The Cantor Who Signed Every Note to God

In 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach arrived in Leipzig to serve as cantor of St. Thomas Church. For twenty-seven years, he composed cantatas, oratorios, and chorales at a pace that still astonishes musicians — sometimes producing a new work every single week for Sunday worship. What set Bach apart was not merely his genius but his conviction about its purpose. At the bottom of nearly every manuscript, he inscribed three letters: S.…