Was reading a blog and, as a laymen/dolt/ignorant peon, I didn't know this:
If you can only name two classical composers, I’m guessing they’re Beethoven and Mozart. And for good reason.
In addition to being two of the most impactful musical geniuses in history, they have dramatic personal stories. Beethoven composed grandiose symphonies while gradually losing his hearing. Mozart was the consummate prodigy who stunned his father when he played violin at their home with professional musicians despite never having had a lesson. Drama!
But survey composers and the most important musician is neither of those two.
When BBC Music Magazine asked 174 world-class composers to rank composers using a composite of originality, impact, and craftsmanship, the preeminent maestro was clear: Johann Sebastian Bach. His “spirit dwells in practically every note written since his death,” the magazine staff wrote.
When the chief music critic of the New York Times ranked historical composers, the top spot went to: Bach. Classic FM: Bach. Big Think: Bach. As 20th Century composer Mauricio Kagel put it: “Not all musicians believe in God, but they all believe in Johann Sebastian Bach.”
What fragments of his life are known, though, aren’t as dramatic as the Beethoven and Mozart stories. Here’s a lot of it: he was very religious; he spent much of his career as the musical director at St. Thomas Church, in Leipzig, Germany; he had 20 children (7 with his first wife before she died), only half of whom survived into adulthood. And along the way he laid a foundation for the future of music, Beethoven and Mozart included.