Peter Williams approaches afresh the life & music of arguably the most studied of all composers interpreting both Bachs life by deconstructing his original obituary in the light of more recent information & his music by evaluating his priorities & irrepressible creative energy. How even though belonging to musical families on both his parents sides did he come to possess so bewitching a sense of rhythm & melody & a mastery of harmony that established nothing less than a norm in Western culture? In considering that the works of a composer are his biography the books title A Life in Music means both a life spent making music & one revealed in the music as we know it. A distinguished scholar & performer Williams re-examines Bachs life as an orphan & family man as an extraordinarily gifted composer & player & as an ambitious artist who never suffered fools gladly.