Originally Posted by Burning Down

Yes, Bach used a lot of symbolism in his music. He also used a motif that spelled out his name, in his music - in American notation, the notes are Bb A C B. Of course, Bach was German, and in German notation, Bb is "B" and B is "H". So the motif to him would be the notes B A C H. This is evident in the Art of Fugue and also in the beginning of his Sinfonia in F minor - though the motif is transposed down one whole tone in this piece (it's Ab G Bb A), it's still the same.