The Significance of Bach

A second answer seems to lie in the fact that Bach's music has its origins in a variety of utterly different sources. First is the church music of the Reformation, with its roots in the chorale of Martin Luther, and the vocal forms and organ music that developed from it. In Bach's works we also find structural and stylistic elements that come from the Catholic church's musical tradition. Of the greatest significance in this area is the vocal polyphony of the sixteenth century, as embodied in the works of Palestrina. A further significant influence came from the concertante instrumental music of Bach's time-particularly from the most significant representative of this genre, Antonio Vivaldi. Further influences were the Italian madrigal and, most especially, the developing form of opera as it spread all over Europe from Italy after Monteverdi's pioneering activities. Finally, the dance music of Bach's time, in all of its variety, is to be found in numerous forms in Bach's music.

Bach's output, with its fusion of all of these influences, is thus the summation of thoroughly different eras and currents of thought in the history of music. The question of Bach's significance has also been posed by earlier generations. Following a period in which he was almost totally forgotten, the interest in his work increasingly grew during the nineteenth century and then in this century; no lover of music, no musician, and certainly no composer could avoid his influence. This, Bach's legacy, his influence upon the development of music after his time, is a third answer to the question about the reasons for his significance.

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