Johann sebastian bach best biography book

The first major biographies of Johann Sebastian Bach, including those by Johann Nikolaus Forkel and Philipp Spitta, were published in the 19th century.

Many more were published in the 20th century by, among others, Albert Schweitzer, Charles Sanford Terry, Christoph Wolff and Klaus Eidam.

18th century

Little was published about Bach's life in the 18th century, his "Nekrolog" (obituary) being the most extended biographical note about the composer's life.

I believe Christoph Wolf's "Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician" is generally considered to be the current best Bach bio.

This engaging new biography portrays Bach as the living, breathing, and sometimes imperfect human being that he was.

Wolff is the world's leading scholar on J S Bach.

"J.S. Bach: The Learned Musician" is a great read.

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Contemporary biographical sources

No writings by Johann Sebastian Bach were published during his lifetime. He declined Johann Mattheson's invitation to write an autobiographical sketch for inclusion in the Ehrenpforte.^[1] There is little biographical material to be found in the compositions published during his lifetime: the glimpse perceived from the dedication of The Musical Offering to Frederick the Great being a small exception.

There are however some letters by