Classical genius composer biography series

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Bach is the definitive Baroque composer.

If you have sublime Bach you don’t need the others (and we’re only half kidding).

Born in 1685 in Eisenach in Germany, Bach was a prolific composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist.

The music he wrote spanned forces – from solo instrumental works, such as the Cello Suites (below), to huge sacred choral pieces, instrumental concertos like the Brandenburg Concertos, and collections of keyboard music, including The Well-Tempered Clavier, that pushed contemporaneous instruments to their limits.

Read more: 10 of Bach’s all-time best pieces of music

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Continuing the tradition of names with three words and four well-formed syllables in the middle one, is the child prodigy and all-round genius, Mozart.

Composing in, and defining, the Clas