Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Work

When Forkel published his Ueber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke: Für patriotische Verehrer echter musikalischer Kunst in 1802 it was the first biography on the composer published as a separate book.

Van Swieten was an early Bach adept, for instance making Mozart familiar with the baroque composer.

The best known predecessor of Forkel's biography was Bach's Obituary, the "Nekrolog", an article of less than 20 pages published a few years after the composer's death in 1750.

[2][3] For the content of his biography, Forkel relied on the "Nekrolog", and on material he had obtained from Bach's sons Carl Philipp Emanuel and Wilhelm Friedemann.

[4] The first edition of Forkel's biography on Johann Sebastian Bach was published by Hoffmeister and Kühnel.