BACH, JOHANN CHRISTIAN

Preclassical composer, referred to as the "Milan Bach" and the "London Bach"; b. Leipzig, Sept. 5, 1735; d. London, Jan. 1, 1782. He was the youngest son of J. S. bach and his second wife, Anna Magdalena. Only 15 at his father's death, he was taken to Berlin by his half-brother, Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, who taught him for five years. In 1756 he went to Milan with an introduction to Count Litta, who financed further study with G.B. ("Padre") martini, under whose tutelage he composed several church works. In 1760 he was appointed Milan cathedral organist, but opera commissions from

Turin and Naples in the same year necessitated prolonged absence from his duties. The strained situation resulting was terminated by his appointment to the King's Theatre, London, for the opera season 1762 to 1763. Orione (1763) was so successful that Christian was appointed music master to Queen Charlotte and retained this post as long as he lived. His copious works in the rococo (late baroque) idiom exerted a strong influence on the Viennese classical style, conspicuously on the boy mozart, who visited Christian in London in 1764 and profited immensely from his interest and generous, practical advice.

Christian's conversion to Catholicism soon after his arrival in Italy was resented by his brothers. Several biographers have judged it merely an expedient act to gain church posts, but the fact that he adhered to his faith in Protestant England argues his sincerity. His Catholic church music (1756–62) reflects the prevailing style of Neapolitan opera, each work consisting of arias, duets, and choruses, and accompanied by an orchestra of strings, oboes, organ, and horns (or trumpets). Among his church works are two Glorias and Magnificats, a Requiem, Lessons and Responsories, Misere re, and Te Deum, this last described by a contemporary poet and musician, C. F. D. Schubart (1739–91), as "one of the most beautiful we have in Europe."

Bibliography: c. s. terry, John Christian Bach (Oxford 1929). k. geiringer, The Bach Family (New York 1954). h. wirth, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed. f. blume (Kassel-Basel 1949– ) 1:942–954. r. g. pauly, Music in the Classic Period (Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 1965). w. s. newman, The Sonata in the Classic Era (Chapel Hill, N.C. 1963). p. h. lÁng, Music in Western Civilization (New York 1941). d. j. grout, A Short History of Opera, 2 v. (2d, rev. and enl. ed. New York 1965). Modern eds. of several works are available. p. corneilson, "The Case of J. C. Bach's Lucio Silla," Journal of Musicology, 12 (1994) 206–218. l. a. derry, The Pre-Classical Concerto of Johann Christian Bach: First Movement Design in the Eighteen 'London' Keyboard Concertos, (Ph.D. diss. Indiana University 1993). u. leisinger, "Der langsame Satz des Flötenkonzerts D–Dur von Johann Christian Bach," Tibia: Magazin für Holzbläser, 23 (1998) 113–118. w. landowska, "The Gallant Style: About Some of Mozart's Keyboard Works," in Landowska on Music, ed. and tr. d. restout (New York 1964) 323. j. meyer, "The Keyboard Concertos of Johann Christian Bach and Their Influence on Mozart," Miscellanea Musicologica, 10 (1979) 59–73. l. salter, "Which Bach?," Consort, 42 (1986) 50.

[a. milner]

Johann Christian Bach

The German composer Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) was a facile and prolific writer of vocal and instrumental works in the prevailing Italianate styles of his time. He played an important role in English musical life of the period 1760-1780.

Johann Christian Bach was the youngest surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach. On the death of his father in 1750, Johann Christian went to Berlin to continue his musical education with his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel (21 years his senior), then court keyboard performer for Frederick the Great. In 1754 Johann Christian departed for an extended period in Italy, centered in Milan. In private service with a Milanese nobleman, he continued his studies with the renowned contrapuntal teacher Padre Martini, with whom he afterward remained on good terms. Bach's conversion to Catholicism in 1760 opened the way to a secure position as organist at the Cathedral of Milan, the main significance of which, as he himself stated, was that it was not demanding and left him time to devote to composing instrumental music and, especially, Italian operas. In 1762 his opera Alessandro nell'Indie, on a familiar subject for opera seria, was performed in Naples.

