View source for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach


{{More citations needed|date=August 2025}}
{{short description|German composer (1714–1788)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
| image         = CPEB by Löhr.jpg
| alt           =
| birth_date    = {{birth-date|8 March 1714}}
| birth_place   = [[Weimar]]
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1788|12|14|1714|3|8|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Hamburg]]
| parents        = {{ubl|[[Johann Sebastian Bach]]|[[Maria Barbara Bach]]}}
| relatives     = [[Bach family]]
| signature     = Signatur Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.PNG
| works         = [[List of compositions by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach|List of compositions]]
}}

'''Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach''' (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788),{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} also formerly spelled '''Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach''',{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}} and commonly abbreviated '''C. P. E. Bach''', was a German composer and musician of the [[Baroque music|Baroque]] and [[classical period (music)|Classical]] eras. He was the fifth child and second surviving son of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] and [[Maria Barbara Bach]].

Bach was an influential composer working at a time of transition between his father's Baroque style and the Classical style that followed it. He was the principal representative of the ''{{Lang|de|[[Empfindsamkeit (music)|empfindsamer Stil]]}}'' or 'sensitive style'. The qualities of his keyboard music are forerunners of the expressiveness of [[Romantic music]], in deliberate contrast to the statuesque forms of Baroque music.{{sfnp|Ratner|1980|p=22}} His organ sonatas mainly come from the [[galant music|galant]] style.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Earnest |first1=Wayne N. |title=The Organ Sonatas of C.P.E. Bach: A Modern View |journal=American Music Teacher |date=1988 |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=18–19 |jstor=43538723 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43538723 |quote=In his organ sonatas Bach uses primarily the style galant}}</ref>

To distinguish him from his brother [[Johann Christian Bach|Johann Christian]], the "London Bach", who at this time was music master to [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Queen Charlotte of Great Britain]],<ref name=Hubeart>Hubeart Jr., T. L. (14 July 2006) [http://www.pennuto.com/music/cpe_bach.htm "A Tribute to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach"] {{retrieved|access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref> Bach was known as the "Berlin Bach" during his residence in that city, and later as the "Hamburg Bach" when he succeeded Telemann as [[Kapellmeister]] there.<ref>Allison, John. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/10577996/CPE-Bach-at-300-why-hes-more-than-just-Johann-Sebastians-son.html "CPE Bach at 300: why he's more than just Johann Sebastian's son"], ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'', 26 January 2014.</ref> To his contemporaries, he was known simply as Emanuel.<ref>[http://www.classiccat.net/bach_cpe/biography.php "Carl Phillipp Emanuel Bach"] ClassicCat.net {{Circular reference|date=July 2024}}</ref> His second name was in honour of his godfather [[Georg Philipp Telemann]],<ref>{{cite journal|first=Ellen|last=Exner|title=The Godfather: Georg Philipp Telemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and the Family Business|pages=1–20|journal=Bach|publisher=[[Riemenschneider Bach Institute]]|issn=0005-3600|volume=47|number=1|date=2016|jstor=10.22513/bach.47.1.0001|quote=he was called “Philipp” after Telemann}}</ref> a friend of his father J. S.  Bach.

Bach was an influential [[Pedagogy|pedagogue]], writing the influential "Essay on the true art of playing keyboard instruments", which would be studied by [[Joseph Haydn]], [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]], and [[Ludwig van Beethoven]], among others.<ref name=Dammann />

