Johann Sebastian Bach, born on March 21, 1685, died July 28 1750 Johann Sebastian Bach was admired by his contemporaries for his skill as an organist, which was part of his job. Now he’s probably best known as the greatest composer of the Baroque era, and other eras as well. He had a musical heritage; his father played a string instrument at the court of the Duke of Eisenach. He was the baby of the family; by the time he was ten, both of his parents were dead, and his older brother raised him. At eighteen, he was appointed organist at New Church in Arnstadt. In 1707 he got a new job, which he left after a year. He also married his cousin, Maria Barbara Bach, with whom he had seven children. In 1720, Maria died. Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcken about 18 months later. They had thirteen children together. In 1723, he moved with his family to Leipzig. As director of church music for the city of Leipzig, from 1723 until his death in 1750, where he taught, conducted, sang, played, and composed. His total output included nearly two hundred cantatas, including at least two for each Sunday and holy day in the Lutheran church year. Nine of his 20 children survived him; four of them were also composers. In the 1982 Hymnal, the Lutheran Bach has composed or provided harmony for 20 hymns. By my count, he’s the third most noted composer/arranger/harmonizer in the hymnal, following Ralph Vaughan Williams and William Henry Monk. He harmonized one of the hymns we hear in Holy Week, O Sacred Head Now Wounded. After Bach’s music fell out of fashion, later composers, such as Felix Mendelssohn, renewed interest in him. Johannes Brahms advised, “Study Bach: there you will find everything.” If you want to see (in tri-color!) as well as hear the Little Fugue in G minor, one of my favorite short (3.45 min.) pieces, try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddbxFi3-UO4 PRAYER Sound out your majesty, O God, and call us to your work; that, like thy servant Johann Sebastian Bach, we might present our lives and our works to your glory alone; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Saints Alive!
I have been privileged to offer Noonday Prayer at my church, usually on Thursdays, which doesn’t matter because it’s on Youtube forever. [It’s amazing what can be done with a smartphone and a smart, helpful parish administrator!] The service is brief, with a place for a meditation. We usually look at the Episcopal calendar of saints, who are nearly always honored on their death dates, not their birth dates. Here is a hymn by medieval saint Hildegard of Bingen to set the mood.
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