Johann and Anna welcomed many visitors from far and near, including leading musicians, and had frequent house concerts. His son Carl Philipp Emanuel described the swirl of life in their household as a “pigeonry,”4 which is where C.P.E. Of his total of 20 offspring, ten died in infancy, and ten lived long lives. Bach’s second wife, Anna, bore 13 children and helped raise the four surviving children from his deceased first wife, Maria. Bach’s personal life was also quite full. He did not neglect his church duties but became even more adept at balancing a very busy life. He loved these activities so much that collegia musica became central to his life. Bach staged the weekly performances, composed and rehearsed new works, served as guest conductor with a wealth of talented musicians, and performed as a virtuoso keyboardist. The performances, held at the centrally located Zimmerman coffee house, often featured distinguished visiting artists.
For their concerts, Bach adapted his and others’ music and composed new works. Bach assumed directorship of Leipzig’s collegium musicum in 1729.
In addition, Leipzig had a tradition of secular musical organizations (collegia musica), which were fueled by university students and professional musicians. What better opportunity to modernize Leipzig church music? Over three decades, he composed nearly 300 cantatas,3 one for every Sunday and feast day of the ecclesiastical year. By transforming secular cantatas into sacred works, he immortalized his best music.Īs capellmeister-cantor from 1723 to 1750, Bach prepared music for services at Leipzig’s two most important churches, St. Yet he used a well-regarded Baroque technique called “parody” to preserve works he had created for special occasions. As a self-defined craftsman, he might be surprised to find his name placed so high in musical history, let alone at the pinnacle of the Baroque2 era. A devoted Lutheran, he believed in God’s grace for the sake of Christ, which informed his selection of Biblical text for lyrics and motivated him to dignify the spirituality of contemporary listeners with incredible music. Johann Sebastian Bach regarded himself as a craftsman whose music’s purpose was to please and edify others for the glory of God. “The ultimate end of true music is the honor of God and the recreation of the soul.”