I'm biased (I was raised on Bach) but I've always thought that most of modern western music owes an enormous debt to J.S. Bach. He pushed even temperament, was ridiculously prolific, represented music across Europe to the point where he was known as "Grandfather Bach" in some royal courts, and his music was often inspired by patterns, numbers and complex riddles.
There are a huge number of famous musical passages, hooks, licks, etc. attributed to artists from Mendelsohn to the modern day that can be found in just the Well Tempered Clavier. Listen to the second half of BWV857(http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-857/) which is fugue number 12 from the Well Tempered Clavier vol 1. Tell me if you don't hear something familiar there :-)
There are a huge number of famous musical passages, hooks, licks, etc. attributed to artists from Mendelsohn to the modern day that can be found in just the Well Tempered Clavier. Listen to the second half of BWV857(http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-857/) which is fugue number 12 from the Well Tempered Clavier vol 1. Tell me if you don't hear something familiar there :-)