Johann Sebastian Bach (21 March 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. Although he introduced no new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, a control of harmonic and motivic organisation from the smallest to the largest scales, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad, particularly Italy and France. He is regarded as one of the great composers of all time.

Revered for their intellectual depth, technical command and artistic beauty, J.S. Bach’s works include the Brandenburg concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the keyboard suites and partitas, the Mass in B Minor, the St Matthew Passion, The Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue, Sonatas and partitas for solo violin, the Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, and a large number of cantatas, of which about 220 survive. An example of some of these stylistic traits appears below, in the chorus Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe from the Christmas Oratorio, written in 1734 during his mature period.

Listen to:

1. Bach – BWV 989 Variation no. 3
2. Bach – BWV 989 Variation no. 2
3. Bach – BWV 989 Variation no. 1
4. Bach – BWV 846 Prelude
5. Bach – BWV 853 Prelude No. 8 in E Flat Minor
6. Franz Liszt – Der Müller und der Bach