But even though he used his musical talents to glorify God, a problem soon arose. He directed the choir and wrote the worship music used in the church service. In fact, he once said, "I play the notes as they are written but it is God who makes the music." After a few years, Johann got another job as a church organist and choir director at a small German church. When Johann played music, he felt his soul praising God. "The Frenchman heard of your amazing talent and didn't want to risk getting beaten. Why Faith Matters in the Face of Punishment "But I haven't even played a single note! How did I win?" he asked. "I guess you've won the organ contest Johann!" the judges said. One day, he went to compete in an organ contest, only to learn there was no contest. Word of his musical abilities spread quickly. His Lutheran family was pleased to see him carry on the family tradition in music. At just seventeen years old, he got his first job as a church organist. Johann Bach's love of music and dedication to practice began to pay off. Music is the way Johann Bach expresses his thoughts and feelings. For young Johann, music is more than something to listen to or practice. Johann returns to his own bed, filled with anticipation of playing the new music. Once he has copied the final line, he carefully places the music back in the locked cabinet. The rest of his night will be spent carefully copying the notes of the piece he will begin to learn the following day. He spreads the precious pages out on the table. Very carefully, he rolls a manuscript and eases it out of the cabinet. Johann sets down his candle and squeezes his arm through the lattice of the locked music cabinet. If I could picture myself writing, or even conceiving, such a piece I am sure that the extreme excitement and emotional tension would have driven me mad.' the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. The great composer Johannes Brahms wrote to a friend about a composition by Bach (the Chaconne): ". And remember that he not only had to create the music, but also get it copied for the performers, and rehearse with them. Anna Magdalena supported his musical work, sang his compositions in a bold soprano, and bore him many more children.īach lived until age 65, always the feisty musician, fiercely dedicated to quality, passionately creating music for the glory of God.īach set before himself and accomplished the seemingly impossible task of preparing a different cantata for every Sunday for a three-year period. A second marriage was a happy one, however. Shortly after taking the new job, his wife died, leaving him with a house full of children. 6 is the most unusual, as it requires a five-stringed instrument – probably the viola pomposa, or otherwise the cello piccolo.The struggles continued. 5, which requires the cellist to tune the highest string one tone lower. The suites take a route from simplicity to increasing virtuosity: from the usually open strings of the first three suites, via the more complex key of E-flat major of the enigmatic Suite no. Did Bach really write the music for cello, or for cello alone? When did he write this music – at the court of Cöthen or earlier? Even the authorship is called into question sometimes, although claims that Anna Magdalena Bach (who notated the only surviving manuscript) could be the author herself cannot be taken very seriously. Yet there are many questions and discussions about these ‘Suites a Violoncello Solo senza Basso’. ![]() Every cellist who looks at the music senses immediately how naturally the notes are arranged around the strings of the instrument. The Six Cello Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach are part of the Old Testament of cello literature. The pattern of the suite is the one largely followed in the subsequent suites: a free prelude, followed by a fast Allemande and Courante, a contemplative Sarabande, a Minuet that makes an excursion into a minor key, and a speedy closing Gigue. Is this a question of sloppiness, or did the composer actually want the maximum variation in the note groupings? For instance, do you build up the climax leading to the end of the prelude tempestuously or with an even flow? And how should the bowing be done? The Anna Magdalena Bach manuscript in which these suites have been handed down notates the slurs above and below the notes very freely and with apparent inconsistency. This most friendly of suites is suitable for beginners and amateurs, even though it presents challenges to professionals as well. The first bars are dominated by the single G, D and A strings, resulting in great resonance. ![]() The cellist begins the well-known, comforting prelude in a gentle, radiant G major. Bach’s first cello suite became his most famous one.
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