==Life==

===Early years: 1714–1738===
C. P. E. Bach was born on 8 March 1714 in [[Weimar]] to [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] and his first wife, [[Maria Barbara Bach|Maria Barbara]].{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}} He was their fifth child and third son.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} The composer [[Georg Philipp Telemann]] was his [[Godparent|godfather]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Exner|first=Ellen|date=March 2015|title=Generationen: Georg Philipp Telemann und Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Impulse – Transformationen – Kontraste Magdeburg, 17–18 March 2014|journal=Eighteenth-Century Music|volume=12|issue=1|pages=122–125|issn=1478-5706|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/eighteenth-century-music/article/abs/generationen-georg-philipp-telemann-und-carl-philipp-emanuel-bach-impulse-transformationen-kontraste-magdeburg-1718-march-2014/60A744B235AB4E2EE5937794FBAE44F9|doi=10.1017/S1478570614000529|publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=11 July 2024|url-access=subscription}}</ref> When he was ten years old, he entered the [[St. Thomas School, Leipzig]],{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}} where his father had become [[Cantor (Christianity)|cantor]] in 1723.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} He was one of four Bach children to become professional musicians; all four were trained in music almost entirely by their father. In an age of royal patronage, father and son alike knew that a university education helped prevent a professional musician from being treated as a servant. Carl, like his brothers, pursued advanced studies in [[jurisprudence]] at [[Leipzig University]] in 1731{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}} and at [[European University Viadrina|Frankfurt an der Oder]] in 1735.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} In 1738, at the age of 24, he obtained his degree but never practised law,{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} instead turning his attention immediately to music.{{sfnp|Thompson|1998|p=32}}

===Berlin years: 1738–1768===
[[File:Adolph Menzel - Flötenkonzert Friedrichs des Großen in Sanssouci - Google Art Project.jpg|350px|thumb|''{{Lang|de|Flötenkonzert Friedrichs des Großen in Sanssouci}}'' ("Frederick the Great's Flute Concert in Sanssouci") by [[Adolph von Menzel]], 1852, depicts [[Frederick the Great]] playing the flute as C. P. E. Bach accompanies on the keyboard. The audience (invented by Menzel, and not based on any actual occasion) includes Bach's colleagues as well as nobles.]][[File:CPEB with Frederick the Great.jpg|thumb|Detail from previous image]]

A few months after graduation, Bach, with a recommendation by the Graun brothers ([[Johann Gottlieb Graun|Johann Gottlieb]] and [[Carl Heinrich Graun|Carl Heinrich]]) and [[Sylvius Leopold Weiss]],<ref>[[Percy M. Young]], ''The Bachs, 1500–1850'', p. 167</ref> obtained an appointment at [[Berlin]]{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}} in the service of Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, the future [[Frederick the Great]]. Upon Frederick's accession in 1740, Bach became a member of the royal orchestra.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} He was by this time one of the foremost [[keyboard instrument|clavier]] players in Europe, and his compositions, which date from 1731, include about thirty [[sonata]]s and concert pieces for [[harpsichord]] and [[clavichord]].{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} During his time there, Berlin was a rich artistic environment, where Bach mixed with many accomplished musicians, including several notable former students of his father, and important literary figures, such as [[Gotthold Ephraim Lessing]], with whom the composer would become close friends.

In Berlin, Bach continued to write numerous pieces for solo keyboard, including a series of character pieces, the so-called "Berlin Portraits", including "[[La Caroline (C. P. E. Bach)|La Caroline]]". His reputation was established by the two sets of sonatas which he published with dedications to Frederick the Great (1742) and to [[Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg]] (1744).{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} In 1746, he was promoted to the post of chamber musician (''{{lang|de|Kammermusikus}}'') and served the king alongside colleagues like [[Carl Heinrich Graun]], [[Johann Joachim Quantz]], and [[Franz Benda]].{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}}

The composer who most influenced Bach's maturing style was unquestionably his father. He drew creative inspiration from his godfather Georg Philipp Telemann, then working in Hamburg, and from contemporaries like [[George Frideric Handel]], Carl Heinrich Graun, [[Joseph Haydn]] and [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] later. Bach's interest in all types of art led to influence from poets, playwrights and philosophers such as [[Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock]], [[Moses Mendelssohn]] and [[Gotthold Ephraim Lessing | Lessing]]. Bach's work itself influenced the work of, among others, Haydn, [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] and [[Felix Mendelssohn]].

