Johann Sebastian Bach: Soli Dei Gloriae Term Paper by Top Papers

The paper relates that while the work of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is today almost universally acknowledged as among the great highlights of the Western European musical tradition, members of the general public today are often surprised to discover that for many years after Bach's death, his work was viewed as old-fashioned and excessively elaborate; Bach himself was held in high regard, but more as a music teacher and virtuoso instrumentalist than as a composer. The paper notes that at least two of his sons became well-known composers in their own right, and for many years were held in higher regard as composers than their father. The paper discusses how it was only much later that Bach began to be re-evaluated in the view of the general public, a transformation that may have been initiated as early as Beethoven, who professed open admiration for Bach as a composer. The paper asserts that Bach's devotion to his particular sect of Protestant Christianity, that of German Lutheranism, must have played an important role in Bach's music; while it could not have imparted to him the talent or energy needed to create some of the great works he wrote, it did provide him with a thematic thread and continual source of inspiration which motivated so many of his compositions.