Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach in 1685, the youngest child of the city musician Johann Ambrosius Bach, into a family that had already produced several composers. Orphaned at ten, he lived for five years with his eldest brother before continuing his musical training.
From 1723 he was Thomaskantor in Leipzig, responsible for the music of four Lutheran churches and the St. Thomas School. His works include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, The Well-Tempered Clavier, the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor, and he is acclaimed as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music. He died on 28 July 1750.