Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and often called C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician during the Baroque and Classical periods. He was the fifth child and second surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach.

Bach was an important composer who lived during a time when music was changing from his father’s Baroque style to the Classical style. He was the main figure of the empfindsamer Stil, or "sensitive style." His keyboard music showed early examples of the emotional expression found in later Romantic music, which was different from the rigid forms of Baroque music. His organ sonatas were mostly written in the galant style.

To tell him apart from his brother Johann Christian, known as the "London Bach" because he taught music to Queen Charlotte of Great Britain, Bach was called the "Berlin Bach" during his time in Berlin and later the "Hamburg Bach" after he became Kapellmeister (music director) in Hamburg, replacing Georg Philipp Telemann. His contemporaries often called him Emanuel. His middle name honored his godfather, Telemann, who was a friend of his father, J. S. Bach.

Bach was also a respected teacher. He wrote the influential book "Essay on the true art of playing keyboard instruments," which was studied by composers such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Life

C. P. E. Bach was born on March 8, 1714, in Weimar to Johann Sebastian Bach and his first wife, Maria Barbara. He was their fifth child and third son. The composer Telemann was his godfather. At the age of ten, he joined the St. Thomas School in Leipzig, which his father led as Thomaskantor since 1723. He was one of four Bach children who became professional musicians; all four were taught music mainly by their father. In an era when royal support was important, both father and son understood that a university education helped professional musicians avoid being treated as servants. Carl studied law at Leipzig University in 1731 and later at Frankfurt an der Oder in 1735. In 1738, at 24, he earned his degree but did not practice law. Instead, he focused on music.

A few months after graduating, with recommendations from the Graun brothers (Johann Gottlieb and Carl Heinrich) and Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Bach received a position in Berlin to work for Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, who later became Frederick the Great. When Frederick became king in 1740, Bach joined the royal orchestra. At this time, Bach was one of Europe’s top clavier players, and his compositions, beginning in 1731, included about thirty sonatas and concert pieces for harpsichord and clavichord. During his time in Berlin, the city had a rich artistic environment where Bach met accomplished musicians, including former students of his father, and important writers like Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, with whom he became close friends.

In Berlin, Bach continued composing for solo keyboard, including a series of character pieces called the "Berlin Portraits," such as "La Caroline." His reputation grew with two sets of sonatas he published, dedicated to Frederick the Great (1742) and Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg (1744). In 1746, he was promoted to chamber musician (Kammermusikus) and worked alongside colleagues like Carl Heinrich Graun, Johann Joachim Quantz, and Franz Benda.

The composer who most influenced Bach’s style was his father. He also drew inspiration from his godfather, Georg Philipp Telemann, who worked in Hamburg, and from contemporaries like George Frideric Handel, Carl Heinrich Graun, Haydn, and Mozart later in life. Bach’s interest in other art forms led him to be influenced by poets, playwrights, and philosophers such as Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, Moses Mendelssohn, and Lessing. Bach’s work, in turn, influenced composers like Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Felix Mendelssohn.

During his time in Berlin, Bach composed a Magnificat (1749), which shows more of his father’s influence than usual; a cantata for Easter (1756); several symphonies and concert works; at least three volumes of songs, including the famous Gellert Songs; and a few secular cantatas and other pieces. His main focus, however, was on the clavier, for which he wrote nearly two hundred sonatas and other solos, including the set Mit veränderten Reprisen (With Varied Reprises, 1760–1768).

While in Berlin, Bach wrote a treatise titled Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen (An Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments), which was quickly seen as an important guide on keyboard technique. Both Haydn and Beethoven respected it. By 1780, the book had reached its third edition and influenced the keyboard methods of Clementi and Cramer. The essay explains fingering for chords and sequences, and includes a chapter on musical embellishments like trills, turns, and mordents. The second part discusses figured bass and counterpoint, as well as performance suggestions and a section on extemporization, mainly focusing on the Fantasia.

Bach used instruments (clavichord and fortepiano) made by Gottfried Silbermann, a well-known keyboard instrument builder. In recent years, a model of the piano Silbermann built in 1749 was used to create modern piano copies.

