Although now beloved and revered by millions as the greatest composer who ever lived, Johann Sebastian Bach was best known in his lifetime as an organist, and was eclipsed in fame, as a composer, by two of his 20 children. For the last 27 years of his life he was a schoolteacher and a choir director whose duties extended to meal supervision and dormitory inspection. Yet throughout his career he composed a vast body of music, which is amongst the most joyful, dancing and enrapturing ever written. This portrait in sound includes many examples of the music that made him immortal.

This series presents the life and work of the major composers. The recording is illustrated with quotations from the composer and his contemporaries, enhanced by extended extracts from representative works. In the companion booklet are essays and notes on the composer and his times.