During his residence in Berlin, Bach composed a [[Magnificat (C. P. E. Bach)|Magnificat]] (1749), in which he shows more traces than usual of his father's influence;{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} an Easter [[cantata]] (1756); several [[symphony|symphonies]] and concert works; at least three volumes of songs, including the celebrated ''[[Gellert Odes and Songs|Gellert Songs]]''; and a few secular cantatas and other occasional pieces.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} But his main work was concentrated on the clavier, for which he composed, at this time, nearly two hundred sonatas and other solos, including the set ''{{Lang|de|Mit veränderten Reprisen}}'' (''With Varied [[Reprise]]s'', 1760–1768).{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}}

While in Berlin, Bach placed himself in the forefront of European music with a treatise, ''{{lang|de|Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen}}'' (''An Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments''), immediately recognised as a definitive work on keyboard technique. "Both Haydn and Beethoven swore by it."<ref name=Dammann>{{cite news|last=Dammann|first=Guy|title=CPE Bach: like father, like son|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=24 February 2011|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/feb/24/cpe-bach}}</ref> By 1780, the book was in its third edition and laid the foundation for the keyboard methods of [[Muzio Clementi|Clementi]] and [[Johann Baptist Cramer|Cramer]].{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} The essay lays out the fingering for each chord and some chord sequences. Bach's techniques continue to be employed today. The first part of the ''Essay'' contains a chapter explaining the various embellishments in work of the period, e.g., [[trill (music)|trills]], [[turn (music)|turns]], [[mordent]]s, etc. The second part presents Bach's ideas on the art of [[figured bass]] and [[counterpoint]], as well as performance suggestions and a brief section on [[Improvisation|extemporization]], mainly focusing on the [[Fantasia (music)|Fantasia]].

Bach used for his performances instruments (clavichord and fortepiano) made by [[Gottfried Silbermann]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTorDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA495|page=495|last=Spányi|first=Miklós|author-link=:de:Miklós Spányi|editor-last=Schulenberg|editor-first=David|title=C. P. E. Bach|location=London and New York|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=978-1-4724-4337-3}}</ref> at that time a well-known builder of keyboard instruments.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kipnis|first=Igor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LG3DUo0pBckC&q=gottfried+silbermann+clavichord+book|title=The Harpsichord and Clavichord: An Encyclopedia|date=2013-04-15|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-94978-5|language=en}}</ref> In the recent years one of the models of pianos that Bach was playing, the Gottfried Silbermann 1749, was used as a model for making modern piano copies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Malcolm Bilson: The Pattern-Prelude Tradition of J. S. Bach and the Silbermann Piano as Precursors to Beethoven's Moonlight – Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards|url=https://www.historicalkeyboards.org/malcolm-bilson-the-pattern-prelude-tradition-of-j-s-bach-and-the-silbermann-piano-as-precursors-to-beethovens-moonlight/|access-date=2021-06-24|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Hamburg: 1768–1788===
In 1768,{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} after protracted negotiations,{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}} Bach was permitted to relinquish his position in order to succeed his godfather [[Georg Philipp Telemann|Telemann]] as director of music (''{{lang|de|Kapellmeister}}''){{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} at Hamburg. Upon his release from service at the court he was named court composer for Frederick's sister, Princess [[Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia|Anna Amalia]]. The title was honorary, but her patronage and interest in the [[oratorio]] genre may have played a role in nurturing the ambitious choral works that followed.{{sfnp|Thompson|1998|pp=30, 56}}

Bach began to turn more of his energy to ecclesiastical and choral music in his new position. The job required the steady production of music for [[Protestant]] church services at the [[St. Michaelis Church, Hamburg|Michaeliskirche]] (Church of St. Michael) and elsewhere in Hamburg. The following year he produced his most ambitious work,{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}} the oratorio ''[[Die Israeliten in der Wüste]]'' (''The Israelites in the Desert''), a composition remarkable not only for its "great beauty" but for the resemblance of its plan to that of [[Felix Mendelssohn]]'s ''[[Elijah (oratorio)|Elijah]]''.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} Between 1768 and 1788, he wrote [[Passions (C. P. E. Bach)|twenty-one settings]] of the [[Passion (music)|Passion]], and some seventy cantatas, [[litany|litanies]], [[motet]]s, and other liturgical pieces.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} In 1773, Bach wrote an autobiography: he was one of the first composers to write such an account of his life.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Music: The Definitive Visual History|date=2022 |isbn=978-0-241-55902-4 |location=London |oclc=1314382566|publisher=Dorling Kindersley Limited}}</ref> In Hamburg he also presented a number of works by contemporaries, including his father, Telemann, Graun, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, [[Antonio Salieri|Salieri]] and Johann David Holland (1746–1827).{{sfnp|Thompson|1998|p=37}} Bach's choral output reached its apex in two works: the double chorus ''Heilig'' (''Holy'') of 1776, a setting of the [[seraph|seraph song]] from the throne scene in [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], and the [[oratorio]] ''[[Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu]]'' (''The [[Resurrection of Jesus|Resurrection]] and [[Ascension of Jesus|Ascension]] of Jesus'') of 1774–1782, which sets a poetic [[Gospel harmony|Gospel harmonization]] by the poet [[Karl Wilhelm Ramler]]. Widespread admiration of ''Auferstehung'' led to three 1788 performances in Vienna sponsored by the Baron [[Gottfried van Swieten]] and conducted by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]].{{sfnp|Thompson|1998|pp=47–48}}

