One of the greatest champions of Johann Sebastian Bach in the 20th century was Karl Richter (1926-1981). Over the course of his long career as conductor, organist and harpsichordist, Richter became synonymous with Bach. He helped trigger the Bach revival in the 1950s. He founded the Munich Bach Choir and the Munich Bach Orchestra and turned his adopted city of Munich in a Bach center. Richter - he was born in Saxony and studied in Dresden and Leipzig - absorbed the Bach tradition at its source, in the cities where the composer had lived and worked. Although he saw several dramatic shifts in Baroque performance practice during his lifetime, he remained true to his own style, which was considered revolutionary in the 1950s and 60s. Richter's own style of keyboard playing also accented a cool, brisk, almost abstract attitude toward the music.