Johan Wagenaar was a Dutch composer and organist. Born in Utrecht, out of wedlock, he was the son of Cypriaan Gerard Berger van Hengst and Johanna Wagenaar. Wagenaar's parents were of different social strata: his father was an aristocrat, while his mother was of more humble origins. For this reason, Wagenaar's parents were not married, and thus Wagenaar received his mother's name as his family name. While Wagenaar resented that his parents never got married, he was by no means neglected by his father.