Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782)
-: Suite des 'AMADIS | DES GAULES | TRAGEDIE LIRIQUE DE QUINAULT |
Reduite En Trois Actes | Dedieé | A Monsieur | DE. CAUMARTIN' (1779),
WarB G 39
Performers: hr-Sinfoniеorchеster; Reinhard Goеbеl (conductor)
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German composer. The youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750),
he received his earliest musical training from his father and a cousin,
Johann Elias Bach. After serving as a secretary to his father the final
year of his father’s life, he moved to Berlin in 1750, receiving further
instruction from his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. In 1755 he left
for Milan, where he eventually obtained the patronage of Count Agostino
Litta. Following study with Padre Giovanni Battista Martini and
conversion to Roman Catholicism, he was appointed second organist at the
Milan cathedral in 1760. A commission for an opera from the Teatro
Regio in Turin the same year, however, altered his fortunes; the work,
Cantone in Utica, was a success that led both to commissions throughout
Italy and an international reputation as a composer of Italian opera. In
1762 he was invited to London, where he set the opera Orione. Its
success and the appointment as Music Master to the Queen allowed him to
reside permanently there. A further trip to Paris solidified his ability
to publish his music, and, finally, his lodging with compatriot Carl
Friedrich Abel resulted in a collaborative concert series beginning in
1764. For the next decade he traveled regularly to Paris where his works
were highly esteemed, and in 1772 he was invited to Mannheim to set the
opera Temistocle. In 1779 he wrote his first tragédie lyrique for
Paris, 'Amadis de Gaule'. Despite the successes, competition with rival
concert a difficult economic situation, and ill health led to his early
death. Bach can be considered one of the pivotal composers of the age.
Unlike his brothers Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel
Bach, he fully immersed himself in the Italian style, creating works
that feature clear period lyrical themes, solid harmonic foundations,
and distinct formal structures. His orchestration, often using obbligato
instruments, is colorful, and Bach used various Mannheim orchestral
devices to great effect. He was one of the most popular composers of the
period, whose music had circulation throughout Europe, influencing a
later generation of composers, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was a
prolific composer in virtually all genres. His works include 39 operas,
three serenatas, an oratorio, seven Mass/Requiem movements, 28 other
sacred works, 15 concert arias and cantatas, 45 songs/canzonetts, 34
symphonies, 19 sinfonia concertantes, 28 keyboard concertos, 11 other
concertos (violin, flute, oboe, and bassoon), six wind symphonies, 11
marches, a sextet, 13 quintets (string and piano), 20 quartets (string,
flute, and piano), 14 trio sonatas, 12 trios (almost all piano trios),
26 violin sonatas, two viola da gamba sonatas, 23 keyboard sonatas (four
for keyboard four hands), and numerous miscellaneous pieces for the
keyboard and harp. His music has been cataloged according to Terry (T)
or Warburton (W or CW) numbers.
