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Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Johann Bernhard Bach the elder
Person · male · Germany · Erfurt · born 1676 · died 1749 · recording since 1998
German composer (1676-1749)
streamingdatabasedatabasedatabase
Listen on SpotifyYouTube Music
Also known as Johann Bernhard Bach · Johann Bernhard Bach l'ancien · ヨハン・ベルンハルト・バッハ
Timeline
6 events▣ Album 3◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1670s
1740s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: 4 Orchestral Suites
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
2010s
Biography
English biography470 words · 3 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1319720215
Biography
Johann Bernhard Bach (23 May 1676 – 11 June 1749) was a German composer, and second cousin of J. S. Bach.
Life
Johann Bernhard Bach was born in Erfurt, Electorate of Mainz, in 1676, in the house named "Zu den drei Rosen" (The Three Roses) on Junkersand Street, and was baptized on 25 November 1676 in Erfurt's Kaufmannskirche (Merchant's Church). 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, the 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.
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, 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.
Bach died in 1749 at the age of 73
Work
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.
His musical style has been described as being similar to that of Telemann.
The surviving orchestral suites (overtures) are as follows:
Suite No. 1 in G minor
Suite No. 2 in G major
Suite No. 3 in E minor
Suite No. 4 in D major
They are thought to have been written before 1730.
Surviving keyboard music:
Fantasia in C minor (originally thought to have been composed by J.S. Bach as BWV 919)
Chaconne in A major
Chaconne in B-flat major
Chaconne in G major
Chorales for organ
"Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ"
"Nun freut euch lieben Christen g'mein"
"Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her"
Two fugues composed by Johann Bernhard Bach also survive.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 12 | 64.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 3 | 77.1th |
| Studio albums | 3 | 80.9th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 6 | 80.8th |
| Recording span (years) | -249 | 2.5th |
| Genres | 0 | 0th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (3 release groups · 3 studio albums)
Albums · 3
1998 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 28 tracks · 1:13:39
1Suite no. 1 in G minor: I. Ouverture7:172Suite no. 1 in G minor: II. Air4:133Suite no. 1 in G minor: III. Rondeau1:364Suite no. 1 in G minor: IV. Loure3:585Suite no. 1 in G minor: V. Fantaisie3:526Suite no. 1 in G minor: VI. Passepied2:177Suite no. 2 in G major: I. Ouverture4:508Suite no. 2 in G major: II. Gavotten en rondeau1:419Suite no. 2 in G major: III. Sarabande1:0810Suite no. 2 in G major: IV. Bourrée: Gayement1:0811Suite no. 2 in G major: V. Air: Grave3:4212Suite no. 2 in G major: VI. Gigue1:2913Suite no. 3 in E minor: I. Ouverture5:5514Suite no. 3 in E minor: II. Air1:2715Suite no. 3 in E minor: III. Les Palisirs: Vitement1:1716Suite no. 3 in E minor: IV. Air2:1817Suite no. 3 in E minor: V. Rigaudon2:1818Suite no. 3 in E minor: VI. Courante1:2819Suite no. 3 in E minor: VII. Gavotte en rondeau2:0420Suite no. 4 in D major: I. Ouverture5:2021Suite no. 4 in D major: II. Caprice 1: Vitement2:0822Suite no. 4 in D major: III. Marche1:2723Suite no. 4 in D major: IV. Passepied 11:0024Suite no. 4 in D major: Passepied 2 - Passepied 11:4725Suite no. 4 in D major: V. Caprice 2: Vitement2:2326Suite no. 4 in D major: VI. Air: Lentement1:2227Suite no. 4 in D major: VII. La Joye1:2428Suite no. 4 in D major: VIII. Caprice 32:502016 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 29 tracks · 1:16:51
1Ouverture G-Dur: Ouverture3:112Ouverture G-Dur: Gavotte en Rondeau1:423Ouverture G-Dur: Sarabande1:544Ouverture G-Dur: Bourée1:145Ouverture G-Dur: Air5:396Ouverture G-Dur: Menuet0:517Ouverture G-Dur: Gigue1:358Ouverture e-moll: Ouverture4:209Ouverture e-moll: Air2:5110Ouverture e-moll: Les Plaisirs1:5311Ouverture e-moll: Menuets I & II2:4212Ouverture e-moll: Air2:4513Ouverture e-moll: Rigaudon2:1714Ouverture e-moll: Courante1:4115Ouverture e-moll: Gavotte en Rondeau1:2316Ouverture g-moll: Ouverture4:4717Ouverture g-moll: Air5:3318Ouverture g-moll: Rondeau1:4219Ouverture g-moll: Loure3:5120Ouverture g-moll: Fantaisie3:1121Ouverture g-moll: Passepied2:4322Ouverture D-Dur: Ouverture3:2023Ouverture D-Dur: Caprice3:0124Ouverture D-Dur: Marche1:2125Ouverture D-Dur: Passepieds I & II2:2526Ouverture D-Dur: Caprice2:4027Ouverture D-Dur: Air2:4528Ouverture D-Dur: La Joye0:5629Ouverture D-Dur: Caprice2:382019 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 30 tracks · 1:21:54
1Orchestral Suite no. 1: I. Ouverture4:532Orchestral Suite no. 1: II. Air4:243Orchestral Suite no. 1: III. Rondeau1:394Orchestral Suite no. 1: IV. Loure4:315Orchestral Suite no. 1: V. Fantaisie3:556Orchestral Suite no. 1: VI. Passepied2:227Orchestral Suite no. 2: I. Ouverture3:118Orchestral Suite no. 2: II. Gavotte en Rondeau1:339Orchestral Suite no. 2: III. Sarabande2:1210Orchestral Suite no. 2: IV. Bourrée: Gayement1:1911Orchestral Suite no. 2: V. Air: Grave4:0212Orchestral Suite no. 2: VI. Menuett1:0113Orchestral Suite no. 2: VII. Gigue1:4014Orchestral Suite no. 2: VIII. La Tempete2:2715Orchestral Suite no. 3: I. Ouverture6:4016Orchestral Suite no. 3: II. Air2:1217Orchestral Suite no. 3: III. Les plaisirs1:2918Orchestral Suite no. 3: IV. Menuet I – Menuet II – Menuet I3:0519Orchestral Suite no. 3: V. Air2:0820Orchestral Suite no. 3: VI. Rigadon2:4121Orchestral Suite no. 3: VII. Courante1:3222Orchestral Suite no. 3: VIII. Gavotte en Rondeaux1:2323Orchestral Suite no. 4: I. Ouverture5:5624Orchestral Suite no. 4: II. Caprice I1:4825Orchestral Suite no. 4: III. Marche1:2126Orchestral Suite no. 4: IV. Passepied I – Passepied II – Passepied I2:5927Orchestral Suite no. 4: V. Caprice III2:3628Orchestral Suite no. 4: VI. Air: Lentement3:1029Orchestral Suite no. 4: VII. La Joye1:0230Orchestral Suite no. 4: VIII. Caprice III2:43
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Johann Bernhard Bach the elder head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 12 | 64.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 3 | 77.1th |
| Studio albums | 3 | 80.9th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 6 | 80.8th |
| Recording span (years) | -249 | 2.5th |
| Genres | 0 | 0th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/05b85504-1057-47ea-8ca5-7099f4960633discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/05b85504-1057-47ea-8ca5-7099f4960633core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q696000seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Bernhard_Bachbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Bernhard_Bach
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q696000 · MusicBrainz: 05b85504-1057-47ea-8ca5-7099f4960633
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