Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the cello suites and sonatas and partitas for solo violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival, he has been widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.

Bach was a pivotal figure in the history of music. He drew together the achievements of his predecessors and strongly influenced later generations. Many of his works—such as the Well-Tempered Clavier and other keyboard works, most of his organ music, the Brandenburg Concertos, the unaccompanied solos for violin and cello, the cantatas, Passions, and oratorios, the Art of Fugue, and the Mass in B minor—became exemplary samples of their kind and retain their influence and legacy through the present day.

J S Bach works are commonly referred to by the letters “BWV”: the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (German:  ’Bach Works Catalogue’; BWV) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue’s second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in 2022.

J. S. Bach – works for saxophone on SAXpress