One of the greatest Baroque composers along with Handel. His most famous works are probably the Brandenburg Concerti, the Well-tempered clavier, The art of fugue, his Mass in B-minor, and the St. Matthew Passion. Needless to say, I wholeheartedly recommend each and every one of the above works.

From what I’ve read and heard, Bach is now considered somewhat atypical as far as Baroque composers go. His “obsession” with the fugue was apparently rather anachronistic; most other composers of the same era held that the fugue was an out-dated form.

Bach links:

• There is a good Bach FAQ available, published by one of the readers of the alt.music.j-s-bach newsgroup.

• You might also like to read a detailed discussion of Bach’s canons and fugues, by Tim Smith, or the extensive Bach Cantatas web-site.

• An interesting article by Nicholas McGegan about performance practice for Bach (and other Baroque composers.)

• On Wikipedia : Bach, Johann Sebastian

©  G World