Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany in 1685. As a child, Bach’s father taught him to play violin and harpsicord. His uncles were all musicians, serving as church organists and court chamber musicians. One of his uncles, Johann Christoph Bach, introduced him to the art of organ playing.

n 1700, Bach began to earn his own living as a chorister at the Church of Saint Michael in Luneburg at around age five. In 1703, he became a violinist in the chamber orchestra of Prince Johann Ernst of Weimar, but later that year he moved to Arnstadt, where he became church organist.

In 1707, Bach married his second cousin Maria Barbara Bach. They had seven children. In 1720 Maria died, and Bach married Anna Magdalena Wilcke in 1721. Bach had 13 more children with Anna Magdalena. He was a father to 20 children in all.

In 1723, Bach became the cantor, organist, and music composer for St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Leipzig, Germany. Bach remained there for the rest of his life.

Some of Bach’s most famous works include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Well-Tempered Clavier, and the celebrated organ work Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

Johann Sebastian Bach died in 1750.

Bach was not appreciated during his lifetime and was considered an “old-fashioned” composer. Bach was remembered as a virtuous organist rather than a composer of great skill and importance, as he was one of the most highly skilled organists who ever lived.

A revival of interest in Bach’s works came with the admiration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Today, Bach is considered to be one of the most influential composers of all time. In fact, he is now such an important composer that the year of his death is a defining point in music history. It marks the end of the Baroque Era.

Bach’s music is significant because of the high level of intellect in his compositions. His music is a fine mixture of technical agility and beautiful melodies. This is why his music is so popular today and classical composers have great interest in him.

Some Interesting Facts

• Johann Sebastian Bach German organist and composer was one of the greatest composers of classical music ever.
• He was the greatest composer of Baroque music.
• Many of his relatives were also very good composers, such as his uncle and several of his sons. In fact, you could say that the Bach family is the greatest musical family the world has ever known.
• He wrote over 1000 pieces of music.
• Much of his music was written for the church.
• Much of his music was written to teach people how to play an instrument, especially harpsichord or organ.
• He was thrown into prison by his boss (the Duke in Weimer) for accepting another job with better pay.
• His music was mostly forgotten about soon after he died. It was Mendelsson who brought Bach’s music to everybody’s attention. And people have liked it ever since.
• His great Cello Suites were hardly heard until the cellist Pau Casals started playing them about 100 years ago. Pau Casals only discovered this music by accident when he saw it in a second-hand music shop in 1890.