Bach married Johanna Maria Dannemann (1724–1795) in 1744. Only three of their children lived to adulthood: Johann Adam (1745–1789), Anna Carolina Philippina (1747–1804), and [[Johann Sebastian Bach (painter)|Johann Sebastian]] "the Younger" (1748–1778). None became musicians and Johann Sebastian, a promising painter, died at the age of 29 during a 1778 trip to Italy.{{sfnp|Thompson|1998|p=98}} Emanuel Bach died in Hamburg on 14 December 1788.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} He was buried in the [[St. Michael's Church, Hamburg|Michaeliskirche]] in Hamburg.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

==Works==
{{listen|header=Sonatas by C. P. E. Bach|type=music|image=none|help=no
|filename=Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Sonata in Bb major.ogg
|title=Flute Sonata in B-flat major
|description=Performed by Alex Murray (flute) and [[Martha Goldstein]] (harpsichord)
|filename2     = Bach - Flute Sonata Gmin - 1. Allegro.ogg
|title2        = Sonata for Flute or Recorder and Harpsichord in G minor, H 542.5 (BWV 1020) – 1. Allegro
|description2  =
|filename3    = Bach - Flute Sonata Gmin - 2. Adagio.ogg
|title3       = Sonata, H 542.5 – 2. Adagio
|description3 =
|filename4    = Bach - Flute Sonata Gmin - 3. Allegro.ogg
|title4       = Sonata, H 542.5 – 3. Allegro
|description4 = All performed by Alex Murray (traverso) and Martha Goldstein (harpsichord)
|filename5=Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Sonata in G major.ogg
|title5=Flute Sonata in G major
|description5=Performed by Alex Murray (flute) and Martha Goldstein (harpsichord)
|filename11=Wiki_naxos_8.557450_01_01.ogg
|title11=Keyboard Sonata in D minor, Wq. 51/4, H.128 – I. Allegro assai
|description11=Performed by Christopher Hinterhuber (piano)
}}{{listen|header=Other music by C. P. E. Bach|type=music|image=none|help=no
|filename    = Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach_-_Solfeggietto.ogg
|title       = ''Solfeggietto''
|description =
|filename2=Carl Phillipe Emanuel Bach - Freie Fantasie, F Sharp minor.ogg
|title2=Freie Fantasie, F-sharp minor
|description2=Performed by [[Joan Benson]] (clavichord)
|filename3=Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach- Flute Concerto Gmaj - 1. Allegro.ogg
|title3=Flute Concerto in G major, H. 445 – 1. Allegro
|description3=Performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra with Constance Schoepflin (flute)
|filename4=Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach- Flute Concerto Gmaj - 2. Largo.ogg
|title4=H. 445 – 2. Largo
|description4=Performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra with Constance Schoepflin (flute)
|filename5=Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach- Flute Concerto Gmaj - 3. Presto.ogg
|title5=H. 445 – 3. Presto
|description5=Performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra with Constance Schoepflin (flute)
}}
{{See also|List of compositions by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach|:Category:Compositions by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach}}

===In the ''Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach''===
Works C. P. E. Bach wrote in the ''[[Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach]]'' are: 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.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

===Symphonies===
Among Bach's most popular and frequently recorded works are his symphonies.{{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=[https://cpebach.org/prefaces/symphonies-preface.html Preface: Symphonies]}} While in Berlin, he wrote several string symphonies ([[Alfred Wotquenne|Wq.]] 173–181), most of which were later revised to add parts for wind instruments. Of these, the E minor symphony, Wq. 178, has been particularly popular.

