Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Bach ,a descendant of a long line of musical ancestors,is to-day recognised as the greatest composer of the polyphonic period. even at an early age, Bachs diligence was amazing,working into the early hours of the morning copying manuscripts by contemporary composers .At the age of sixteen he was an accomplished organist and all his spare time was given to perfecting himself as a harpsichord player and as a composer.

His genius secured him a position with the Duke of Saxe Weimar a position he held for ten years pouring out the most beautiful music and building up a reputation as a player. He married about this time and settled in Leipsig,being appointed Cantor of the St.Thomas Church,living a quiet and uneventful life composing a mass of fine music and playing at important functions. He married twice and had altogether twenty children from the two marriages,three of his sons inheriting their fathers gift and becoming world renowned composers.The continual strain to which he subjected his eyes by writing resulted in total blindness in his closing years.

His outstanding genius was not generally appreciated during his lifetime,and it is largely owing to the devoted efforts of Mendelssohn a hundred years after Bachs death that his music has now attained universal recognition that the centuries cannot dim.