Happy Birthday, Johann Sebastian! (21 March 2015)

March 21 is the 330th birthday of Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach, born on this day in Eisenach, Germany (1685) according to the Old Style calendar. He was born into a family of professional musicians; the Bachs were well known throughout the region as town organists, pipers, cantors, composers, or directors. When one local count needed a music director, he put out the word for “a Bach.”
Bach’s parents died when he was young, and he went to live with his brother, a church organist. The story goes that Bach’s brother did not allow him access to precious handwritten musical scores, so every night Bach stole his music and copied out pieces by moonlight. Bach went on to a prestigious music school, and then worked as an organist for various churches. He often quarreled with his employers. He was accused of putting unnecessary flourishes and harmonies into simple church music. Once he was given a four-week leave to go hear a master organist perform — a journey of 250 miles by foot — but without informing anyone, he didn’t return for four months. Another time he was reprimanded for letting an “unauthorized maiden” into the choir loft. When Bach was working as a court musician, he found a better position in another town and asked to resign; when the duke refused, he tried to sneak away, so the duke threw him in jail for a month.
During his lifetime, Bach wasn’t famous as a composer, but as a gifted organist, and an excellent builder and repairer of organs. When he died, his estate listed his valuable assets: 19 instruments, a collection of theological books, and various household items. None of his compositions were listed as valuable. It wasn’t until 1829, when Felix Mendelssohn conducted Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion,” that there was serious public interest in Bach’s compositions.
When he was praised for his skills as an organist, Bach replied: “There is nothing very wonderful about it. You have only to hit the right notes at the right moment and the instrument does the rest.”