Johann Sebastian Bach

1685 – 1750

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German Baroque composer and Lutheran organist whose more than 1,100 surviving works synthesized centuries of European compositional technique into a body of music regarded as the technical and spiritual summit of the Baroque era. His Brandenburg Concertos, Goldberg Variations, Well-Tempered Clavier, B Minor Mass, St Matthew Passion, and Art of Fugue remain foundational to Western musical training and performance. Working primarily as a church musician in Leipzig, he raised twenty children, four of whom became prominent composers in their own right.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM