The Sons of Bach:

C.P.E. Bach (1714 - 1788) was his father's true successor and the leading composer of the pre-classical period. The second surviving son of J.S. and Maria Barbara Bach, he studied under his father, and took a degree in law. In 1740 he was appointed harpsichordist to King Frederick of Prussia, his primary task being accompanist to the king's flute solos.

During his time in Berlin (1740-1767), his major compositions were keyboard sonatas. He also published an important text on keyboard playing which established him as a leading teacher and theorist of the time. Nevertheless, he was unhappy with his position at court due to poor pay, the lack of opportunity, his subservient role, and the old-fashioned tastes of Frederick. When Telemann died in 1767, Emmanuel succeeded him as music director in Hamburg, a prestigious position. He was responsible for teaching, some 200 performances in five churches, and ceremonial music for civic occasions.

He now wrote religious music, symphonies, concerti, organ sonatas, chamber music, and songs. In Hamburg he developed a more adventurous vein and did much to open up future musical styles. His symphonies, concerti, and keyboard sonatas were influential in the evolution of classical sonata-allegro form. His influence on Haydn, Mozart, and even Beethoven was freely acknowledged. It is interesting that, having influenced Haydn, Bach later allowed himself to be influenced by the younger composer, just as Haydn later influenced and was influenced by Mozart.

He died in Hamburg in 1788, greatly respected for his treatise and his music. In his lifetime he was the best-known member of his family.

    Johann Christian Bach (1735 - 1782) was the youngest son of J.S. and Anna Magdalena. He studied first with his father, and then with his half-brother Carl Philip Emmanuel. At the age of 20 he made his way to Italy and in 1756 became a pupil of Padre Martini in Bologna. His grace and tactful manner (notably lacking in older generations of Bach's), allowed him to find generous patronage. Having converted to Catholicism, he was appointed organist of Milan cathedral in 1760. His conversion offended his strongly Lutheran family, from whom he became somewhat estranged. In 1762 he composed operas for the King's Theatre in London. He also produced orchestral, chamber, keyboard music, and some cantatas. He started his fashionable series of concerts two years later with Karl Friedrich Abel, bringing the newest and best European music to London. He befriended the boy Mozart on the child prodigy's visit to London in 1764-5. His popularity faded in the late 1770s, and after financial troubles, his health declined. He died in 1782, and was soon forgotten.

J.C.'s galant style, with its Italianate grace and fluid melodies influenced Classical period composers like Mozart, who learned from and greatly respected Bach. His symphonies, contemporary with those of Haydn, influenced the early Classical symphony; his sonatas and keyboard concerti performed a similar role. But his early success apparently relieved him of pressure to continue developing. Although he never grew to be a profound composer, his music was always sensitive and imaginative.

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach( 1710 - 1784) was the eldest of J.S.'s sons. His musical instruction was primarily from his father (who wrote for him the charming Clavier-Büchlein, or Little Keyboard Book). He also studied the violin. After university studies, he was appointed organist in Dresden. In 1746 he moved to Halle. At about this time, or perhaps after his father's death in 1750, he seemed to begin to have personality difficulties, evidenced by excessive drinking. After a late marriage in 1751, he became restless and applied unsuccessfully for a change of post. In 1762 he won an appointment to the Darmstadt court but did not accept. Resigning his old post in Halle, he moved to Brunswick but with his difficult temperament he found no regular employment. He became touchy and unreliable, and although his talents were never doubted, he imagined that they were. In 1774 he moved to Berlin, where he lived meagerly by giving recitals and teaching, and died in 1784.

Of his compositions, keyboard works and cantatas form the larger part; he also composed several symphonies and chamber works and an opera. His music vacillates between the Baroque style of his father and the newer galant, or Rococo, style. Unlike his brother C.P.E., he could not assimilate his father's powerful style and adapt it to new musical currents. His compositions, few for his many years, are often impassioned, and often unpredictable in their use of melody, harmony, and rhythm. His gifts are unmistakable, but the final impression is of a composer whose potential was never realized.

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