Bach’s Moonlight Copying

The Bach name became so synonymous with music that one old saying claimed there were “two hundred and forty‑seven musicians called Bach,” more than fifty of them distinguished. In some German towns, “the Bachs” simply meant “the town musicians.” And when people said “Bach,” they meant one person in particular: Johann Sebastian.

After losing his parents at ten, Sebastian was sent from Eisenach to live with his older brother Johann Christoph in Ohrdruf. He studied hard, practiced constantly, and learned many pieces by heart. But soon he craved more difficult music.

His brother owned a manuscript book filled with works by masters like Buxtehude, Frohberger, Pachelbel, and others—and kept it locked in a cupboard. Sebastian begged to borrow it. The answer was no.

So the boy did something extraordinary. At night, through the lattice of the cupboard door, he could just reach the pages. By moonlight, for six months, he secretly copied the entire book, returning the original each time so the theft would not be noticed.

Eventually his brother discovered the copy. He took it away—and, in a moment of harsh discipline, is said to have destroyed it before Sebastian’s eyes. The loss must have stung, but the determination behind it never left him.