, while on a visit to some of his many relations at Arnstadt, he was offered the post of organist to the New Church, and it was here that he began to compose in real earnest. Many of his 'church cantatas' were written here, as well as the famous 'Capriccio on the Departure of a Brother,' composed when his brother, Johann Jakob, went to join the Swedish Guard. In October 1705 he obtained four weeks' leave of absence in order to go to Lübeck and hear Buxtehude, the great Danish organist and composer, who was then nearly seventy years old. Bach was so delighted with him and his compositions that he outstayed his leave of absence, and on his return the authorities censured his conduct in this and other matters, such as accompanying the hymns in a manner that did not suit the taste of the congregation. His intimacy with a cousin of his, Maria Barbara Bach, who had lately come to Arnstadt, was also made a ground for reproof; so that he began to look for a new post. This he found at Mühlhausen, where he was installed in June 1707. On 17th October of that year he returned to Arnstadt in order to marry the cousin just mentioned, and settled down to his new work. He only remained at Mühlhausen one year, since a far more congenial sphere of action presented itself at Weimar, where he was now appointed court organist. The nine years spent at the ducal court did much to perfect Bach's style as a composer for the organ, and some of the best of his cantatas were also written there. The works of the great Italian composers of the time were studied in such a manner that Bach soon became complete master of their style of writing, and thus prepared for his own instrumental works which were to be produced later. Many journeys were made from Weimar, the most famous of which is one that resulted in the discomfiture of a French harpsichord player named Marchand. In 1717 Bach went to Dresden, where this man's playing was universally admired; the merits of the two musicians were hotly discussed, and it was determined that Bach should challenge Marchand to a public musical competition. The Frenchman accepted the challenge, but when the day came, was nowhere to be found. He had enough perception to see that the competition could only bring defeat upon himself, and so had beaten a retreat. Soon after this, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen offered Bach the post of capellmeister at his court, a situation which he retained till 1723. A journey to Halle, made with the purpose of seeing Handel, who was there at the time, failed of its object, as Bach got there too late; nor was a subsequent attempt to meet his great contemporary more successful. A severe calamity befell him in 1720, when his wife died during his absence with the prince at Carlsbad; he bore her loss, however, manfully, and went on with his accustomed duties, paying another visit to Reinken at Hamburg in the same year. In December 1721 he married Anna Magdalena Wülken, daughter of the court trumpeter at Weissenfels. She was extremely musical; much of his music exists in copies made by her hand, and many of his works for keyed instruments were written for her use. Most of the well-known 'snites' date from this time, as well as many works for stringed instruments. The first half of the wonderful collection of Forty-eight Preludes and Fugues, called in Germany Das Wohltemperirte Clavier, was also written at Cöthen, the second half being composed many years afterwards. At the end of the year 1722 the post of Cantor of the Thomaschule at Leipzig became vacant, and after some difficulties and delays Bach was given the appointment. During his residence at Leipzig, all his greatest works for chorus were written, among which the most important are the two settings of the history of the Passion, in the versions of St Matthew and St John respectively, many church cantatas, the total number of which, together with those already mentioned, reached nearly three hundred, and the Mass in B minor. Two movements from this latter work were presented to Augustus III. at one of Bach's frequent visits to Dresden, where he received in 1736 the honorary title of Hofcomponist. A more famous visit was that paid to Frederick the Great at Potsdam, in May 1747. His arrival was announced to the king while a state concert was going on; Frederick immediately laid down his flute, and sent for Bach to come to court just as he was. Some pianofortes made by Silbermann were tried by Bach, who subsequently improvised on a theme given to him by the king. This theme he afterwards worked up in many different ways, and presented the result to Frederick under the title of The Musical Offering. This, like the Art of Fugue, a work begun about this time, and upon which he was engaged at the time of his death, is a monument of contrapuntal ingenuity and theoretical learning. Some two and a half years after this visit, his eyesight began to give way, and he was persuaded to have recourse to an English oculist then resident in Leipzig. The failure of an operation resulted in absolute blindness, and worse than that, the remedies used affected his health. In July 1750 he was struck with apoplexy, and died on the 28th of the month.
No composer who ever lived can be held to surpass Bach either in the ease of his intricate workmanship or in the wealth of invention with which he was endowed. The broad effects which came so easily to Handel, and by which so many thousands have been impressed, did not come within Bach's province; but in his 'B minor mass,' for instance, there are revealed depths of sorrow and heights of ecstatic adoration, which no musician before or since his time has ever attained. That his music appeals less to the untainted than to the cultivated lover of the art, cannot surely be held as a reproach. His greatest compositions for keyed and stringed instruments, taxing as they do the utmost powers of modern artists, must have been far beyond the reach of the executants of his own day. The pianist of the present day owes to Sebastian Bach not only the system of tuning by which he is enabled to play in all keys, but the method of fingering by which all his fingers are brought into requisition. Several other inventions were made by Bach, but none have been proved of lasting value. One of his sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel, holds an important place in the history of music, since he did much to develop the so-called 'sonata-form,' in which all classical compositions of modern times are cast, and moreover became the teacher of Joseph Haydn. Wilhelm Friedmann, Sebastian's eldest son, dissipated his fine musical talents, leaving comparatively few compositions; the youngest son, Johann Christian, has some interest for Englishmen, since he established himself in London, holding positions there of some consideration. The various biographies of the master, by Forkel (1803), Hilgenfeldt (1850), Bitter (2d ed. 1880-81), and others, have been completely superseded by Spitta's exhaustive work (2 vols. 1873-80; Eng. trans. 3 vols. Novello, 1884-85). Among English books on the subject, Mr R. Lane Poole's contribution to the 'Great Musicians' series, and Mr C. H. H. Parry's Studies of Great Composers, may be consulted with advantage.