Bach's active pursuit of a career as opera composer on the international circuit led to contacts with England, and in 1762 he settled there for good. He was soon appointed music master to the Queen and, together with Karl Friedrich Abel (a former pupil of his father's at Leipzig), he founded the famous Bach-Abel Concerts in London, which lasted from 1764 until 1782 and were among the most important musical events in England during this period. Bach was the leading virtuoso performer and composer of German origin in England at the time; an opera placard billed him as the "Saxon Master of Music."

In 1764 the 8-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart made his famous appearance as keyboard prodigy at the English court, beginning a close and lasting personal relationship with Bach. In 1778 Mozart wrote from Mannheim to his father that he had met Bach there and that "I love him (as you know) and respect him with all my heart… " Mozart also wrote an aria (1778) based on the text Non so d'onde viene, "which has been set so beautifully by J. C. Bach; just because I know Bach's setting so well and admire it so much, and because it is always ringing in my years, I wished to try and see whether in spite of all this I could not write an aria totally unlike his. … " It is essential for an understanding of the music of Mozart and his times to realize that in the 1770s he was thoroughly familiar with the music of Johann Christian Bach and still wholly unacquainted with that of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Further Reading

The major study of the life and works of J. C. Bach is C. S. Terry, Johann Christian Bach (1929). His relationship to the other members of the Bach family is best approached through the source material assembled in Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel, eds., The Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents (1945; 2d ed. 1966), and is also discussed in Karl Geiringer, The Bach Family: Seven Generations of Creative Genius (1954). Important too are the references to J. C. Bach in Charles Burney, A General History of Music from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period (4 vols., 1776-1789), and in the letters of Mozart in collections such as that edited and translated by Emily Anderson, The Letters of Mozart and His Family (3 vols., 1938; 2d ed., 2 vols., 1966).

Additional Sources

Géartner, Heinz, John Christian Bach: Mozart's friend and mentor, Portland, Or.: Amadeus Press, 1994.

Terry, Charles Sanford, John Christian Bach/Lando, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1980, 1967. □

Bach, Johann Christian (b Leipzig, 1735; d London, 1782). Ger. composer. 18th child and 11th (youngest) son of J. S. Bach. Known as ‘the English Bach’. Learned klavier-playing from his half-brother C. P. E. Bach in Berlin. Went to Bologna in 1754 to study counterpoint with Padre Martini. After becoming a Roman Catholic was appointed organist Milan Cath. in 1760. His 3-act opera Artaserse was prod. at Turin in 1760, followed by Catone in Utica in Naples the same year and Alessandro nell'Indie in 1762. These events were regarded in Milan as unduly frivolous, and Bach accepted offer from Signora Mattei, dir., King's Th., London, to succeed Cocchi as composer to the opera. His first London opera, Orione, prod. 1763. On this occasion cls. were first used in an Eng. orch. Later the same year his Zanaida was an equal success, and he was appointed music-master to Queen Charlotte. In 1764, when the boy Mozart visited London, Bach perf. a sonata with him. Also in 1764 he inaugurated a series of concerts with Karl Friedrich Abel, who had been a pupil of J. S. Bach. These continued until 1782. His later operas met with less success. One of them, Carattaco, was on an Eng. subject which later attracted Elgar. On visits to Ger., Bach prod. his Temistocle in 1772 at Mannheim and his Lucio Silla, which Mozart had already set, in 1774. Comp. an opera for Paris, Amadis de Gaule, in 1779, and his last London opera, La Clemenza di Scipione, was successfully perf. in 1778. He died in debt, and was buried in a mass grave in St Pancras churchyard. Queen Charlotte helped to meet expenses arising from his debts and enabled his widow to return to Italy. His death went almost unnoticed by Londoners. There is a fine portrait of him by Gainsborough. Besides 11 operas, Bach wrote many instr. works—sinfonias, ovs., nearly 40 pf. concs., sonatas, qts., trios, marches, etc. Their felicitous scoring and melodic charm leave no doubt why Mozart admired Bach so much and why not only Mozart but also Haydn and Beethoven were fruitfully influenced by his work. Most of his church mus. was written before he left Italy.

Bach, Johann Christian (1735–82) German composer, youngest son of J. S. Bach. He was organist at Milan Cathedral, composed operas that were staged in Turin and Naples, but soon moved to London where his operas were better received. In 1763 he became music-master to Queen Charlotte. Besides 11 operas, he wrote many instrumental and vocal works. He was much admired by Mozart.