The Story of Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the Brandenburg Concertos; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schubler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival, he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.The present book is an attempt to familiarise the young readers about this famous personality and give a glimpse of his struggles and rise to fame. Excerpt: 'At the close of a beautiful Summer day, in the year 1699, subdued and solemn strains of music from the little house of the organist of the market-town of Ohrdruff floated through its quiet streets. A boy sat crying upon the stone steps leading to the house-door. Now and then he lifted his head, looked into the hallway, and saying in a mournfully complaining tone, 'False again,' or, 'The second violin plays most abominably,' or making some similar protest of musical sensibility, bowed his head again in sorrow and tears.'

Ludwig Ziemssen (1823-1895) was a German educator, writer and editor. In 1882 he retired and moved to Berlin, where he wrote for the 'free hours', a supplement to the newspaper 'Die Tribune', and was editor of the women's magazine 'Der Bazar'. He was a member of the Berlin Press Association and treasurer of the German Schiller Foundation.