III - JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH

Summary

Everything about John Sebastian Bach is in strong contrast to the history and circumstances of Handel, except his greatness, and the noble breadth of his style of composition. To begin with, next to nothing is known about the family of Handel, and his musical gifts seem to have sprung from nowhere, for it is never recorded that musical tastes ran in his family. Bach's family, on the other hand, traced back their pedigree for many generations, which spread over more than a hundred years. And they not only knew their pedigree, but they knew a good deal about each individual member of it; and what his character was, and what were his occupations. Moreover, the quality which connects them all together most remarkably is their constant devotion to music. This was so great as to force itself upon the attention of the public; and in Erfurt, one of the towns where they filled prominent musical positions, it even cam; to pass that the town musicians were generally called “Bachs” from habit, whether there was a member of the family among them or no. They made Thuringia their home, and their affection for their native country was almost as great as their invariable devotion to their art. As generation succeeded generation, their fame as musicians increased and spread abroad, till the time of the great John Sebastian, when it arrived at its culmination; and it still survived to a considerable extent in his sons, and then abruptly came to an end.