The film opens with a young Johann Sebastian Bach. , who has just been struck by the first of several painful blows of fate , because he is an orphan at age ten so he is seen walking with his older brother since he will live with him . Bach will learn from his older brother because he is also a professional musician . Bach eventually strikes out on his own and takes the first of several professional music positions . Eventually tragedy strikes him a second time but Bach responds by making more music that , as time has tested it well , has several centuries later still not only stood the test of time but become part of the classical musical world's pantheon. , as proven by so many of his pieces being played year after year on multiple continents .