12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 5: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

by Johann Sebastian Bach

Performer: Paul Pitman

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the composer.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

The popularity of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" soared after it was included in Walt Disney's Fantasia. The meaning of the work is controversial. Some see the music as representing a storm, but others disagree. What do you envision while listening to the piece?

Vocabulary

Cantor: Singer, especially someone who takes a special role of singing or song leading at a ceremony.
Emperor: The male monarch or ruler over an extensive territory or a number of territories or nations.

Composer

1. This is the famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

2. When Sebastian was ten years old his father and mother died. So he went to live with his brother, whose home was a few miles away. Of this brother Sebastian had music lessons, and he improved so rapidly that he used to beg to be allowed to play the pieces in a big book in the library. But the brother refused him this pleasure. However, little Sebastian was eager to learn all the music he could find, so he used to sit up on moonlight nights and copy these pages while his brother was asleep.

3. But what do you think happened when he had copied everything in that big book? His brother found out what he had done and took all his precious music away from him.
4. If you know any boy who is about twenty years old you may say to him, Bach was as old as you are when Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston. And although there was this difference of twenty years or so in their ages, we may think of them at work in the world at the same time. You must remember that all men like Franklin and Bach who became famous did so by working very hard.

5. Franklin, too, was born very poor. Once he walked the streets of Philadelphia with a loaf of bread under each arm. But by being faithful in all he did he became the friend of all his countrymen and of Kings and Queens besides. Benjamin Franklin was quite a little younger than Sebastian Bach.
6. By 1742 Sebastian Bach was living in Leipzig and had been for many years at the head of the Thomas School. He was known as its Cantor. Bach worked very hard here to supply music for several of the Leipzig churches, and he worked so well that his fame spread until it reached the ears of the Emperor.
7. Frederick the Great was also a musician and composer. So he invited Sebastian Bach to visit him at his castle. There were many people present, but Sebastian Bach was the principal guest. He played on many of the Emperor's fine pianos. When he reached home again, he composed a musical work and dedicated it to the Emperor.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Composition Information

• Recite the name of the composer and the composition.

Activity 2: Study the Music Timeline

Examine the music timeline to answer the following questions.

• What is the year of birth of the lesson composer?
• What is the year of death of the featured composer?
• How old was the composer upon death?
• Which composer (if any) directly precedes the studied composer by date of birth?
• Which composer (if any) directly succeeds the lesson composer by date of birth?
• Which other timeline composers were alive at the same time as the studied composer?

Activity 3: Map the Music

• Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Germany.
• Find Germany on the map of the world.

Activity 4: Write a One-Page Paper About Sebastian Bach

Read these facts about Sebastian Bach and write a one-page story out of them, using your own words.

• Full name: Johann Sebastian Bach.
• Born 1685 and died in 1750 after suffering from blindness, a failed eye surgery, and a stroke.
• As a little boy he sang in the streets, begging from door to door.
• His father and mother died when he was ten years old.
• He went to live with his brother.
• He took his first position when he was seventeen.
• He used to walk long distances to hear famous organists, one of whom was named Buxtehude.
• He could play the organ, clavichord, violin, and other stringed instruments.
• He wrote music for the voice (solo and chorus) and for many different instruments.
• Bach copied lots of music because printed music was dear in his day.
• He was Cantor of the Thomas School for many years.
• Once he visited Frederick the Great at Potsdam.
• For his little son, Friedmann, he wrote a book of Little Preludes.

Review

Question 1

In which year was Johann Sebastian Bach born and in which year did he die?

1 / 2

Answer 1

Bach was born in 1685 and died in 1750.

1 / 2

Question 2

Name an American who was alive at the same time as Johann Sebastian Bach.

2 / 2

Answer 2

One answer might be that Benjamin Franklin was alive at the same time as Bach.

2 / 2

❮ ❯

1. In which year was Johann Sebastian Bach born and in which year did he die? Bach was born in 1685 and died in 1750.
2. Name an American who was alive at the same time as Johann Sebastian Bach. One answer might be that Benjamin Franklin was alive at the same time as Bach.

References

Tapper, Thomas. Johann Sebastian Bach - The Story of the Boy Who Sang in the Streets. Philadelphia, PA. Theodore Presser Co., 1915.

'Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.