Johann Sebastian Bach ~ World Of Guitar Addict

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH BIOGRAPHY 1685-1750
Baroque Composer J.S. Bach wrote the genius UNFINISHED masterpiece "ART OF FUGUE" in his last years, while SLOWLY GOING BLIND!

Johann Sebastian Bach is THE most brilliant BAROQUE COMPOSER in history. Bach wrote the genius unfinished masterpiece "ART OF FUGUE" in his last years, while SLOWLY GOING BLIND. After an eye operation, Bach reportedly died mid-bar while writing the final fugue, having just composed a musical notation based on his name: B A C H.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany into a musical family. He was taught violin by his father, but at the age of 10, Bach was orphaned and sent to live with his older brother. His brother did not recognize Bach's talent as a musician and forbade him from handling certain music manuscripts, which caused Bach to borrow the music at night and in hiding Bach would copy the scores by moonlight, severely straining his eyes and possibly leading to his blindness later on.
In 1714, at the age of 29, Bach became the Konzertmeister to the Duke of Weimar, where he composed cantatas and conducted. In 1716, the post of Kappellmeister became vacant and not offered to Bach, so he decided to take a similiar post in Anhalt-Cothen. Trying to prevent Bach from leaving, The Duke IMPRISONED HIM FOR A MONTH in 1717 and then discharged him from the court. Bach and his family left the court in disgrace.
In 1720, Bach's first wife Maria, with whom he had 7 children, died. A year later, Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcke, with whom he had 13 children. Bach wrote the famous "Clavierbuchlein," dedicated to Anna Magdalena and preserved in notebooks.

Among Bach's MANY famous masterpieces are: "Brandenburg Concertos", "The Art of Fugue", "The Well-Tempered Clavier", "Goldberg Variations", "St. Matthew Passion", "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor", "Mass in B Minor".
In 1747, as Bach was working on the final fugue of "The Art of the Fugue" and finishing his masterpiece "Mass in B Minor", Bach was almost totally blind. In 1750, after two eye operations by the British opthamalic "specialist", John Taylor, Bach became TOTALLY BLIND. That year, Bach suffered a stroke and died ten days later on July 28, 1750. After Bach died, Bach's own son, C.P.E. Bach, wrote on the score for "The Art of Fugue" (on "Contrapunctus XIX") the following: "N.B. While working on this fugue, where the name B.A.C.H. appears in the countersubject, the composer died." (B,A,C,H -- "H" is B natural in German).

Bach was buried in an unmarked grave, until his remains were rediscovered in 1894.
Bach's fame in his lifetime came mostly as an organist, more than a composer. It wasn't until 1829 when the composer Felix Mendelssohn discovered Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" and conducted this work, that Bach's reputation grew to became known as one of the GREATEST COMPOSERS IN HISTORY.