In the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach has been one of my absolute favourite composers since I was a child. His passion for music and the incomprehensible genius behind his compositions inspire me immensely. His compositions are of such complexity, full of musical richness and yet easily understandable for the human brain. You can lose yourself in it, but also just enjoy the flow of the melodies.
In recent years, I have devoted a large part of my time to the study and performance of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Some of my fellow musicians jokingly call me Anna Dorothea Bach.
For me, one of the biggest compliments I´ve ever received was from an audience member at my concert at Carnegie Hall on May 9, 2023, after the performance of Bach's Ciaccona BWV 1004: "When I closed my eyes, I couldn't tell how many violins were playing there on stage at the same time."
This interplay of harmonies and the communication between the different lines and melodies is undoubtably one of the most fascinating facets of Bach`s music.
Bach's life was marked by sadness and pain. He lost his parents early and had to bury not only his beloved wife Maria Barbara, but also half of his children. Nevertheless, his music and his lifestyle speak of an unbelievable joie de vivre.
Shaped by his trust in God, he signed his compositions with the abbreviation "SDG", Soli Deo Gloria - Glory be to God Alone. It was normal for him to walk hundreds of kilometers, he loved nature and churches, tried to play on every organ he could possibly find, but marrying the daughter of the well-known organist Dietrich Buxtehude for a dream job was out of the question for him - instead he preferred to walk the 400km from Lubeck back to Arnstadt.
He taught himself to compose without any training and quenched his thirst for knowledge by visiting other musicians and composers all over Germany, but never met his colleague Georg Friedrich Handel who was born only 30 km away. He would spend hours copying and sketching sheet music by candlelight - which later caused him some eye problems - he would sometimes compose an entire cantata every week, and yet, in his youth, he was better known for his quick legs than for his compositions.
And one day he even ended up in a Weimar prison "because of his stubbornness". But at least, he had enough time there to work on his "Well-Tempered Clavier".
One of my concert programs for solo violin is dedicated exclusively to this fascinating composer: his works and his life. It primarily contains parts of the 6 solo sonatas BWV 1001-1006 as well as the harpsichord sonatas BWV 1014-1019, and also works by other composers that are related to Bach's compositions.
In connection with stories from Bach's life, this program offers a very special insight into the world of this man, who was indisputably one of the greatest geniuses in this universe.
To follow in the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach with me, click on
this link to peruse my 2023/24 Bach-centric programmes.
