"With devotional music, God is always present in His grace." -Johann Sebastian Bach
This biography of Johann Sebastian Bach by Rick Marschall is part of the Christian Encounters series.
Music is powerful. It can speak to my heart, get me moving, and evoke memories. From my first glance at the cover of this book, I was hooked- see for yourself this excerpt from the back cover: "Bach's colorful life was anchored in his belief that 'music has been ordered by God's Spirit.'- so much so that he began each composition by scrawling Jesu, juva (Jesus, help me) at the top of a blank page and concluded each with S.D.G. (short for Soli Deo Gloria, to God alone be the glory)." I loved reading that his music, which I have enjoyed listening to for many years, was all written for the glory of God.
A bit of history of the time of Bach's life gives some perspective into how things were. A little was shared about his childhood and family. Descriptions were shared about some of Bach's major works as well as how his music is enjoyed today.
From the publisher: "Christian Encounters, a series of biographies from Thomas Nelson Publishers, highlights important lives from all ages and areas of the Church. Some are familiar faces. Others are unexpected guests. But all, through their relationships, struggles, prayers, and desires, uniquely illuminate our shared experience.
Johann Sebastian Bach is generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. He enriched his generation, and every generation since, with his prolific ability to survey and bring together the principal musical styles, forms, and national traditions. Himself a Lutheran, he left a corpus of sacred music to cover the entire liturgical year, including Latin Masses written for the Catholic Court of Dresden, and spent much of his working life as a church music director in Germany. Though he was a highly respected organist during his lifetime, he wasn’t recognized as a great composer until the early nineteenth century. Today he is considered one of the most influential ever."
Disclaimer: BookSneeze® provided me with a complimentary copy of this book (with an orange cover) for the purpose of this review.
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