Artists

Chiesa di S. Paolo entro le Mura

The 'Church of St. Paul within the Walls' was the first non-Catholic church built in Rome after Italy's unification. The church was built between 1873 and 1880 as an Anglican Basilica in the district of Castro Pretorio, Via Nazionale, Rome. Constructed in the Gothic Revival style, the distinctive external facade is characterised by alternating red and limestone bricks. Four spectacular mosaics by the English pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones, in collaboration with William Morris, are the crowning glory of the church's interior. The eagle-eyed will spot several famous nineteenth-century figures among those representing the fathers of the church in the elaborate mosaics, among them the artist himself, notable donors and their families, and Abraham Lincoln, Giuseppe Garibaldi and General Grant among the 'Christian Warriors'. Many delightful classical events are hosted in this location, including performances of popular operas like La Traviata.

Johann Sebastian Bach

The name Bach and the word musician had long been synonyms in Germany as the world saw 56 musicians from this kin. But it was Johann Sebastian Bach, a genius composer and virtuoso organ player, who shed lustre on his family name. He was born on th 31st of March 1685 in Eisenach, a small town in Thuringia. At the age of 10 he became an orphan and was brought up by his elder brother Johann Christoph, who was an organist in a neighbouring town. His brother was the one to teach music to the young Johann Sebastian. Later he moved to Luneburg where he attended a church school and mastered the techniques of playing violin, viola, piano and organ by the age of 17. Besides that, Bach was a choir singer and later after his voice broke he became a chanter’s assistant. In 1703 Bach was hired as a court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III. He earned such a good reputation there that he was later invited to Arnstadt to be an organist at the New Church, where he wrote his best organ works. In 1723 he moved to Leipzig to be a chantor at St. Thomas Church where he stayed until his death of a stroke in 1750. In the year of his death he had undergone unsuccessful eye surgery which lead him to lose his eyesight. During that strenuous time his second wife Anna Magdalena helped him to write his last musical pieces. Bach’s artistic legacy is vast. He created compositions in all genres of the time: oratorias, cantatas, masses, motets, music for organ, piano and violin.