1. By Maria Yea, Maria Eppler, Jose Soriano Seminar
The Tale of Johann Bach
By Maria Yea, Maria Eppler, Jose Soriano
Seminar

2. Composer Full name: Full name: Johann Sebastian Bach
Born-died: March 21, 1685 (Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany)- July 28, 1750 (Leipzig, Germany)
Nationality:German
Cities of residence: Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany; Lϋneburg, Germany; Mϋlhausen, Germany; Leipzig, Germany

3. Background: Personal Life
Bach came from a family of musicians stretching back several generations. It is believed his father taught him to play the violin.
Bach became an orphan at the age of ten after losing both of his parents. He lived with his brother until he turned 15.
Bach was taught by his brother Johann Christoph as he went to school in Luneburg for having a great soprano voice.
Later on, when his voice changed, he switched to the violin and harpsichord.
By 1740, Bach was struggling with eyesight issues but still he worked on music. He was well enough to travel.
Bach had seven children with his cousin Maria Barbara Bach in When Maria died in 1720, Bach married Anna Magdalena Wülcken, who had thirteen children, even though more than half of them died at the time.

4. Background: Musical Career
Summer of 1703: His great technical skill landed him a position as an organist and music teacher at New Church in Arnstadt.
1707: Bach left Arnstadt for an organist position at the Church of St. Blaise in Mulhausen.
1708: Bach was an organist at the court of Duke Wilhelm in Weimar. He composed famous songs such as “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” and “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”
1717: He accepted a position with Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen. However, Wilhelm did not want Bach to leave so Bach was imprisoned for several weeks. He was released in early December.
1723: After auditioning, bach signed a contract to be an organist and teacher at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. He was also a teacher for Thomas School.

5. Significance ~Historical: ~Output: Brandenburg Concertos
Toccata and Fugue in D minor
He was better remembered as an organist than composer because few works were published in his lifetime.
Bach used counterpoint to add more complexity and details.
His death marked the end of the Baroque period.
~Output:
295 church cantatas, 6 motets, 5 masses including B minor mass
6 Brandenburg Concertos
Great Passions and oratorios
For keyboard: 6 English Suites, 6 French Suites, 6 Partitas, Goldberg Variations, part Inventions, 12 3-part Sinfonias
For Organ: Toccatas, Toccatas and Fugues (Toccata and Fugue in D Minor), Fugues (Fugue in C minor), Passacaglia

6. Composition ~Compositional Techniques:
Complete title: Air on the G String from Orchestral Suite No. 3
Date finished or premiered: Between
Period in which is was composed: Baroque Era
~Compositional Techniques:
A. Form: Suite
B. Meter: 4/2 Tempo: 80
C. Key: D Major
D. Orchestration/instrumentation: violin, viola, cello, bass, piano
E. Style/texture: Baroque

7. Meaning/ Significance
Airs were written by composers during the Baroque period for instrumental ensembles without voices. Bach composed one of the best known Airs, which is the Suite No. 3 in D Major. Suite No. 3 in D Major, later was named Air, and even later Air on the G string (August Wilhelmj arrangement). Airs are lyrical pieces meant to sound lyrical and song-like without words.
J.S. Bach’s Air was written for his patron Prince Leopold of Anhalt.

8. Connection to Historical Events/ Relationships
The Baroque musical period, is when Bach composed Suite No. 3 in D Major which Air is found. Baroque music has dance-like qualities which explains why Bach wrote a suite which is a set of instrumental compositions, originally in dance style, to be played in succession.
During Bach’s time, pianos were not around. Most songs would have to be “sung” by actual singers. However, Bach’s piece Air, is a composition in which he composed to be the most lyrical song to be, without actual voices. The soft, “airy” and slow dance like qualities of Air is closely related to the music during Bach’s lifetime as a composer.
In 1705, Bach gained a month’s leave in order to hear Dietrich Buxtehude, an organist at St. Mary’s Church in Lübeck. He walked an impressive 200 miles in order to hear the music, which impressed him so much that he stayed there for 4 months without telling anyone at his job in Arnstad. As a result, Bach composed organ preludes just like Buxtehude did. The position of cantor of the Leipzig St. Thomas’s Church was originally taken by Johann Kuhnau. However, Kuhnau died in Georg Philipp Telemann was offered the post, but he declined it, as well as Christoph Graupner. In fact, Graupner recommended to the council that Bach should be hired.

9. Additional Comments
1. Bach’s eyesight started failing, so he had surgery to try and fix it. However, the surgery ended up making him completely blind before he died from a stroke and high fever in the same year 1750.
2. He was known more as an organist than composer at the time. This was interesting because today, Bach is known more as a composer than anything else.

10. Performance Difficulties
~Individual:
1. In measure 11 there are eighth notes that I to play in tune, accurately and according to dynamics.
2. As a viola, the tempo is very slow and sometimes hard to keep up, especially with very long notes such as measure 1.
~Ensemble:
1. For cellos: Accidental G#’s, D#’s and A#’s throughout the song of Air. Also to play the notes “airy” (light, soft bow pressure, however still producing sound according to dynamics)
2. The ensemble was not together in the last 2 measures when everyone ritards after repeating a second time.

11. Sources 1. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=181952. 3.