Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782); DEU

Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782), the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, was a German composer whose cosmopolitan career and elegant style made him an important figure in the transition from the Baroque to the Classical era. Born in Leipzig, he received his earliest musical training from his father and, after Johann Sebastian's death in 1750, continued his studies in Berlin with his half-brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. He later moved to Italy, where he studied with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna, converted to Catholicism, and became organist at Milan Cathedral. His success as an opera composer brought him to London in 1762, and he remained there for the rest of his life, becoming known as the “London Bach.” Together with Carl Friedrich Abel he established the celebrated Bach-Abel concerts, among the earliest important public subscription concert series in London. During the young Mozart's visit to London in 1764–65, Bach met the child prodigy and exerted a significant influence on his developing musical style.

Johann Christian Bach's music is characterized by clarity, graceful melody, balanced phrasing, and the transparent textures of the galant style, qualities that distinguish it sharply from the contrapuntal density of his father's music. He was especially admired for his Italian operas, including Artaserse, Catone in Utica, Orione, and Adriano in Siria, as well as for numerous symphonies, concertos, chamber works, and keyboard sonatas. His concertos for keyboard helped shape the emerging Classical concerto, with clearly contrasted themes and an increasingly prominent role for the soloist, while his symphonies contributed to the development of the mature Classical orchestral style. The directness and elegance of his musical language strongly influenced Mozart, particularly in the latter's early symphonies and piano concertos. Although his reputation declined after his death, Johann Christian Bach is now recognized as a major intermediary between late Baroque and Classical styles and as one of the most internationally successful members of the Bach family.

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Read biography at allmusic.com.