Many slips early morning out of bed for school or work are just some of the Well-Tempered Clavier exercise or listen to a piece cantata: Bach every day! From 1723 he was cantor of the Thomas School in Leipzig, where he was responsible for the music in the four main churches. This post was not only musically, but also organizationally heavy: his masterful John and
St Matthew Passion and many cantatas
… asked not just about music inventiveness, but also organizational insight and careful planning. His experience as an organist, orchestra musician and bandleader in Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, Weimar and Köthen will come to him in good stead here. The Brandenburg Concertos, the Passacaglia in C Toccata and Fugue in d and the first book of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier stems from time as organist and court musician. Among the fruits of his Leipzig period include the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, Das Opfer musikalisches and Die Kunst der Fuge. (HJ)more
