The Greatest Lutheran Composer - Page 2
© James Sucha
In the summer of 1707, Bach left Arnstadt to take up an appointment as organist of the Blasiukirche in Muhlhausen. Despite his short time at Muhlhausen, he wrote his first cantatas as well as many works for the town council. In his lifetime, Bach was often scorned by the younger generation of composers, including several of his own sons. They thought his music was old fashioned, pompous, grandiose and they nicknamed him "old powder wig." Although he had 20 children from two marriages, four sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Wilhelm Freideman, Johann Christoph Friedrich, and Johann Christian, and had musical careers like their father.
Bach had many jobs at churches and courts around Germany. He worked for the Duke of Weimar where he composed a large portion of his work. Weimar was also the place where Bach first heard the music of Vivaldi. From Vivaldi's music, Bach learned how to begin his compositions dramatically, something his music didn't do before. Other jobs followed in Cothen, Steinau, and later Leipzig. Bach composed great works in this period - The six Brandenburg Concertos, the first book of the Well Tempered Clavier. Bach suffered a series of setbacks and tragedies. His first wife died, and he soon remarried to Anna Magdalena Wilken. Out of 20 of his children from both marriages, he buried eleven of them after tragic deaths. He found solace in the music he created to overcome the heartaches, and he managed by giving his best work to the glory of God and those who sustained him with employment.
In Leipzig, he was the choir director of St. Thomas Lutheran Church. There he received a nice salary, and his children were given the best education. His first 6 years in Leipzig were the most productive of his life. He was capable of composing perfect counterpoint with the music he wrote. Mathematical training had helped him in creating melodies that revolved around other pieces of music going on at the same time. People marveled at his unique God-given gifts of arranging music, and hearing the results in Lutheran churches. When asked about how he did it, he remarked "there's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself."
In 1726, Bach was a guest organist at a Lutheran church in Steinau, Germany. During the service, he played the plainsong Sanctus that Martin Luther had used in his German masses. Bach decided to give it more flair with his gifts and reharmonized it - giving it that touch to inspire. This piece of music is still used in Lutheran circles today for liturgy, and is one of the most beloved melodies to North American Lutherans today. It can be found in The Service Hymnal in both First and Second Setting as the Sanctus. Regina Fryxell updated it a bit for the Second Setting in the Service Book and Hymnal, and Ronald Nelson gave it more chords and moving bass for Setting Two in the Lutheran Book of Worship. It has also inspired David Cherwein when he composed an alternate harmony book for the LBW liturgy as well in the 1990's.
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