巴哈(1685～1750年)
Bach, Johann Sebastian
德国作曲家。生於爱森纳赫村的音乐世家，後来成为非常全面的音乐家；从1700年起，他曾经担任歌手、小提琴师、风琴师。1708年首次接受重要的任命，成为威玛公爵宫廷的风琴师。随後的1717～1723这六年期间，他待在科坦亲王宫廷，担任乐长，然後奉派为莱比锡圣托玛斯大教堂的合唱长，并在那里终老。自幼浸淫在德国北部的对位风格里，1710年左右他遇见生动的义大利风格，尤其是韦瓦第的作品，自此，他的许多音乐体现了这二种风格的动人融合。在圣汤玛斯大教堂，他写下两百首以上的教堂清唱剧。他的管弦乐作品包括六首布兰登堡协奏曲、四首管弦乐组曲、许多大键琴协奏曲，而後者是他发明的体裁。他的键盘独奏作品包括伟大的教学套曲《平均律钢琴曲集》、浩大而未完成的《赋格的艺术》、超凡的《郭德堡变奏曲》、为数众多的组曲、许多风琴前奏曲和赋格。除了教堂清唱剧以外，他现存的合唱作品包括三十首以上的世俗清唱剧、二首划时代的受难曲、二首b小调弥撒曲。巴哈的作品在生时未广为人知，死後几乎完全埋没，直到19世纪早期才又大受赞赏。他可说是当代最伟大的风琴师和大键琴师。如今，巴哈被视为巴洛克时期最伟大的作曲家，还被很多人视为史上最伟大的作曲家。
English version：
1685～1750年
Bach, Johann Sebastian
German composer. Born in the village of Eisenach to a musical family, he became a superbly well-rounded musician; from 1700 he held positions as singer, violinist, and organist. His first major appointment, in 1708, was as organist at the ducal court at Weimar. This was followed by a six-year stay (1717-23) as kapellmeister at the princely court of C?then, which was in turn followed by his appointment as cantor at the great church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, where he would remain the rest of his life. Imbued with the northern German contrapuntal style from early childhood, he encountered the lively Italian style, especially in the works of A. Vivaldi, around 1710, and much of his music embodies an immensely convincing melding of the two styles. At St. Thomas he wrote over 200 church cantatas. His orchestral works include the six Brandenburg Concertos, the four orchestral suites, and many harpsichord concertos, a genre he invented. His solo keyboard works include the great didactic set The Well-Tempered Clavier, the huge but unfinished Art of the Fugue, the superb Goldberg Variations, numerous suites, and many organ preludes and fugues. His surviving choral works include (in addition to the sacred cantatas) over 30 secular cantatas, two monumental Passions, and the Mass in B Minor. His works, never widely known in his lifetime, went into near-total eclipse after his death, and only in the early 19th century were they revived, to enormous acclaim. He was perhaps the greatest organist and harpsichordist of his time. Today Bach is regarded as the greatest composer of the baroque era, and, by many, as the greatest composer of all time.
