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Article: Bach: Ad Majorem Dei Gloria.(18th-century composer Johan Sebastian Bach)
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- March 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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This year commemorates the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, a man who was little known outside Germany in his lifetime but whose music, written "for the greater glory of God," has become ubiquitous and immortal.
Beethoven called him an ocean--"not Bach (stream) but Meer (ocean)." Johann Sebastian Bach is surely one of the greatest figures in Western music. He stands at the beginning of our modern era, the earliest composer still regularly heard today. The 250th anniversary of his death this coming July--which will be celebrated in concert halls and churches throughout the year-- gives us a chance not only to marvel at the astonishing ...