In Hamburg, Bach wrote a major set of six string symphonies for [[Gottfried van Swieten]], Wq. 182 of 1773. These works were not published in his lifetime (van Swieten, who had commissioned them to be written in a more "difficult" style, preferred to retain them for private use),{{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=Vol. III/2, Preface}} but since their rediscovery, have become increasingly popular.

However, Bach's best works in the form (by his own estimation){{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=Vol. III/3, Preface}} are assuredly the four ''Orchester-Sinfonien mit zwölf obligaten Stimmen'', Wq. 183, which, as their title suggests, were written with obbligato wind parts that are integral to the texture, rather than being added on to an older string symphony. The first symphony (D major) in the set has been particularly popular, seeing a continuous performance and publication tradition all the way through the 19th century, which makes it the earliest such symphony.{{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=Vol. III/3, Preface}} Some of its more unusual features have been taken as characteristic of Bach's style:<ref>Richard Crocker, ''A History of Musical Style''</ref> the work, although it is in D major, begins ''on'' a D major chord, which then turns into a D dominant-seventh chord, outlining ''G'' major. In fact, there is no cadence on D major (D major is not "confirmed" as the key of the piece) until the beginning of the [[recapitulation (music)|recapitulation]], quite late in the piece.

===Concertos===
Bach was a prolific writer of concertos, especially for keyboard. Like his father, he would often transcribe a concerto for various instruments, leading to problems determining which came first. For instance, the three cello concertos (Wq. 170–172), which are cornerstones of that instrument's repertoire, have often been considered to be transcriptions of the harpsichord versions, but recent research has suggested that they might be originally for cello.{{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=Vol. III/6, Preface}}

According to Bach, his finest keyboard concertos were the ''Sei concerti per il cembalo concertato'', Wq. 43, which were written to be somewhat more appealing, and somewhat easier to play.{{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=Vol. III/8, Preface}} His other concertos were written for [[Oboe Concerto (Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach)|oboe]], flute, and organ. Bach also wrote for more unusual combinations, including an E-flat major concerto for harpsichord {{em|and}} piano. Additionally, he wrote several sonatinas for one or more keyboards and orchestra.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

===Chamber music===
Bach's chamber music forms something of a bridge between stereotypically Baroque and Classical forms. On the one hand, he wrote trio sonatas and solo sonatas with basso continuo (including ones for harp and viola da gamba); on the other, he wrote several accompanied sonatas for piano, violin, and cello, which are more or less early [[piano trio]]s, and three very popular quartets for keyboard, flute, and viola. Bach also wrote one of the earliest pieces for solo flute, a sonata that is clearly influenced by his father's [[Partita in A minor for solo flute]], [[BWV]] 1013.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

===Keyboard sonatas===
Bach was a prolific writer of keyboard sonatas, many of which were intended for his favored instrument, the [[clavichord]]. During his lifetime, he published more collections of keyboard music than anything else, in the following collections:
* ''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 Bach's energy during his last years was dedicated to the publication of the "Kenner und Liebhaber" collections (which also include fantasias and rondos, see below).{{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc=Vol. I/4, Preface}}

Wq. 64:1–6 are six [[sonatina]]s for keyboard, and Wq. 65:1–50 are fifty further keyboard sonatas. The Sonata in E-flat major, Wq.&nbsp;65:7, is based on ''Solo per il cembalo'', {{nowrap|BWV Anh. III 129}}, No. 27 in [[List of pieces in the second Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach|the second Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach]].<ref>[[Bach Digital|Bach Digital Work]] {{BDW|1440}}</ref>

===Other keyboard works===
Bach's best-known piece is the ''[[Solfeggietto]]'', Wq. 117/2, to the point that the introduction to ''The Essential C. P. E. Bach'' is subtitled "Beyond the Solfeggio in C Minor".<ref>"Introduction: Beyond the Solfeggio in C minor", p. xiii, [https://cpebach.org/toc/toc-Essential.html ''The Essential C. P. E. Bach''] (2014), Paul Corneilson (ed.) {{ISBN|978-1-938325-34-2}}</ref> Several of Bach's other miscellaneous keyboard works have gained fame, including the character piece ''[[La Caroline (Bach)|La Caroline]]'' and the Fantasia in F-sharp minor, Wq. 67. Bach's fantasias, in particular, have been considered to show him at his most characteristic: they are full of dramatic silences, harmonic surprises, and perpetually varied figuration.

