{{About|the Baroque composer|his grandson of the same name|Johann Sebastian Bach (painter)|other uses of Bach|Bach (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2012}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Johann Sebastian Bach
| image         = Johann Sebastian Bach.jpg
| alt           =
| caption       = Portrait of Bach, aged 61, {{nowrap|by [[Elias Gottlob Haussmann|E. G. Haussmann]], 1748}}
| birth_date    = 21 March 1685 [[Old Style and New Style dates|(O.S.)]]<br>31 March 1685 [[Old Style and New Style dates|(N.S.)]]
| birth_place   = [[Eisenach]]
| death_date    =  {{death date and age|1750|7|28|1685|3|31|df=y}} <!-- 31 March, new style date -->
| death_place   = [[Leipzig]]
| signature     = Johann Sebastian Bach signature.svg
| signature_size = 300px
| image_upright = 1.2
| works = [[List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach|List of compositions]]
}}
'''Johann Sebastian Bach'''{{efn|{{IPA-de|ˈjoːhan zeˈbasti̯an ˈbax|lang|De-Johann Sebastian Bach.ogg}}. The last name appears as {{IPAc-en|b|ɑː|x}} in ''[[OED]]''/[[OUP]].<ref>"[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/bach-johann-sebastian Bach, Johann Sebastian]" entry at {{url|www.oxforddictionaries.com}}. Retrieved 3 May 2016.</ref><!--[[Dictionary.com]] has {{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|oʊ|h|ɑː|n|_|s|ɪ|ˈ|b|æ|s|tʃ|ən|_|ˈ|b|ɑː|x}} for the English pronunciation.<ref>"[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/johann-sebastian-bach johann sebastian bach]" entry at [http://www.dictionary.com/ ''Dictionary.com Unabridged''.] [[Random House]]. Retrieved 3 May 2016.</ref> The same pronunciation of the last name is found in ''Phonetics for Dummies''.<ref>William F. Katz. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5f5dAAAAQBAJ ''Phonetics For Dummies''.] John Wiley & Sons, 2013. {{ISBN|9781118505083}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5f5dAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA261 p.&nbsp;261]</ref>--> According to ''[[Webster's]]'', the last consonant can alternatively be pronounced as {{IPAc-en|k}}.<ref>"bach trumpet" entry p.&nbsp;157 in ''[[Webster's|Webster's Third New International Dictionary]]'' (unabridged). [[Merriam-Webster]], 1981. {{ISBN|0877792062}}</ref>}} ({{OldStyleDate|31 March|1685|21 March}}{{spaced ndash}}28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the [[Baroque music|Baroque period]]. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the ''[[Brandenburg Concertos]]'' and the ''[[Goldberg Variations]]'', and vocal music such as the ''[[St&nbsp;Matthew Passion]]'' and the [[Mass in B&nbsp;minor]]. Since the 19th-century [[Bach Revival]] he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6RptffQRvEEC&pg=PA272|title=The Triumph of Music: The Rise of Composers, Musicians and Their Art|year=2008|first=T. C. W.|last=Blanning|author-link=T. C. W. Blanning|page=272|quote=And of course the greatest master of harmony and counterpoint of all time was Johann Sebastian Bach, 'the Homer of music'.}}</ref>

The [[Bach family]] already counted several composers when Johann Sebastian was born as the last child of a city musician in [[Eisenach]]. Having become an orphan at age 10, he lived for five years with [[Johann Christoph Bach (organist at Ohrdruf)|his eldest brother]], after which he continued his musical formation in [[Lüneburg]]. From 1703 he was back in [[Thuringia]], working as a musician for [[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches in [[Arnstadt]] and [[Mühlhausen]] and, for longer stretches of time, at courts in [[Saxe-Weimar|Weimar]] —where he expanded his repertoire for the [[pipe organ|organ]]— and [[Anhalt-Köthen|Köthen]] —where he was mostly engaged with [[chamber music]]. From 1723 he was employed as [[Thomaskantor]] ([[Cantor (Christianity)|cantor]] at [[St. Thomas School, Leipzig|St.&nbsp;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 [[List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach printed during his lifetime|he published]] some of his [[keyboard instrument|keyboard]] and organ music. In Leipzig, as had happened in some of his earlier positions, he had a difficult relation with his employer, a situation that was little remedied when he was granted the title of court composer by the [[Augustus III of Poland|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.

Bach enriched established German styles through his mastery of [[counterpoint]], [[harmony|harmonic]] and [[Motif (music)|motivic]] organisation, and his adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. [[List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach's compositions]] include [[Bach cantata|hundreds of cantatas]], both [[Church cantata (Bach)|sacred]] and [[List of secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach|secular]].<ref name=Wolff5>Wolff (1997), p. 5</ref> He [[Bach's church music in Latin|composed Latin church music]], [[Passions (Bach)|Passions]], [[List of masses, passions and oratorios by Johann Sebastian Bach#Oratorios and associated cantatas|oratorios]] and [[List of motets by Johann Sebastian Bach|motets]]. He often adopted [[Lutheran hymn]]s, not only in his larger vocal works, but for instance also in [[List of chorale harmonisations by Johann Sebastian Bach|his four-part chorales]] and [[List of songs and arias by Johann Sebastian Bach|his sacred songs]]. He wrote extensively [[List of organ compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach|for organ]] and [[List of keyboard and lute compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach|for other keyboard instruments]]. He [[List of concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach|composed concertos]], for instance [[List of orchestral works by Johann Sebastian Bach#Violin concertos (BWV 1041–1043)|for violin]] and [[Keyboard concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach|for harpsichord]], and [[Suite (Bach)|suites]], [[List of chamber music works by Johann Sebastian Bach|as chamber music]] as well as [[Orchestral suites (Bach)|for orchestra]]. [[List of fugal works by Johann Sebastian Bach|Many of his works employ]] the genres of [[canon (music)|canon]] and [[fugue]].

Throughout the 18th century Bach was primarily valued as [[organist]], while his keyboard music, such as ''[[The Well-Tempered Clavier]]'', was appreciated for its didactic qualities. The 19th century saw the publication of some major [[Biographies of Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach-biographies]], and by the end of that century all of his known music had been printed. Dissemination of scholarship on the composer continued through periodicals and websites exclusively devoted to him, and other publications such as the ''[[Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis]]'' (BWV, a numbered catalogue of his works) and new critical editions of his compositions. His music was further popularised through a multitude [[List of transcriptions of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach|of arrangements]], including for instance the ''[[Air on the G String]]'', and of recordings, for instance three different box sets with complete performances of the composer's oeuvre marking the 250th anniversary of his death.
{{TOC limit|3}}