Johann Sebastian Bach as his world knew him

the long version

Bach, the "holy cantor" church musician, has been often described in books. But the real Bach, the "eminently astute manager of his life," is frequently buried in endless, uninteresting detail. In contrast, Dr. Otto Bettmann's new book, Johann Sebastian Bach: As His World Knew Him, shows Bach with all his human qualities: the capable management of his vast family -- two wives and twenty children -- Bach's humor, his considerable business acumen, the all too human touches of eroticism, even his attitude toward death. Bettmann explains why for nearly eighty years after the death of the world's greatest composer, Bach sank into oblivion. - Jacket flap.