Bach published three major collections of miscellaneous keyboard works during his lifetime: the ''Clavierstücke verschiedener Art'', Wq. 112 of 1765, and the ''Kurze und Leichte Clavierstücke'' collections, Wq. 113–114 of 1766. The former includes songs, fantasias, dances, sonatas, fugues, and even a symphony and concerto for solo piano (Bach was later to publish an entire collection of keyboard versions of his symphonies).

He also wrote a set of six sonatas for the organ of [[Frederick the Great]]'s sister [[Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg|Anna Amalia]].{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

===Music for mechanical instruments===
{{listen|type=music|image=none|help=no
|header={{lang|de|Stücke für Spieluhren auch Drehorgeln}} [pieces for music boxes and [[barrel organ]]s]
|filename    = Flötenuhr_D-Dur_CPE_Bach_Wq193_2.ogg
|title = Tune for musical clock in D Major, Wq. 193/02
|filename2=Flötenuhr c-moll CPE Bach Wq193 04.ogg
|title2=Tune for musical clock in C Minor, Wq. 193/04
|filename3=Flötenuhr_E-Dur_CPE_Bach_Wq193_06.ogg
|title3=Tune for musical clock in E Major, Wq. 193/06
|filename4=Flötenuhr B-Dur CPE Bach Wq193 08.ogg
|title4=Tune for musical clock in B Major, Wq. 193/08
|filename5=CPE Bach193.11.ogg
|title5=Tune for musical clock, Wq. 193/11
|filename6=Spieluhr CPE Bach Wq193 12.ogg
|title6=Tune for music box, Wq. 193/12
}}
Mechanical instruments such as the [[music box]] and [[musical clock]] were popular at the Prussian court, and C. P. E. Bach wrote thirty original compositions for these instruments, grouped together as Wq. 193.{{sfn|''Complete Works''|loc="Cramer and Sturm Songs", ser. VI, v. 2., p. xxiii}}<ref>Shepherd, John.  ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pJvzEzjahkQC&pg=PA325 Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World]'', Vol. II, p. 325 (A&C Black, 2003).</ref> At that time, Bach was court musician to King Frederick the Great at Potsdam; the King, who was intrigued by mechanically reproduced music, had mechanical organ clocks built for the City Castle of Potsdam and for the [[New Palace (Potsdam)|New Palais]].<ref>Altman, Ludvig. [https://archive.org/details/welltemperedmusical00altmrich/page/n9/mode/2up ''A Well-tempered Musician's Unfinished Journey Through Life: oral history transcript''], University of California Berkeley, 1990, 125b. Via [[Internet Archive]]</ref>

===Choral works===
Throughout his lifetime, Bach worked on the ''[[Magnificat (C. P. E. Bach)|Magnificat in D]]'', Wq. 215. J. S. Bach was alive to hear it in 1749, and C. P. E. continued to revise and perform it as late as 1786. The work clearly shows the influence of J.S. Bach's own [[Magnificat (Bach)|Magnificat]], including the striking resemblance of the ''Deposuit'' movements in both works.

His other important choral works include the ''Heilig'' (German Sanctus), Wq. 217, which he performed together with the ''Credo'' from his Father's [[Mass in B minor]], the oratorios ''[[Die Israeliten in der Wüste]]'', Wq. 238 and ''[[Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu]]'', Wq. 240, and [[Passions (C. P. E. Bach)|21 Passions]].{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}

==Unpublished works==
Many of C. P. E. Bach's compositions and original manuscripts were stored in the archive of the [[Sing-Akademie zu Berlin]] where Bach lived from 1738 to 1768. This archive was packed during the Second World War and hidden to preserve it from Allied bombing, captured and sequestered by USSR forces in 1945, thus long believed lost or destroyed during the war.

