This new series, Great Composers in Words and Music, consists of mini-biographies read by acclaimed actor and narrator Leighton Pugh and illustrated with musical excerpts. The biographies are full of fascinating detail and anecdote, and have been written in a highly approachable style by Davinia Caddy.

Johann Sebastian Bach today has a reputation as the Godfather of Western European music, as a fountainhead of classical music theory and the creator of some of the greatest works the world has ever produced. Better known as a keyboard virtuoso, Bach was not regarded as a genius in his day, so how did this headstrong and belligerent but ambitious young musician become so extraordinarily productive? What were his influences? How did he end up in jail and what did he get up to in Café Zimmerman? Discover all of this and more in this fascinating biography of a composer who, to Max Reger, represented ‘the beginning and the end of all music’. The narrative is illustrated with musical excerpts including the Brandenburg Concertos, Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, The Art of Fugue, St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor among many others.