In 1768, after long discussions, Bach was allowed to leave his position to take over from his godfather, Telemann, as director of music (Kapellmeister) in Hamburg. After leaving the court, he was named court composer for Frederick’s sister, Princess Anna Amalia. This title was honorary, but her support for the oratorio genre may have helped inspire his later choral works.

In his new role, Bach focused more on church and choral music, creating music for Protestant services at the Michaeliskirche (Church of St. Michael) and other places in Hamburg. The next year, he composed his most ambitious work, the oratorio Die Israeliten in der Wüste (The Israelites in the Desert), which was praised for its beauty and its structure, similar to Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Between 1768 and 1788, he wrote twenty-one Passion settings and about seventy cantatas, litanies, motets, and other liturgical pieces. In 1773, Bach wrote an autobiography, making him one of the first composers to document his life. In Hamburg, he also performed works by contemporaries, including his father, Telemann, Graun, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Salieri, and Johann David Holland. His choral music reached its peak in two works: the double chorus Heilig (Holy, 1776), based on a passage from Isaiah, and the oratorio *Die Auferstehung und Himmelf

Works

C. P. E. Bach wrote several works in the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, including the March in D major, BWV Anh. 122; Polonaise in G minor, BWV Anh. 123; March in G major, BWV Anh. 124; Polonaise in G minor, BWV Anh. 125; and "Solo per il cembalo," BWV Anh. 129.

Among C. P. E. Bach’s most well-known and often recorded works are his symphonies. While in Berlin, he wrote several string symphonies (Wq. 173–181), many of which were later revised to include wind instruments. The E minor symphony, Wq. 178, is especially popular.

In Hamburg, he composed six string symphonies for Gottfried van Swieten, Wq. 182 of 1773. These works were not published during his lifetime because van Swieten wanted them to remain private. However, after being rediscovered, they have become widely performed.

C. P. E. Bach considered his four Orchester-Sinfonien mit zwölf obligaten Stimmen, Wq. 183, to be his finest symphonic works. These symphonies include required wind parts that are essential to the music, not added later. The first symphony in D major has been performed and published continuously since the 18th century, making it the earliest known example of this type. The piece begins with a D major chord that shifts to a D dominant-seventh chord, suggesting G major instead of D major. A D major key is not confirmed until the final section of the piece.

C. P. E. Bach wrote many concertos, especially for keyboard instruments. Like his father, he sometimes transcribed concertos for different instruments, making it hard to determine which version was written first. For example, the three cello concertos (Wq. 170–172) were once thought to be copies of harpsichord concertos, but recent research suggests they may have been originally written for cello.

C. P. E. Bach’s finest keyboard concertos were the Sei concerti per il cembalo concertato, Wq. 43, which were designed to be more accessible and easier to play. He also wrote concertos for oboe, flute, and organ. Additionally, he composed a concerto for harpsichord and piano in E-flat major. He also wrote sonatinas for one or more keyboards and orchestra.

C. P. E. Bach’s chamber music blends Baroque and Classical styles. He wrote trio sonatas and solo sonatas with basso continuo, including pieces for harp and viola da gamba. He also composed accompanied sonatas for piano, violin, and cello, which resemble early piano trios, and three popular quartets for keyboard, flute, and viola. He also wrote a sonata for solo flute, influenced by his father’s Partita in A minor for solo flute, BWV 1013.

C. P. E. Bach wrote many keyboard sonatas, many intended for the clavichord. During his lifetime, he published more collections of keyboard music than any other type. These collections include:

• Sei sonate per cembalo che all’augusta maestà di Federico II, re di Prussia, 1742 ("Prussian" sonatas), Wq. 48.
• Sei sonate per cembalo, dedicate all’altezza serenissima di Carlo Eugenio, duca di Wirtemberg, 1744 ("Württemberg" sonatas), Wq. 49.
• Achtzehn Probe-Stücke in Sechs Sonaten, 1753 ("Probestücke" sonatas), Wq. 63.
• Sechs Sonaten fürs Clavier mit veränderten Reprisen, 1760 ("Reprisen" sonatas), Wq. 50.
• Fortsetzung von Sechs Sonaten fürs Clavier, 1761 ("Fortsetzung" sonatas), Wq. 51.
• Zweite Fortsetzung von Sechs Sonaten fürs Clavier, 1763 ("Zweite Fortsetzung" sonatas), Wq. 52.
• Sechs Leichte Clavier Sonaten, 1766 ("Leichte" sonatas), Wq. 53.
• Six Sonates pour le Clavecin à l’usage des Dames, 1770 ("Damen" sonatas), Wq. 54.
• Six collections of Clavier Sonaten für Kenner und Liebhaber, 1779–87 ("Kenner und Liebhaber" sonatas), Wq. 55–59, 61.