The archive was discovered in [[Kyiv]], Ukraine, in 1999, returned to Berlin in 2001, and deposited in the [[Berlin State Library]]. It contained 5,100 musical compositions, none ever printed for the public, including 500 by 12 different members of the Bach family.<ref>Patricia Kennedy Grimsted. [https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/2003_816_03_Grimsted.pdf "Bach is Back in Berlin: The Return of the Sing-Akademie Archive from Ukraine in the Context of Displaced Cultural Treasures and Restitution Politics"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115125805/https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/2003_816_03_Grimsted.pdf |date=15 November 2022 }}, ''Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute'', 2003</ref>

==Legacy and musical style==
{{For LMST|Carl Philipp Emanuel|Bach}}

Through the later half of the 18th century, the reputation of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach stood very high,{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} surpassing that of his father.<ref name=Dammann/> Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven admired him and "avidly" collected his music.<ref name=Dammann/> Mozart said of him, "Bach is the father, we are the children."{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}}{{refn|{{harvp|Rochlitz|1824–1832|pp=308&nbsp;ff}} quoted in {{harvp|Ottenberg|1987|p=98 & 191}}}}

His work has been described as "sincere in thought" and "polished and felicitous in phrase".{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} His keyboard sonatas, for example, "mark an important epoch in the history of musical form".{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} "Lucid in style, delicate and tender in expression, they are even more notable for the freedom and variety of their structural design"; they break away altogether from the hardened conventions of the Italian school.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}}

He was probably the first composer of eminence who made free use of harmonic color for its own sake.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} In this way, he compares well with the most important representatives of the [[First Viennese School]].{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} In fact, he exerted enormous influence on the North German School of composers, in particular [[Georg Anton Benda]], [[Bernhard Joachim Hagen]], [[Ernst Wilhelm Wolf]], [[Johann Gottfried Müthel]], and [[Friedrich Wilhelm Rust]]. His influence was not limited to his contemporaries and extended to [[Felix Mendelssohn]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Felix Mendelssohn: Reviving the Works of J.S. Bach |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200156436/ |website=Library of Congress|access-date=16 June 2020}}</ref> and [[Carl Maria von Weber]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Carl Maria von Weber |date=18 November 1976 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-29121-7 |page=105 |edition=2d |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bp08AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA105 |access-date=16 June 2020}}</ref>

His name fell into neglect during the 19th century, with [[Robert Schumann]] notoriously opining that "as a creative musician he remained very far behind his father";<ref name=Hubeart /> others opined that he was "a somewhat feeble imitator of his father's style".{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}} All the same, [[Johannes Brahms]] held him in high regard and edited some of his music. By the early 20th century, he was better regarded{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} but the revival of C. P. E. Bach's works has been chiefly underway since Helmuth Koch's recordings of his symphonies and [[Hugo Ruf]]'s recordings of his keyboard sonatas in the 1960s. There is an ongoing project to record his complete works, led by {{ill|Miklós Spányi|de}} on the Swedish record label [[BIS Records|BIS]]. In 2014, the Croatian pianist [[Ana-Marija Markovina]], in cooperation with the [[Packard Humanities Institute]], the [[Bach-Archiv Leipzig]], the [[Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig]] and [[Harvard University]] released a 26-CD box set of the complete works for solo piano on the German record label [[Hänssler]] Classic, performed on a modern [[Bösendorfer]] grand piano.

The works of C. P. E. Bach are known by "Wq" numbers, from [[Alfred Wotquenne]]'s 1906 catalogue, and by "H" numbers from a catalogue by Eugene Helm (1989).

He was portrayed by [[Wolfgang Liebeneiner]] in the 1941 biopic of his brother ''[[Friedemann Bach (film)|Friedemann Bach]]''.

The street [[Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Straße]] in [[Frankfurt (Oder)]] is named after him.

