Johann Georg Schübler (1720-1755?) was an engraver and organist, and a private student of J.S. Bach. “He learned the music in Leipzig with the famous Bach,” but Schübler’s name is more notably…

Johann Sebastian Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788) described his father’s household in Leipzig as a “pigeon coop.” People were constantly swarming in and out all the time, and he told the…

Johann Sebastian Bach is, of course, one of the most beloved composers of all time. He’s also famous for having fathered twenty children. A few became famous composers in their own…

Geniuses are different from you and me, and we often make them more remote by casting them in cold plaster, portraying them as saints and explaining their work as an…

A powerful setting of Jesus’s final days, the St Matthew Passion was responsible for the resurgence of interest in JS Bach’s sacred choral music after the composer’s death. Here is…

  Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata leaves a Florida toddler overcome with emotion at his sister’s piano recital. His tear-filled response to hearing the classic piece racked up over 890,000 views on YouTube and…

There are some things that just naturally go together; peanut butter and jelly, or macaroni and cheese. You’ll find unusual pairings as well; strawberry and tomato, kiwi and oysters, or…

Johann Sebastian Bach’s stature as a composer of such extraordinary genius and widespread influence is so firmly established in Western culture that it is difficult to imagine that only a…

This edited article about J S Bach originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 1028 published on 21 November 1981. The headmaster of St Thomas’s School in Leipzig and…

“Bach’s cello suites have been my constant musical companions. For almost six decades, they have given me sustenance, comfort, and joy during times of stress, celebration, and loss,” Ma said…