Johann Sebastian Bach signature

Who Johann Sebastian Bach was

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach in 1685 into a large family of musicians and died in Leipzig in 1750. He worked as organist and court musician in Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, Weimar and Köthen, and from 1723 as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, writing cantatas, passions, keyboard and organ works and the Mass in B minor.

Much of his music survives in his own handwriting, and those scores tell us how he signed and how he framed his work.

The story of the signature

In letters and official documents Bach usually abbreviated his first names in the German fashion of the time: “Joh. Seb. Bach”, sometimes with his title, such as Capellmeister or Director Musices, added. Shortened first names with full stops were normal in German official writing of the time.

On many of his scores, especially church music, he wrote “J.J.” at the top of the first page, for Jesu juva (“Jesus, help”), and “S.D.G.” at the end, for Soli Deo gloria (“to God alone the glory”). The habit was not unique to Bach, but he used it consistently, so the letters have become closely tied to his name.

Bach also played with his own name in music. In German note names B is B flat and H is B natural, so B-A-C-H can be written as a four-note motif. He used it near the end of the unfinished final fugue of The Art of Fugue, and many later composers have quoted it in tribute.

The largest collection of his autograph scores is in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and the Bach-Archiv Leipzig and its Bach digital project make many of them viewable online.

What makes it distinctive

How to give your signature a similar feel

• In the signature generator Type tab, choose Monsieur La Doulaise or Great Vibes for formal capitals, set a gentle Slant of 4° to 6°, and pick black ink.
• Abbreviate long first names with full stops, “Joh.” for Johann or “Wm.” for William, to get the compact Baroque look.
• Add a modest paraph in the Draw tab: one loop under the surname is enough.
• Have a motto you care about? A short set of initials before or after your work, like Bach’s J.J. and S.D.G., can become part of your personal mark on documents you write.

Where to see the original

These links lead to archives, libraries, museums and Wikimedia Commons.

• Wikimedia Commons: first page of Bach’s autograph score of the St John Passion (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin)
• Wikimedia Commons: Bach autograph manuscript of 1725, Allegro BWV 1019a (Bach-Archiv Leipzig)
• Bach digital: digitised Bach sources from the Bach-Archiv Leipzig and partner libraries