Who is the father of European music?

Bach-the father of modern European music

On March 21st, 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach, a great man in the history of European music and the most outstanding representative of Bach's music, was born in Eisenach, Germany. Although this is a small town, its citizens love music.

It is said that the words "Music always shines in our town" were engraved on the ancient city gate of this city. The Bach family is an out-and-out musical family. For young Bach, who has great musical talent, it was very lucky to grow up in such a family. However, the god of fate was determined to find some trouble: he lost his mother at the age of 9 and his father at the age of 1, so he had to rely on his eldest brother to continue to raise him.

Although there are a lot of music materials in the house, the bossy brother just won't allow him to read and study, no matter how hard he begged. Bach Jr. had to take advantage of his brother's absence from home and deep sleep in the middle of the night to copy down his beloved music in the moonlight, which lasted for half a year, thus greatly damaging his eyesight. In his later years, he spent painfully in blindness until his death.

how sad and respectable it is for a child who is only 1 years old and has lost his parents to ask his family for valuable knowledge in this way! Strangely, such a noble and persistent pursuit could not impress his brother-when he discovered his brother's secret, Li went on the rampage, not only ruthlessly confiscated all Bach's hard work, but also severely punished him, without introspection and compassion.

at the age of 15, Bach finally left home alone and embarked on an independent life. He was admitted to the choir attached to Michaelis Church in Luneberg by his beautiful singing voice and excellent playing skills of the clavichord, violin and organ, and at the same time he entered god school to study. The library here is rich in classical music works, and Bach dived into it like a huge sponge, fully absorbing and integrating the artistic achievements of various European schools, broadening his musical horizons.

in order to practice the piano, he often stays up all night. Every holiday, he has to walk dozens of miles to Hamburg to listen to famous musicians.

Looking back on Bach's growth path, we can find that he had consulted many famous musicians, but never received long-term guidance from a formal teacher. Because of this, he is just like a hard-working bee, looking for and sucking nutrition everywhere, and doing his best. Later, when someone asked how his art reached such a perfect state, he simply and seriously replied: if anyone works hard like me, he will reach the same state.

In the first half of the 18th century, Germany was in a state of division of feudal nobles. Every castle had a vassal, and Germany with a small territory was actually divided among 352 independent small countries. In order to show off their power and luxury, lords of all sizes generally set up opera troupes and Gong Shi bands. In order to survive, most folk artists became musicians and slaves in the court or church (in Germany at that time, musicians were treated as exactly the same slaves as handyman, janitor and chef, etc.), and Bach was naturally doomed. Although he moved from place to place and frequently changed his workplace, his mother could not get rid of her humble servant status.

Lessing, a great German playwright and political commentator, once said, "Genius is born in a very hard class, even if it is not born in extreme poverty. God seems to imagine that there are more geniuses in this class than in other classes. That's true. In Bach's life, poverty and death followed closely like a pair of terrible ghosts. Not only did he never enjoy a rich and comfortable life, but he began to feel gloomy when his parents died one after another from the age of 9. When he grew up as a father, he sent 11 of his children to the grave (he married twice and gave birth to 2 children).

Bach had two operations to heal his eyes in his later years. As a result, he not only failed to see the light again, but destroyed his body and finally passed away on July 28th, 175.

Compared with Handel, another baroque musician, they have some similarities, but Bach's road is obviously much more tortuous. They were born only 26 days apart and 15 kilometers apart. Hendler secretly hid in the attic to practice the piano by moonlight because his father opposed his learning music, while Bach had to copy it quietly by moonlight because his eldest brother refused to give him music. They all became representatives of baroque music, but they were blind in their later years.

Handel is sociable and active, has a wide interest in the world around him, and is good at adapting to the environment. He not only succeeded in Italy, but also became famous and respected in Britain.

In contrast, Bach was introverted and quiet, serving the church and the court all his life, never leaving the country, being unknown when he was born, and quietly leaving when he died. As Paul Landur, a French music critic, said: "Bach" was not created for future generations, or even for Germany in his time. His ambition did not go beyond the scope of his city or even his church. Every week he just works for the next Sunday, preparing a new work or modifying an old tune; After the performance, he put it back in the bookcase. He never tried to publish it, nor even thought of saving it for his own use. There is no longer a masterpiece in the world whose conception and practice are so naive and simple!

Bach's musical works are all-encompassing, covering all musical fields at that time except opera (this is quite different from Handel's, whose road to success began with opera). Although most of the works have been scattered for a long time, more than 5 books remain.

among them, the main representative works include: The Well-Tempered Clavier, The Art of Fugue, 6 Brandenburg Concertos, 2 Little Piano Concertos, 6 unaccompanied violin sonatas and suites, 6 unaccompanied cello sonatas and suites, French Suite, English Suite, Peasant Cantata, Coffee Cantata, Matthauspassion, Mass in B minor, and so on.

Bach's greatest achievement in music art is to push polyphonic music to an unprecedented height (Handel focuses on the main melody music), and in this territory, it can be said that he has reached the pinnacle of perfection.

Because of his lofty belief in humanitarianism and indomitable pursuit of a better life, his music is often full of vitality and human touch.

when Bach was alive, his works were not understood by people. He had neither a prominent position nor won social recognition. It was the great Mozart and Beethoven who first discovered his valuable value. They were shocked by the profundity, perfection and impeccable of Bach's music. When Beethoven first saw some of Bach's works, he couldn't help exclaiming, "He is not a stream (Bach's name is German Bach, which means' stream'), but the sea!"

Today, Bach's music can be heard everywhere in the world. Among them, many works have long been listed as compulsory teaching materials for cultivating students in art colleges and entries in major international music competitions. Bach is known as "the unsurpassed master" and even as "the father of modern European music".

le sheng Beethoven Germany

the father of music, Bach Germany

the oratorio master Handel Germany

the music poet Schumann Germany

the master of music and drama Wagner Germany

the king of art songs Schubert Austria

the conductor emperor karajan Austria

the waltz king John Strauss Austria

the father of the symphony, Haydn, the father of quartet, Austria

Mozart, the music prodigy, Austria

Verdi, the king of opera, Italy

caruso, the tenor, Pavarotti, Italy