Johann Christian Bach
photo: thomas gainsborough · public domain ↗Johann Christian Bach was the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, who moved from the strict counterpoint of his upbringing toward the light, tuneful galant style of the emerging Classical age. After training in Berlin and Italy, he settled in London - earning the nickname 'the London Bach' - where he wrote symphonies, keyboard concertos, and operas, and mentored the visiting child Mozart. His graceful, songful manner became a direct model for the early Classical concerto.
Johann Christian was Johann Sebastian Bach's youngest son and received his earliest musical grounding from his father before Sebastian's death in 1750; that rigorous keyboard training underlies even his later, lighter works.
listen forJ.C. Bach's Op. 7 keyboard concerto shows off a fluent, commanding keyboard technique and clean part-writing - the disciplined foundation inherited from his father, now turned toward brighter, galant ends.
After their father died, the teenage Johann Christian lived and studied in Berlin with his older half-brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, absorbing his keyboard idiom before moving on toward Italian opera and the galant style.
listen forJ.C. Bach's Op. 5 keyboard sonatas share C.P.E. Bach's singing, expressive keyboard writing and clear two-part textures, softened into an easy, tuneful elegance.
In Italy, Johann Christian converted to Catholicism and studied counterpoint and sacred composition with the renowned Bolognese teacher Padre Martini while serving as an organist in Milan.
listen forJ.C. Bach's Milan-era 'Dies irae' writes for double choir with dramatic, learned counterpoint - the church-music craft Padre Martini instilled.