After filling a position as organist at Weimar, in 1703 he accepted one at a small town, Arnstadt, at a salary of about fifty-seven dollars yearly.  He had already begun to compose, and possibly in imitation of Kuhnau, whose so-called “Bible” sonatas were at the time being talked about, he wrote an elaborate clavichord piece to illustrate the departure of his brother, Johann Jakob, who had entered the service of Charles XII of Sweden as oboist.  This composition is divided into five parts, each bearing an appropriate superscription and ending with an elaborate fugue to illustrate the postillion’s horn.  I believe this is the only instance of his having written actual programme music.  After leaving Arnstadt he filled positions as organist at Muehlhausen, Weimar, Coethen, etc.  It was before 1720 that he paid his two visits to Halle in the hope of seeing Haendel.  At this time he had already written the first part of the “Wohltemperierte Clavier,” the violin sonatas, and many other great works.  Ten years later, when Haendel again came to Germany, Bach was too ill to go to see him personally, but sent his eldest son to invite Haendel to come and see him, although without success.

In 1723 he obtained the position of Cantor at the St. Thomas School, in Leipzig, left vacant by the death of Kuhnau; here he remained until his death.  In 1749 the English oculist, Taylor, happened to be in Leipzig.  On the advice of friends, Bach submitted to an operation on his eyes, which had always troubled him.  The failure of this operation rendered him totally blind and the accompanying medical treatment completely broke him down.  On the eighteenth of July, 1750, he suddenly regained his sight, but it was accompanied by a stroke of paralysis from which he died ten days later.

So far as his church music is concerned, Bach may be considered as the Protestant compeer of the Roman Catholic, Palestrina, with the difference that his music was based on the tonalities of major and minor and that his harmonic structure was founded on a scientific basis.  What is mere wandering in Palestrina, with Bach is moving steadily forward with a well-defined object in view.  With Bach, music is cast in the definite mould of tonality, while with Palestrina the vagueness of the modes lends to his music something of mystery and a certain supernatural freedom from human will, so prominent a characteristic of Bach’s compositions.  In considering Bach’s music we must forget the technique, which was merely the outside dress of his compositions.  His style was the one of the period, just as he wore a wig, and buckles on his shoes.  His music must not be confounded with the contrapuntal style of his utterance, and although he has never been surpassed as a scientific writer of counterpoint, it would be unjust to look there for his chief glory.  As a matter of fact, when his scientific speech threatened to clash with the musical idea in his composition, he never hesitated to sacrifice the former to the latter.  Thus Bach may be considered the greatest musical scientist of his time as well as the greatest breaker of mere rules.