Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685, into a family that had produced musicians for generations. By the time he was ten, both of his parents had died, and his older brother took him in and taught him to play keyboard instruments. Bach spent most of his life working as a church organist and music director in German towns. He was not famous during his lifetime the way we think of famous musicians today. He never traveled far from home. But the music he created was extraordinary. Bach wrote over 1,000 pieces of music, including works for organ, choir, orchestra, and solo instruments. His music combined complex mathematical patterns with deep emotion. He could write a piece where multiple melodies played at the same time, weaving in and out of each other like threads in a cloth. This technique is called counterpoint, and nobody has ever done it better. After Bach died in 1750, his music was largely forgotten for almost 80 years. Then a young composer named Felix Mendelssohn performed one of Bach's greatest works in 1829 and sparked a revival that has never stopped. Today, many musicians consider Bach the greatest composer who ever lived.