The Family That Sang for Generations

For nearly two hundred years, the Bach family of Thuringia, Germany, produced musicians so consistently that in their region the word "Bach" became a synonym for "musician." Beginning in the late 1500s with Veit Bach, a humble baker who played the cittern while his grain was milling, the family line produced over fifty prominent musicians across seven generations. But it was Johann Sebastian Bach, born in 1685, who became the crown jewel of the family — a composer whose works would echo through centuries.…