Bach was the a great German composer and organist during the baroque era. Son of Johann Abrosius Bach, organist and town musician, he was orphaned at the age of ten and went to live with his older sibling Johann Christoph where young Bach received klavier(piano) and organ lessons.He was a chorister atSt.Michael's church in Luneburg in 1700 and he learned alot from the organist-composer there,Georg Bohm.Bach was organist in many places and married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach.By 1717,Bach had composed some of his finest organ works and church cantatas.

Also in 1717, he was appointed Kapellmeister at the court of Anhalt-Cohen where the prince was interested instrumental composition and not religious works.After the Prince's remarriage, Bach left the court and continued to travel and compose. In 1740, Bach began to have trouble with his eyes and in the last year of his life, he was almost blind.

Many of Bach's contemporaries thought Bach's music to be old fashioned and few other composers of his time appreciated his music, except for Mozart and Beethoven. He was however the greatest organist of his time. The remarkable thing is that Bach was self-taught in musical composition and the way he learned to compose was to copy in his notebook the music of French, Italian and German composers of his time and earlier, which is likely why he made many arrangements of other composer's work.