Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites and Brandenburg Concertos; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations, The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival, he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.
The Bach family already counted several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of a city musician in Eisenach. After being orphaned at the age of 10, he lived for five years with his eldest brother Johann Christoph, after which he continued his musical formation in Lüneburg. From 1703 he was back in Thuringia, working as a musician for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen and, for longer stretches of time, at courts in Weimar, where he expanded his organ repertory, and Köthen, where he was mostly engaged with chamber music. 
From 1723 he was employed as Thomaskantor (cantor at St. Thomas) in Leipzig. He composed music for the principal Lutheran churches of the city, and for its university's student ensemble Collegium Musicum. From 1726 he published some of his keyboard and organ music. In Leipzig, as had happened during some of his earlier positions, he had difficult relations with his employer, a situation that was little remedied when he was granted the title of court composer by his sovereign, Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, in 1736. In the last decades of his life he reworked and extended many of his earlier compositions. He died of complications after eye surgery in 1750 at the age of 65.
==Links to Peel==
On his 27 March 1968 show, Peel mentioned that he has been playing Baroque music on his shows and played a Johann Sebastian Bach tune called Concerto No. 5 In F Minor For Harpsichord & String Orchestra, BWV 1056 (Allegro), to illustrate how certain rock groups have got their inspiration from. Some rock groups in the late 60's, which Peel played, such as Walter Carlos and Jacques Loussier With The Trio, have covered Bach's music. Peel's Night Ride shows often played classical music, ranging from the historic to the modern equivalent.
==Shows Played==
;thumb|220x220px1968
*27 March 1968: Concerto No. 5 In F Minor For Harpsichord & String Orchestra, BWV 1056 (Allegro)
*10 April 1968: Allegro (from Concerto In G Minor For Two Harpsichords And Orchestra)
== See Also ==
*Record Collection: B
*International Times: Perfumed Garden Column
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists