It is believed that Bach was unappreciated during his lifetime. This may not be totally true since he was known and admired by his generation as well as all through the centuries.
The following generation was the one that neglected him since great upheavals were occurring in life and arts. As Lutheranism was on the decline, Bach’s polyphony and Baroque influence seemed oppressive and heavy, for which it was rejected outright.
Bach’s musical magic began to fade away. Manuscripts were being lost. Plates of The Art of the Fugue failed to attract buyers. For 50 years after his death not a single work of his, seemed worthy enough to be published. Even his sons, considered his music old-fashioned though they were successful composers in their own right.
Bach was however not to be forgotten by sweeping times as his pupils kept alive his music and spirit by playing his works.
The Bach Society was founded by Schumann who undertook the monumental task of publishing a complete edition of the grand master’s work. |
In his final years Bach withdrew from the external world,
exploring his inner realms and searching the deepest secrets of his art. The Musical
Offering (1747) that he elaborated & sent to king Frederic the Great of Prussia,
is a complex work that combines six vice fugue with complex contrapuntal movements with a
sonata for violin and flute, displays Bach’s wizardry at its fullest.