Johann Bernhard Bach (1676 – 1749) was a German
composer, and second cousin of J. S. Bach. He was born
in Erfurt in 1676 (most probably in November), in the
house named "Zu den drei Rosen" (The Three Roses), in
Junkersand Street, and was baptized on 25 November 1676
in Erfurt's Merchant's Church (Kaufmannskirche). He –
like his younger brother Johann Christoph, born in 1685
– received his early musical tuition from his father
Johann Aegidius Bach. After attending the Schola
Mercatorum at E...(+)
Johann Bernhard Bach (1676 – 1749) was a German
composer, and second cousin of J. S. Bach. He was born
in Erfurt in 1676 (most probably in November), in the
house named "Zu den drei Rosen" (The Three Roses), in
Junkersand Street, and was baptized on 25 November 1676
in Erfurt's Merchant's Church (Kaufmannskirche). He –
like his younger brother Johann Christoph, born in 1685
– received his early musical tuition from his father
Johann Aegidius Bach. After attending the Schola
Mercatorum at Erfurt he entered Erfurt's major
secondary school at that time, Ratsgymnasium. As early
as 1695, at the age of 18, he became the organist at
the Kaufmannskirche. In 1699 he moved to Magdeburg
where he was appointed organist for St. Catharine's
Church. In 1703 John William III, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach
called him to Eisenach to serve as harpsichordist at
the ducal court. In Eisenach he also became the
organist at St. George's Church, succeeding his uncle
Johann Christoph Bach.
From 1708 to 1712 Johann Bernhard Bach worked together
with Georg Philipp Telemann who held, first, the
position of the leader of the violin section, and, from
August 1709, that of a conductor (Kapellmeister) at
Eisenach's ducal orchestra. On 6 August 1716 Johann
Bernhard Bach married Johanna Sophia Siefer. Three
children were born into the family. In 1741 the ducal
orchestra was dissolved, which meant that Johann
Bernhard continued to work exclusively as choirmaster
and organist, until his death, apparently still
receiving the ducal allowance of 100 Thalers per year.
With his famous cousin Johann Sebastian Bach Johann
Bernhard kept a life-long friendship. In 1715 he acted
as godfather for Johann Sebastian's son Johann
Gottfried Bernhard, whilst Johann Sebastian became
godfather to Johann Bernhard's eldest son Johann Ernst
in 1722. This latter was to succeed his father Johann
Bernhard as organist at St. George's Church in
Eisenach. Most of his musical output has been lost, but
amongst his surviving music there are four orchestral
suites. It is known that J.S. Bach had individual parts
prepared for performance by his orchestra.
"Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" ("From Heaven Above
to Earth I Come") is a hymn text relating to the
Nativity of Jesus, written by Martin Luther in 1534.
The hymn is most often sung to a melody, Zahn No. 346,
that first appeared in 1539 and that was likely
composed by Luther as well. That version became a
classic Christmas carol, and many composers referred to
it in their compositions.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Bernhard_Bach).
Although originally composed for Organ, I created this
interpretation of the Choral Prelude: "Von Himmel Hoch,
da Komm ich Her" ("From Heaven Above to Earth I Come")
for Solo Oboe.
