BACH, KARL PHILIPP EMANUEL Ger man musician and composer, the third son of Johann Sebastian Bach, was born at Weimar on March 14, 1714. When he was ten years old he entered the Thomasschule at Leipzig, of which in 1723 his father had become cantor, and continued his education as a student of jurisprudence at the universities of Leipzig (1731) and of Frankfurt-on-the-Oder (1735). In 1738 he took his degree, but at once abandoned all prospects of a legal career and determined to devote himself to music. A few months later he obtained an appointment in the service of the crown prince of Prussia, on whose accession in 174o he became a member of the royal household. During his residence at Berlin he wrote a fine setting of the Magnificat (1749), in which he shows more traces than usual of his father's influence, an Easter cantata (1756), several symphonies and concerted works, at least three volumes of songs—Geistliche Oden and Lieder, to words by Gellert (1758), Oden mit Melodien (1762) and Sing-Oden (1766)—and a few secular cantatas and other pieces d'occasion. But his main work was concentrated on the clavier, for which he composed, at this time, nearly 200 sonatas and other solos, including the set mit verdnderten Re prisen (176o-68) and a few of those fur Kenner and Liebhaber. Meanwhile he placed himself in the forefront of European critics by his Versuch fiber die waere Art das Clavier za spielen. In 1768 he succeeded Georg Philipp Telemann as Kapellmeister at Hamburg, and in consequence of his new office began to turn his attention more towards church music. Next year he produced his oratorio Die Israeliten in der Wiiste, and between 1769 and 1788 added over 20 settings of the Passion, a second oratorio Die Au f erstehang and Himmel f ahrt lesa (1777), and some 7o cantatas, litanies, motets and other liturgical pieces. At the same time his genius for instrumental composition was further stimulated by the career of Haydn, to whom he sent a letter of high appreciation, and the climax of his art was reached in the six volumes of sonatas fur Kenner and Liebhaber, to which he devoted the best work of his last ten years. He died at Ham burg on Dec. 14, 1788.
Through the latter half of the I8th century the reputation of K. P. E. Bach stood very high. Mozart said of him, "He is the father, we are the children" ; the best part of Haydn's training was derived from a study of his work; Beethoven expressed for his genius the most cordial admiration and regard. This position he owes mainly to his clavier sonatas, which mark an important epoch in the history of musical form. The content of his work, though full of invention, lies within a somewhat narrow emotional range, but it is not less sincere in thought than polished and felicitous in phrase. Again he was probably the first composer of eminence who made free use of harmonic colour for its own sake, apart from the movement of contrapuntal parts, and in this way also he takes rank among the most important pioneers of the school of Vienna. His name has now fallen into undue neglect, but no student of music can afford to disregard his Sonaten fur Kenner and Liebhaber, his oratorio Die Israeliten in 'der Wuste, and the two concertos (in G major and D major) which have been republished by Dr. Hugo Riemann.
A list of his voluminous compositions may be found in Eitner's Quellen Lexikon and in Wotquenne's Thematisches Verzeichniss (Leipzig, 1905), and a critical account of them is given in Bitter's C. P. E. and W. F. Bach and deren Briider (2 vols., Berlin, 1868) , and in Otto Vrieslander's Philipp Emanuel Bach (Munich, 1923) .
Four more of Johann Sebastian Bach's sons grew to manhood and became musicians. The eldest of them, WILHELM FRIEDE MANN BACH (I 710—I 784), was by common repute the most gifted ; a famous organist, a famous improviser and a complete master of counterpoint. But, unlike the rest of the family, he was a man of idle and dissolute habits, whose career was little more than a series of wasted opportunities. His compositions, very few of which were printed, include many church cantatas and instrumental works, of which the most notable are the fugues, polonaises and fantasias for clavier, an organ concerto and an interesting sextet for strings, clarinet and horns. This last work, which is included among his compositions by Bitter, is assigned by some scholars to Johann Christian Bach. Further particulars may be found in Khant's V erzeichniss.
The fourth son, JOHANN GOTTFRIED BERNHARD BACH (1715— I 739) , was, like his elder brothers, born at Weimar and educated at Leipzig. From 1735 to 1738 he held successively the organist ships at Miihlhausen and Sangerhausen; in 1738 he threw up his appointment and went to study law at Jena; in 1739 he died, aged 24.