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“Johann Sebastian Bach belongs to a family whose love and skill in music appear as though they were universal gifts granted by nature to all its members. So much is certain, that from Veit Bach, the ancestor of the family, all his descendants, now down to the seventh generation, have devoted themselves to music, and all of them, with perhaps a few exceptions, have made it their profession.”
This glance back over the family history begins the obituary of Johann Sebastian Bach which was written by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Friedrich Agricola. The placing of Bach's artistry within the larger context of his family was of great importance both for the understanding of his achievements and for determining his place in music history. Therefore, as a part of the Bach movement the music of his composing forefathers has been re-discovered; many of them were composers of above-average gifts, whose works represent a genuine enrichment of our musical life.