Johann Sebastian Bach

(1685 - 1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a musical family—his father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was director of musicians in the town of Eisenach, and his older brother and uncles worked regularly as professional musicians. Orphaned at the age of ten, Bach lived primarily with his brother Johann Christoph, an organist. He was a prolific composer of music for pianos, harpsichords, and string instruments throughout the early eighteenth century, though his professional life was often tumultuous—in 1717, in the midst of a dispute with his employer Duke Wilhelm, Bach was jailed for nearly one month.