It’s hard to know where composer Felix Mendelssohn found the manuscript—in the church attic or at the fish market. Since his death almost one hundred years before, Johann Sebastian Bach had faded into obscurity, and his compositions were used to wrap up the daily trout. But on March 11, 1829, Mendelssohn, founder of the Leipzig Music Academy, conducted an encore performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion — almost a century after its first, long-forgotten presentation.1 The production was a hit — and two more performances were immediately scheduled to accommodate the masses who weren’t able to hear the reprise. One attendee stated, “Never have I known any performance so consecrated by one united sympathy.”2 Bach, virtually forgotten at his death, had been resurrected by Mendelssohn in the church.

Regarded as a genius today, Bach was thought to be of average talent in his own time. In 1722, he applied for a job directing music in Leipzig. The hiring committee was less than thrilled with him, but after two other candidates declined the offer, they resorted to Bach. Their feeling? “Since we cannot get the best, we will have to be satisfied with a mediocre one.”3

Bach lived what Paul preached — “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance” (Colossians 3:23 – 24). Though Bach could have aspired to royal courts, he chose to serve in churches with inferior musicians and singers, composing worship for Sunday services at the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church) in Leipzig until his death in 1750. Bach rarely pleased people in his lifetime but strived to please the One who both gave and enjoyed this tremendous gift. His only concern was being a true source of joy to God. As a result, Bach is considered unquestionably the greatest composer of all time for the pipe organ.4