Johann Christian BACH
1735 — 1782
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Among the musical public in London in 1780 "Mr Bach" meant Johann Christian Bach. Born in 1735, the youngest son of Johann Sebastuab and Anna Magdalena Bach he came to England in 1762 and remained here until his untimely death at the age of 47. His successful career as a performer, teacher and composer culminated in his appointment as Music Master to the Queen.

Music now available

1. AllegrettoSonata no 1 in Bb, Op 5 no 1
2. Tempo di Menuetto
1. Allegro di molto Sonata no 2 in D, Op 5 no 2
2. Andante di molto
3. Minuetto
Lesson 1: Allegretto — Minuetto — Allegro"Four Progressive Lessons for the Harpsichord or Piano Forte, composed by Mr BACH"
Lesson 2: Allegretto — Rondo
Lesson 3: Allegretto — Rondo
Lesson 4: Allegretto — Aria con variazioni
37: Andante affetuosoTaken from Intoduction to the PIANO: Method or Collection of Elementary Studies for the
Forte Piano or Harpsichord.
Composed by J.C.BACH and F.P.RICCI
39: Rondo and Minuet
55: Minuet in A
56: Maestoso in A minor
84: Rondo in A
He lived at the time when the "Piano Forte" was challenging the harpsichord as the instrument of choice for solo keyboard players, and although his keyboard compositions were advertised as being for either instrumnet, his style of writing confirms his own preference for the piano, with plenty of opportunity for exploiting the contrasts in dynamics which became available with the new instrument. He wrote quite prolifically for the piano: in particular the two sets of Sonatas (Op 5 and Op 17) are very enjoyable to play and technically not too demanding. I hope to provide all of them on this website eventually. Mozart was an admirer of his compositions, and wrote of Christian's death as "a sad day for the musical world" .

He was evidently dedicated to teaching as well as performing, and the 4 Progressive Lessons illustrate the care which he took in writing easier works for his pupils: these pieces retain all the elegance and tunefulness of his more ambitious compositions. I am not aware of a modern edition of these Lessons; I have taken them from a copy of Longman and Broderip's original edition which is in the British Museum.

There is an excellent modern edition of another of Christian's educational works, - Introduction to the PIANO: Method or Collection of Elementary Studies for the Forte Piano or Harpsichord (edited by Beatrice Erdely, Novello, 1987). This is a treatise produced by Christian in collaboration with his friend Fernando Pasquale Ricci, illustrated by 100 pieces spcially composed for the purpose: Beatrice Erdely justly describes these as being "of great musical charm and solid content." As you will see I have included a small selection of them here.
Comments are welcome. Please write to williamww@aol.com    Last modified: 13 April 2009.