Proper Names

Leipzig [’lQIpzIg]

Berlin [bW’lIn]

Saxony [’sxksnI]

Sophienkirche [zL’fIqn’kIrhq]– церковь Святой Софии

St. Thomas [sqnt ’tOmqs]- Святой Фома

St. John [sqnt ’GOn] – Святой Иоанн

St. Matthew [sqnt ’mxTjH] – Святой Матвей

Frederic [’fredrik] – Фридрих

After you have read the text

1. Answer the following questions about the text.

1. What post did J.S. Bach receive in Leipzig?

2. What did Bach's duties consist of?

3. How did the Kantor treat his pupils?

4. How many Sunday cantatas did Bach compose between 1723 and 1727?

5. Which features of Bach's creative work mark him out from his contemporaries?

6. Why didn't the congregation and the city elders like the “St. Matthew Passion”?

7. What was Bach's ambition during this period?

8. How did the church authorities react on Bach's suggestions about improvements at St. Thomas's?

9. What event persuaded Bach to remain in services at Leipzig?

10. What did Bach work at in the period of 1731 to 1742?

11. When was Bach made Royal Court Composer to the King of Saxony?

12. What was the aim of Bach's trips over German cities?

13. Why is it said that Bach's children did him credit?

14. Can we say that Bach suffered under lack of appreciation in his own time in the author's opinion?

15. What did Bach work at in his last years?

16. What event inspired Bach to write the “Musical Offering”?

17. What can you say about Bach's didactic collection “The Art of Fugue”?

18. Where was Bach buried?

2. Learn the following information.

– Kantor or cantor: in the German Protestant Church the director of the church music.

– Collegium musicum: a musical association, amateur in character and usually devoted to the revival of early music. It is usually connected with an institution of higher learning.

– Cliavier-Übung = keyboard ргасtice: A collection of keyboard compositions, some for harpsichord, some for organ by J.S. Bach, published in four parts: 1 (1731) Six Partitas, 2 (1735) Italian Concerto and French Overture, 3 (1739) Chorale Preludes, 4 (1742) the Goldberg Variations.

– Goldberg Variations: Thirty variations by J.S. Bach on a theme of his own. The work, commissioned by the Russian Count Kayserling, was named after Bach's pupil Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a harpsichordist in the employ of the court. It is written for a two-manual harpsichord according to a special plan: two variations in a free, often highly virtuoso style are followed by a single variation in the form of a canon and so on. The final variation is a quodlibet.

– Quodlibet: A composition in which well-known tunes or folk melodies are presented in a polyphonic setting so that different melodies sound simultaneously or in close succession.

– The Well-tempered Clavier: A famous work by Bach consisting of 48 compositions, each prelude followed by a fugue. It is divided into two parts. “Well-tempered” refers to a system of tuning, equal temperament, which made it possible to use all tonalities. The system was a novelty in the early 18th century and Bach's collection was the first complete realization of its possibilities.

– The Musical Offering: A collection of compositions by J.S. Bach written in 1747 and inspired by a visit of the Prussian king Frederick II who gave him a theme to improvise upon.

– The Art of Fugue: The last composition of J.S. Bach written in 1749-50. It contains some twenty fugues and canons, all based on the same theme in which all the devices of imitative counterpoint are employed in the simplest manner. While “The Art of Fugue” was regarded as a theoretical manual of advanced counterpoint, it has become generally recognized as one of the greatest masterpieces of musical art. Bach did not specify any instruments, but it has been transcribed for string quartet, small orchestra and keyboard.

3. Choose the correct word.

1. In his youth J. S. Bach was (called, keen, proud) to study French music. 2. Some works of D. Shostakovich were a (condition, composition, concession) to Soviet officialdom. 3. (Despite, because, according) the difficulties he worked hard at his book. 4. Sometimes his works seemed too (interesting, useful, elaborate) for the people who listened to them. 5. As a schoolmaster he was (exceptional, intolerant, accessible) of lazy pupils. 6. Henry (resigned, appointed, created) the post of a headmaster at the Grammar school. 7. Ann (approved, showed, persuaded) her husband not to thrash their sons. 8. The brief dictionary of music contains a (manual, survey, note) of musical terms. 9. He reworked his cantatas (because of, due to, with a view to) publish them as a collection. 10. The composer is famous for his (settings, voice, choir). 11. The only genre not practised by Bach was (cantata, prelude, opera). 12. Sometimes the music Bach wrote for his Sunday services was (dull, alternate, humorous). 13. Bach's organ music was especially (required, composed, influenced) by Buxtehude. 14. Bach was respected enough to be (accepted, offered, paid) the post of director of music. 15. Bach had (an exceptional, a typical, a well-known) reputation as an organist.

4. Select the correct meaning of the words.

1) daily round a) страсть

2) disenchant b) прихожане, паства

3) nevertheless c) ученый

4) augment d) расширять

5) reduce e) гражданский

6) passion f) директор школы

7) scholarly g) неровный

8) uneven h) очаровывать

9) civic i) сокращать, уменьшать

10) congregation j) ничего подобного

11) expand k) однако, тем не менее

12) daily news l) аргумент

m) увеличивать

n) дневной раунд

o) освобождать от иллюзий

p) уступка

q) круг ежедневных занятий

r) ежедневные новости

5. Review text A in written form.

6. Give your impressions about J.S. Bach. Describe a work by J.S. Bach which you like best of all.

7. Read and retell text B.