Johannes Sebastian Bach was voted “the greatest composer in world history” in a 2019 survey of 174 living composers. The survey appeared in the December 2019 edition of BBC Music Magazine. Aside from being born into a musical family, what character traits brought him to this distinction?
Backstory
Johannes Sebastian Bach was born 22 November 1685 to a musical family, and he was being raised to follow in their footsteps. He lost both parents by the age of nine and was raised by his brother, J.C. Bach. He lost his first wife at 35, and 10 of his 20 children with his two wives to illness and accident. How could someone so accustomed with tragedy find the time, let alone the mental resilience to become the greatest composer in world history”?
Faith
Bach was heavily influenced by his Lutheran faith. He saw music as a gift from God, and his work was always connected to theological teaching. He ultimately strove to find divine analogies in music and aimed to perfect music in a way that was ever closer to nature and God’s likeness.
Hard-Working and Industrious
Bach was successful in school, in his work, and in his home and family life. As a student, Bach graduated at the top of his class, nearly four years younger than the average graduate’s age. In his opinion,
I was made to work. If you are equally industrious, you will be equally successful.
On the rare occasions when Bach appraised his life’s work, he remarked simply “I worked hard.”
Balance
Bach took great pleasure in his two marriages, and in being a father. He approached all he did with curiosity and a sense of humour. He was known to growl, “Without my morning coffee, I’m just like a dried-up piece of roast goat.”
Despite being very demanding of subordinate musicians, Bach was also humble in his approach to life. When asked how he achieved such beautiful melodies, he explained,
You just have to press the right keys and the right pedals at the right time and the music plays itself.
Experience with Death
Throughout his life, Bach faced the untimely deaths of his loved ones. In Spring 1694, at nine years of age, his father’s twin brother, who was quite close to the family died. A few months later, his mother passed away, and a year later, he became an orphan when his father died.
His first wife Maria Barbara also unexpectedly died while Bach was away on a trip to Carlsbad with his employer, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen. The sad news of her death was intercepted, and Bach only found out when he returned home weeks later.
By the end of his life, he would also witness the premature deaths of ten of his children.
The tragedies that filled Bach’s life heavily influenced his compositions. Perhaps such losses in life made his music more formal, and less whimsical than that of his contemporaries Beethoven or Handel. Bach’s music, in contrast, seeks to console in times of heartbreak. His experience with death and the uncertainty of human life brought him closer to his artistic aim,
The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.
Bach was well aware of the power of music in calming the soul. He knew that,
It is the special province of music to move the heart.
As his music continues to do so well – 271 years after his death.
