Johann Sebastian Bach Trivia Questions

The piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 in Italy. Bach later played and endorsed early pianos but didn't invent them.

Bach traveled to Carlsbad (now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic) in 1720, which was in Bohemia, part of the Habsburg Empire, not a German state. Thus, he did leave the territory of today's Germany.

He had 20 children with two wives; half (10) survived to adulthood, and several became famous composers like C.P.E. Bach.

In 1705, Bach took a month-long leave from his job to walk from Arnstadt to Lübek (roughly 250 miles) to hear the famed organist.

The 'Air' is from Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3; the 'G String' nickname came from a 19th-century arrangement by violinist August Wilhelmj.

Bach became totally blind after John Taylor's botched eye surgeries in early 1750, and he died in July of that year, meaning he was blind for only a few months, not a year.

In 1717, Bach was imprisoned for nearly four weeks after insisting on leaving his job as court organist; the duke finally released him in disgrace.

While his Six Cello Suites are iconic, earlier composers like Domenico Gabrielli wrote solo cello works before Bach.