12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 6: Air on the G String Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major, BWV1068

by Johann Sebastian Bach

Performer: US Air Force Band

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

August Wilhelm's transcription of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 is called 'Air on the G string' as the first violin part may be played solely on the G string of the violin. The G string is the thickest and lowest pitched of the violin four strings (G-D-A-E).

Vocabulary

Clavichord: An early keyboard instrument producing a soft sound by means of metal blades (called tangents) attached to the inner ends of the keys gently striking the strings.

Composer

1. This is the famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

2. The kind of a piano that Johann Sebastian Bach played on was not called a piano in his day. It was called a Clavier or Clavichord. In this year you will study one of the collection of pieces by Bach which was written for this instrument and was called The Well-Tempered Clavichord. This is the kind of piano, or clavichord, that Bach used.

3. And here is the prelude, or beginning of the very first piece in the Well-Tempered Clavichord collection of which we studied in Lesson 4 in Bach's handwriting.

4. Sebastian Bach had a very large family, twenty children altogether. Two of them studied music faithfully with their father. One was William Friedmann Bach, for whom the father wrote a book called 'Little Preludes.'

5. Friedmann's brother, Philipp Emanuel Bach, was a very fine clavichord player. He wrote a book about music and composed many pieces.

6. Sebastian Bach died in 1750. He was sixty-five years of age. Benjamin Franklin was at that time forty-four years old and George Washington was eighteen.
7. This is the way Bach wrote his name.

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 lived in part in Leipzig, Germany.
• Study the map of Germany. Which other countries border Germany?
• Zoom in to find the city of Leipzig on the map of Germany.

Activity 4: Read Aloud Your Paper About Sebastian Bach

• Read your one-page story about Sebastian Bach to your family.
• Make any corrections, as needed, after reading the paper aloud.

Review

Question 1

How old was Johann Sebastian Bach when he died?

1 / 3

Answer 1

Johann Sebastian Bach was 65 when died in 1750.

1 / 3

Question 2

How many children did Johann Sebastian Bach have?

2 / 3

Answer 2

Johann Sebastian Bach had twenty (20!) children.

2 / 3

Question 3

Were any of Johann Sebastian Bach's children musical?

3 / 3

Answer 3

Two of Johann Sebastian Bach's children studied music with their father, William Friedmann Bach and Philipp Emanuel Bach.

3 / 3

❮ ❯

1. How old was Johann Sebastian Bach when he died? Johann Sebastian Bach was 65 when died in 1750.
2. How many children did Johann Sebastian Bach have? Johann Sebastian Bach had twenty (20!) children.
3. Were any of Johann Sebastian Bach's children musical? Two of Johann Sebastian Bach's children studied music with their father, William Friedmann Bach and Philipp Emanuel Bach.

References

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

'Air on the G String.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Violin.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.