Johan Sebastian Bach, composer, violinist and keyboard
virtuoso, was born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach,
Germany and died on July 28, 1750 in Leipzig, Germany.
Today, he is probably the most famous composer of the
Baroque Period in music (1600-1750) and definitely
represents the culmination of Baroque style. One of the
main differences between Baroque style and that of the
Classical Period (1750-1825) which followed, was the
use of counterpoint - literally note (i.e., ?point?)
against ...(+)
Johan Sebastian Bach, composer, violinist and keyboard
virtuoso, was born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach,
Germany and died on July 28, 1750 in Leipzig, Germany.
Today, he is probably the most famous composer of the
Baroque Period in music (1600-1750) and definitely
represents the culmination of Baroque style. One of the
main differences between Baroque style and that of the
Classical Period (1750-1825) which followed, was the
use of counterpoint - literally note (i.e., ?point?)
against (?counter?) note (?point?). With 21st Century
ears, we tend to hear music as a single melody,
usually, the highest part, with (harmonic)
accompaniment; however, much of his music consists of
several melodies, all of equal importance, being played
simultaneously.
The original complete collection of Bach?s works, the
Bach-Gesellschaft edition, appeared in Leipzig in 46
volumes between 1851 and 1899. It was the first
?complete works? edition to publish a composer's
notation without deliberate editorial tampering, to
include almost every composition, and to provide a
critical apparatus, serving as a model for virtually
every critical edition since that day. Vol. IX, with a
preface dated April 1860 signed by the editor, Wilhelm
Rust, contained three sonatas for flute and
keyboard.
In this piece, the Flute often has the melody, but it
is not necessarily the melody (i.e., the left and/or
right hand of the keyboard part may have an equally
important melody).
Bach is best known for his composition for keyboard,
especially organ, and, because he was employed as a
church musician, his religious works: the Mass in B
Minor and Saint Matthew Passion are perennial favorites
at Christmas and Easter, respectively.
He composed for the Flute over a period of about twenty
year, beginning with the Sonata in A Minor for
unaccompanied Flute (BWV 1013). Sonata No. 2 in Eb
Major (BWV 1031) was written while he was the conductor
of the court orchestra in Cöthen, between 1717 and
1723, for the French flautist Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin
(1690-1768), who he had met at the Dresden court in
1717; Sonata No. 1 in B Minor (BWV 1030) was also
probably written for Buffardin.
One of the two surviving manuscript copies of Sonata
No. 2 in Eb Major (BWV 1031) was in copied by Carl
Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) - Bach?s second oldest
son, also a composer, who himself wrote many works for
the Flute; this has caused much debate about the
authenticity of Sonata No. 2 in Eb Major (BWV 1031)
and, for the same reason, Sonata No. 4 in C Major (BWV
1033, now believed to have been originally composed for
unaccompanied Flute by J. S. Bach with a figured bass
line added later by C. P. E. Bach): were these works by
Johan Sebastian or Carl Philipp Emanuel? Either way,
they are Bach Flute Sonatas!
SHEET MUSIC