JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH (1735-1782), the eleventh son, was born at Leipzig, and on the death of his father in 175o became the pupil of his brother Emanuel at Berlin. In 1754 he went to Italy, where he studied under Padre Martini, and from 176o to 1762 held the post of organist at Milan cathedral, for which he wrote two Masses, a Requiem, a Te Deum and other works. Having also gained some reputation as a composer of opera, he was in 1762 invited to London and there spent the rest of his life. For 20 years he was the most popular musician in England; his dramatic works, produced at the King's theatre, were received with great cordiality; he was appointed music master to the queen, and his concerts, given in partnership with Abel at the Hanover Square rooms, soon became the most fashionable of public entertainments. He is of some historical interest as the first composer who preferred the pianoforte to the older keyed instruments.
A full account of J. C. Bach's career is given in the fourth volume of Burney's History of Music, while a complete thematic catalogue of his works is to be included in the authoritative study of the composer which Dr. C. Sanford Terry has in hand (1928) . (W. H. H.)