(Part 1) Unit 2: Bach Flashcards
______ _________ Bach (____ - ____)
Johann Sebastien
1685
1750
Where was Johann Sebastien Bach born?
Eisenach, Germany
What was Bach’s family profession? For how long in the family?
Music
Five generations
True or False:
Bach was orphaned at the age of eleven
False, Bach was orphaned at the age of twelve
Who continued Bach’s musical training when he was orphaned?
Oldest brother, Johann Christoph
What did Bach’s academic studies include? (3)
Latin
Greek
Theology
Bach sang in ______, became an accomplished _________ and virtuoso ________
Choirs
Violinist
Organist
True or False:
Bach was trained in instrument building
True, Bach was trained in instrument building and repair
After Eisenach, where did Bach start out his life and musical career?
Arnstadt
In the Arnstadt segment of his life:
What positions did Bach hold? (3)
Court violinist
Chamber musician
Organist
In the Arnstadt segment of his life:
Was Bach granted a leave? Why?
Yes, to meet the famous organist Dietrich Buxtehude
In the Arnstadt segment of his life:
Bach met Buxtehude in ______, walking ___ _______ miles each way
Lubeck
Two hundred
In the Arnstadt segment of his life:
Where did Bach go and get married? Who did he marry?
Muhlhausen
Maria Barbara Bach, his distant cousin
In the Arnstadt segment of his life:
Which two of Bach’s children became successful musicians?
Carl Philipp Emanuel
Wilhelm Friedemann
What was the second segment of Bach’s life, after Arnstadt and Muhlhausen?
Weimar
In the Weimar segment of his life:
What positions did Bach hold? (2)
Court organist
Chamber musician
In the Weimar segment of his life:
Who was Bach court organist/chamber musician to?
Wilhelm Ernst, Duke of Weimar
True or False:
Bach gained increasing fame as an violinist during the Weimar period of his life
False, Bach enjoyed increasing fame as an organist in this period of time, composing many organ works
In the Weimar segment of his life:
What notable organ work did Bach compose during this time?
Orgelbuchlein (Little Organ Book) of chorale preludes
In the Weimar segment of his life:
Bach composed music for ________ ______ services - ________, _______ settings
Lutheran church
Cantatas
Chorale
In the Weimar segment of his life:
What did Bach do that angered the Duke of Weimar and resulted in a month in jail?
Accepted a salary advance for a new position at Cothen
What was the third segment of Bach’s life, after Weimar?
Cothen
In the Cothen segment of his life:
What position did Bach hold?
Kapellmeister (music director) to Prince Leopold of Cothen, avid supporter of the arts
In the Cothen segment of his life:
_________ views of the court influenced musical activities: no music performed in ________
Calvinist
Churches
True or False:
Bach composed many solo and chamber works during the Cothen period of his life
True
In the Cothen segment of his life:
What works did Bach compose? (4)
Suites
Concertos
Sonatas
Solo keyboard works
What well-known solo keyboard work did Bach compose during the Cothen segment of his life?
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1
In the Cothen segment of his life:
Who did Bach marry? Why?
Anna Magdalena Wilcke, a court singer
Because of the sudden death of Maria Barbara Bach
In the Cothen segment of his life:
Which two of Bach’s children became successful musicians?
Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christoph Bach
What was the final segment of Bach’s life?
Leipzig
In the Leipzig segment of his life:
What positions did Bach hold? (2)
Cantor of St. Thomas School
Director of Collegium Musicum
In the Leipzig segment of his life:
What were his responsibilities as the Cantor? (4)
Teaching Composing Directing choirs Supervising musical activities (all the above in several churches)
What was the Collegium Musicum?
A performing ensemble for university students
In the Leipzig segment of his life:
What were Bach’s important large-scale works written in this period? (2)
Goldberg Variations
Art of Fugue
True of False:
During the Leipzig period, Bach frequently travelled to test new organs
False. During the Leipzig period, Bach frequently travelled to test new keyboard instruments
In the Leipzig segment of his life:
Who did Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel work for?
Frederick the Great at Potsdam
In the Leipzig segment of his life:
Bach wrote a ____________ work based on a theme provided by who? What was the work called?
Contrapuntal, provided by Frederick the Great at Potsdam
The Musical Offering
Bach’s music represents a ____ point in over ___ hundred years of Baroque musical practice
High
One
Did Bach compose work in every genre? If no, what genre did he not compose work for?
No, he composed works in virtually every genre
Except for opera
As a devout ________, Bach dedicated all his works:
Lutheran
“To the glory of God”
State the years of the Arnstadt segment of Bach’s life
1703-1708
State the years of the Weimar segment of Bach’s life
1708-1717
State the years of the Cothen segment of Bach’s life
1717-1723
State the years of the Leipzig segment of Bach’s life
1723-1750
When did Bach die?
July 28, 1750; likely cause was a stroke
Bach was a great master of the ____________ art, as demonstrated in the ______ of:
Contrapuntal
Fugues
The Well Tempered Clavier
True of False:
Bach absorbed influences of international styles
True
What international styles did Bach absorb? (7)
German (Lutheran chorale tradition, counterpoint)
French (dance rhythms, ornamentation)
Italian (operatic, lyricism, ritornello form, idiomatic string writing)
Bach was a ________ ________, as reflected in his _____ and ________ works
Virtuoso organist
Organ
Keyboard
True or False:
Bach defined new forms in music
False, he perfected existing forms rather than defining new ones
