Johann Christian Bach

While in Italy, J.C. Bach was appointed as an organist at the Milan Cathedral. In 1762 he became a composer to the King’s Theatre in London where he wrote a number of successful Italian operas and became known as "The English Bach". Bach is responsible for the development of the sinfonia concertante form. He became one of the most influential figures of the classical period, influencing compositional styles of prolific composers like Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There are two others named Johann Christian Bach in the Bach family tree, but neither was a composer.

Johann Christian Bach was born to Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena Bach in 1735 in Leipzig, Germany. His father, Johann Sebastian Bach, instructed him in his early musical training. After his father's death, he moved to Berlin to pursue his studies with his half-brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who was twenty-one years his senior and, at the time, was considered to be the most musically gifted of Bach's sons. In 1754 he moved to Italy to study with Padre Martini in Bologna. He was appointed as an organist at Milan Cathedral in 1760. During his time in Italy, he converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism, supposedly due to political reasons. He devoted most of his time composing church music, including music for a Requiem Mass and a Te Deum and Latin Mass settings. His first major work was a Mass, which received an excellent performance and acclaim in 1757. In 1762, Bach travelled to London to première three operas at the King's Theatre, including Orione on 19 February 1763. In 1764 or 1765, the castrato Giusto Fernando Tenducci, who became a close friend, created the title role in his opera Adriano in Siria at King's. That established his reputation in England, and he became music master to Queen Charlotte. In 1766, Bach met soprano Cecilia Grassi (1746-1791), who was eleven years his junior, and married her shortly thereafter. They had no offspring. J. C. Bach performed symphonies and concertos at the Hanover Square Rooms. This was London's premier concert venue in the heart of fashionable Mayfair. The surrounding Georgian homes offered a well-to-do clientele for his performances. One of London's primary literary circles, which included Jane Timbury, Robert Gunnell Esq., Lord Beauchamp, and the Duchess of Buccleuch, was acquainted with Bach, and members were regular attendees at his events. In 1777, he won a landmark case, Bach v Longman, which established that (in English law) copyright law applied to musical scores. Even before then, Bach demanded a proper credibility for his compositions almost at the same time upon his arrival to London in 1762. He was granted an exclusive right to publish his music for 14 years. By the late 1770s, both his popularity and finances were in decline. By the time of Bach's death on New Year's Day 1782, he had become so indebted (in part due to his steward embezzling his money), that Queen Charlotte stepped in to cover the expenses of the estate and provided a life pension for Bach's widow. He was buried in the graveyard of St. Pancras Old Church, London.

The works of J. C. Bach are given 'W' numbers, from Ernest Warburton's Thematic catalog of his works (New York City: Garland Publishing, 1999). Bach's compositions include eleven operas, as well as chamber music, orchestral music and compositions for keyboard.