Johann Bernhard Bach

Johann Bernhard Bach (1676–1749) was a German composer, and second cousin of J. S. Bach. Johann Bernhard Bach was born in Erfurt in 1676. 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. In 1741, the ducal orchestra was dissolved, which meant that Johann Bernhard continued to work exclusively as choirmaster and organist, until his death in 1749 at the age of 73. Johann Bernhard kept a life-long friendship with his famous cousin Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1715, he acted as godfather for Johann Sebastian's son Johann Gottfried Bernhard. Most of his musical output has been lost, but amongst his surviving music, there are four orchestral suites, which are thought to have been written before 1730. His musical style has been described as being similar to that of Telemann.