In 2015 the [[Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Museum]] was opened in Hamburg.<ref>Stadt Hamburg, [https://www.hamburg.de/museum-hamburg/4467104/bach-museum/ CPE Bach-Museum]</ref>

2014 marked the 300th anniversary of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's birth. All six German Bach cities—Hamburg, Potsdam, Berlin, Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, Leipzig, and Weimar—hosted concerts and other events to commemorate the anniversary.<ref>[http://www.cpebach.de/en www.cpebach.de], Official Anniversary Website for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.</ref>

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist|30em}}

'''Sources'''
* {{citation|title=[[Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works]]|publisher=[[Packard Humanities Institute]]year=2024|ref={{harvid|''Complete Works''}}|via=cpebach.org}} [https://cpebach.org/organization.html Online]
* {{cite EB9 |mode=cs2 |wstitle=Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach |volume=3 |ref={{harvid|EB|1878}} |page=196 }}
* {{citation |last=Ottenberg |first=Hans-Günter |year=1987 |title=Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach |translator-first=Philip J. |translator-last=Whitmore |publisher=OUP |isbn=978-0-19-315246-5}}.
* {{cite book|last=Ratner |first=Leonard G.|author-link=Leonard Ratner|title=Classic Music: Expression, Form and Style |publisher=Schirmer |location=New York |date=1980|isbn=0-02-872690-1|url=https://archive.org/details/classicmusicexpr0000ratn/page/n3/mode/2up|url-access=registration|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{citation |last=Rochlitz|first=Johann Friedrich|author-link=Johann Friedrich Rochlitz|title=Für Freunde der Tonkunst|volume=4 vols.|location=Leipzig|date=1824–1832|language=de}}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Thompson |first=Alton |title=Formal Coherence in Emanuel Bach's ''Auferstehung''|type=[[Doctor of Musical Arts]] thesis|publisher=[[Peabody Institute]] of [[Johns Hopkins University]]|year=1998}}

'''Attribution'''
* {{EB1911 |mode=cs2 |last=Hadow |first=William Henry |author-link=William Henry Hadow |wstitle=Bach, Karl Philipp Emanuel |volume=3 |ref={{harvid|EB|1911}} |pages=130–131 }}

==Further reading==
* ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'' (2001) contains a biography and list of his compositions.
*Oleskiewicz, Mary. "Like Father, Like Son? Emanuel Bach and the Writing of Biography," in ''Music and Its Questions: Essays in Honor of [[Peter Williams (musicologist)|Peter Williams]]'', edited by Thomas Donahue (Richmond, Virginia: Organ Historical Society Press, 2007), 253–279.
*Oleskiewicz, Mary. "Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and the Flute", ''Flutist Quarterly'' 39/no. 4 (Summer 2014): 20–30.
*Oleskiewicz, Mary, ed. ''J. S. Bach and His Sons'', vol. 11 of Bach Perspectives, Illinois University Press, 2017. See also the [https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/oleskiewicz/bp11/index.html Web companion], which shows images of historical keyboards he played, and places where C. P. E. Bach performed, at the Prussian Court.
*Schulenberg, David. ''The Music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach'' (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2014).
*Schulenberg, David. [https://schulenbergmusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/helm_cat_chron.pdf Chronological list of all of C. P. E. Bach's Works]
* {{cite journal |last=Wolff |first=Christoph |author-link=Christoph Wolff |date=2014 |title=C. P. E. Bach and the History of Music |journal=[[Notes (journal)|Notes]] |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=197–218 |doi=10.1353/not.2014.0140 |jstor=44734878 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach}}
{{Wikiquote|Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach}}
* {{IMSLP|author=Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel|cname=Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach}}
* {{ChoralWiki}}
* [https://musopen.org/music/composer/carl-philipp-emanuel-bach/ Works by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach] at [[Musopen]]
* [http://www.cpebach.org/ Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works] by [[Packard Humanities Institute]]
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080716153641/http://www.wgbh.org/pages/bostonarts/2001/bach_manuscripts.html |date=16 July 2008 |title=Finding the Lost Manuscripts of C. P. E. Bach}}, ''Greater Boston Arts'' by [[WGBH Educational Foundation|WGBH]]

{{C. P. E. Bach}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel}}
[[Category:1714 births]]
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[[Category:18th-century German classical composers]]
[[Category:18th-century German male musicians]]
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[[Category:Bach family|Carl Philipp Emanuel]]
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