Much of C. P. E. Bach’s later work focused on publishing the "Kenner und Liebhaber" collections, which also include fantasias and rondos.

Wq. 64:1–6 are six sonatinas for keyboard, and Wq. 65:1–50 are fifty additional keyboard sonatas. The Sonata in E-flat major, Wq. 65:7, is based on Solo per il cembalo, BWV Anh. III 129, No. 27 from the second Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.

C. P. E. Bach’s most famous piece is the Solfeggietto, Wq. 117/2. This work is so well-known that the introduction to The Essential C. P. E. Bach is titled "Beyond the Solfeggio in C Minor." Other famous keyboard works include La Caroline and the Fantasia in F-sharp minor, Wq. 67. His fantasias are especially notable for their dramatic silences, unexpected harmonies, and constantly changing musical patterns.

C. P. E. Bach published three major collections of miscellaneous keyboard works: Clavierstücke verschiedener Art, Wq. 112 of 1765, and the Kurze und Leichte Clavierstücke collections, Wq. 113–114 of 1766. These collections include songs, fantasias, dances, sonatas, fugues, and even a symphony and concerto for solo piano.

He also wrote six sonatas for the organ of Frederick the Great’s sister, Anna Amalia.

Mechanical instruments like music boxes and musical clocks were popular

Unpublished works

Many of C. P. E. Bach's musical works and original papers were kept in the archive of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, where he lived from 1738 to 1768. During World War II, this archive was packed and hidden to protect it from Allied bombing. In 1945, it was captured and taken over by USSR forces, leading people to believe it had been lost or destroyed during the war.

The archive was found in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1999. It was returned to Berlin in 2001 and placed in the Berlin State Library. It included 5,100 musical compositions, none of which had ever been printed for the public. These works included 500 pieces by 12 different members of the Bach family.

Legacy and musical style

During the second half of the 18th century, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was highly respected, even more than his father. Composers like Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven admired his work and eagerly collected his music. Mozart once said, "Bach is the father, we are the children."

His music was described as thoughtful and well-phrased. His keyboard sonatas, for example, were important in the development of musical structure. These pieces were clear in style, gentle in expression, and showed great creativity in their design. They moved away from the strict rules of the Italian school of music.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was likely the first famous composer to use harmony for its own artistic value. This made his work similar to important composers of the First Viennese School. He greatly influenced the North German School of composers, including Georg Anton Benda, Bernhard Joachim Hagen, Ernst Wilhelm Wolf, Johann Gottfried Müthel, and Friedrich Wilhelm Rust. His impact lasted beyond his time, affecting composers like Mendelssohn and Carl Maria von Weber.

His reputation declined during the 19th century. Robert Schumann said he was far behind his father in creativity, and others called him a weak copy of his father’s style. However, Johannes Brahms respected his work and edited some of his music. By the early 20th century, interest in his music grew again. This revival began with recordings of his symphonies by Helmuth Koch and his keyboard sonatas by Hugo Ruf in the 1960s. Today, a project led by Miklós Spányi on the BIS record label aims to record all of his works. In 2014, a 26-CD collection of his complete solo piano works was released by Ana-Marija Markovina and others, performed on a modern Bösendorfer grand piano.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s works are identified by "Wq" numbers from Alfred Wotquenne’s 1906 catalog and "H" numbers from Eugene Helm’s 1989 catalog.

He appeared in a 1941 movie about his brother Friedemann Bach, portrayed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner.

A street in Frankfurt (Oder), called Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Straße, is named after him. A music school in Berlin, the Musikgymnasium Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, is also named in his honor.

The year 2014 marked the 300th anniversary of his birth. Six German cities—Hamburg, Potsdam, Berlin, Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, Leipzig, and Weimar—held concerts and events to celebrate. In 2015, the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Museum opened in Hamburg.