Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata in C minor, BWV 911

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Harpsichordist: Trevor Pinnock

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany in 1685 and is considered one of the greatest composers of all time. Having a prestigious musical lineage, Young Bach was taught how to play the violin by his father, Johann Ambrosius, who worked as a town musician (Biography.com Editors, 2020). Sadly, Bach became an orphan at the age of 10 when both his mother and father died (Biography.com Editors, 2020). He was taken in by his older brother Johann Christoff, a church organist (Biography.com Editors, 2020). Later in life, Bach's talent awarded him many opportunity's to work for royalty; the post of organist in the court of Duke Wilhelm Ernst in Weimar where composed many church cantatas and some of his finest pieces for the organ, and a position with Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen in 1717 (Biography.com Editors, 2020). However, Prince Leopold dissolved his orchestra in 1723, leading Bach to procure a position as organist and teacher of St. Thomas Church (Biography.com Editors, 2020). By 1740, Bach was struggling with poor eyesight, but continued to work despite his condition (Biography.com Editors, 2020). He even traveled and performed, visiting Frederick the Great, the king of Prussia in 1747 (Biography.com Editors, 2020). In 1750, Bach underwent surgery to fix his eyesight, but the operation was a failure, leaving him completely blind (Biography.com, 2020). He suffered a stroke later that year and died in Leipzig on July 28, 1750 (Biography.com Editors, 2020).

References
Biography.com Editors. (2020). Johann Sebastian Bach. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/musician/johann-sebastian-bach