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]