Biography
Johann Sebastian Bach was born to a family with a rich musical background in Eisenach, Germany, on March 21st 1685. Bach's composition career is divided into three main periods - Weimar, Köthen and Leipzig.
During the Weimar period (1708-1717), Bach became concert master at the castle church in the court of Weimar, composing a large part of his organ oeuvre and over 30 cantatas.
During the Köthen period (1717-1723), Bach received the position of Kapellmeister in the Court of Anhalt-Köthen. The area's Calvinist belief and the Prince of Anhalt-Köthen's enthusiastic interest in musical catalysed Bach's significant progress in the composition of instrumental music. One such composition was the Brandenburg Concertos. …show more content…
Violin Concerto in E major BWV 1042 (1st movement)
This piece was composed during the Köthen period. The first movement adopts a ritornello form which explodes into a tune of great liveliness and joy in the key of E major. The rising triad develops with the soloist and vibrant accompanying ripieno group equally emphasized. The solo violin part is virtuosic with novel melodic variants.
Characteristics of the Baroque style, including terraced dynamics and ornamentations, are evident. It contains many of Bach’s recognisable compositional style like clear and clean articulation, alternating notes, wide leaps and elements of contrapuntal and polyphonic writing. The movement is based around a powerful arpeggiated triad motif, with the constant flow of semi-quavers facilitating its recurrence, forming one basic …show more content…
In the early years of Brahm's musical career, he was influenced by Hungarian music and met Franz Lizt, Eduard Reményi, Joseph Joachim and the Schumanns. His simple and tender works mostly followed a Classical form and favoured the use of the piano to bring out expressive characters.
In 1863, Brahms became the director of the Vienna Singakademie and settled permanently in Vienna in 1868. He produced chamber works like the Hungarian Dances and Ein Deutsches Requiem. Brahms became music director of the Gesellschaft der Musik-freunde and focused on composing symphonies, concertos and chamber music. His music became more calm and quiet compared to his youthful exuberance and animated composition style. He later retired from composition in 1890.
His most notable works include the Haydn Variations, four symphonies, three violin sonatas, two cello sonatas, the Handel Variations and the Tragische Overture.
Violin Sonata No.2 in A major op.100 (1st movement)
The piece was composed in Hofstetten, Switzerland, in 1886, during the third period of his composition career. The character of the song was greatly influenced by his passionate love for nature, as he wanted to portray the beautiful landscape and natural calmness in the lake