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Bach's life in Eisenach was brief. Before he was ten years old, his parents died within a year of each other. For the next seven years, the orphaned boy lived first in Ohrdruf in the home of an older brother, Johann Christoph, and then in Luneburg at St. Michael's School, where as a choirboy he received free tuition, room, and board plus a small stipend. In Ohrdruf and Luneburg, Bach completed the general education he had begun in Eisenach. His studies in Lutheran theology laid a firm foundation for his later work as a composer of music for worship.

Ohrdruf and Luneburg also provided ample opportunity for musical growth. In Ohrdruf, Bach studied organ with his brother, the organist at St. Michael's Church. Christoph owned a manuscript of keyboard music by some of the most notable organists of the day, including his teacher Pachelbel. Bach would get up at night, slip his hand through the grate of the locked cabinet, pull out the prized manuscript, and copy the music by moonlight. But when Christoph discovered the copy, he confiscated it.

Luneburg offered Bach opportunities to absorb a wider range of musical influences, including performances by great organists and even French music from the ducal court of Celle. But as a boy chorister, the center of his musical world shifted toward choral music, not only because of the daily rehearsals and services, but also because of the excellent library of music by leading composers of both Latin and German church music dating back to the 16th century.

After finishing school in 1702, Bach was ready for the "real world." All we know about his first job in Weimar is that the treasury register reports six months' payment "To the Lackey Baach." But in 1703 he was appointed organist in Arnstadt—an indication that already in his late teens he was a highly accomplished organist in an area full of accomplished organists.

The Arnstadt position carried a relatively light workload that left him plenty of time for practicing and studying the works of famous composers. But Bach's time there was beset with problems. He got into a street brawl with a student bassoonist and overstayed his leave to hear the great organist Dietrich Buxtehude in Lubeck. He had asked for four weeks leave; he stayed almost three months!

Given the troubles in Arnstadt it is not surprising that, when the organist of St. Blasius's Church in Muhlhausen died in 1707, Bach applied for and obtained the job. He went into his new position with enthusiasm. In addition to playing and composing music, he supervised the renovation of the organ. He also upgraded the church choir and orchestra and collected a large library of choral church music. The few cantatas he composed (for example, Cantatas 4 and 106) show that he had already attained exceptional musical and theological acumen and a surpassing ability to join the two.

Despite his initial enthusiasm and a good relationship with his employers, Bach was not long satisfied with the position. One year later he wrote a letter requesting dismissal so that he could accept an appointment as Court Organist to the Duke of Weimar. The letter said that the Weimar position would offer a better opportunity for "the achievement of my goal of a well-regulated church music"—that is, a series of cantatas for all the Sundays and feast days of the church year. His duties at Weimar did not at first include composing church music on a regular basis. However after six years he was promoted to Konzertmeister, a position that included the responsibility of composing a new cantata every month.

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