Johann Christian Bach

Sometimes known as the "English Bach", the eleventh and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach was only fifteen when his celebrated father died. He completed his musical studies under the tuition of his older half-brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach before travelling in 1754 to Italy, to serve as organist at Bologna Cathedral – where, in a break with family tradition, he converted to Catholicism. He moved to London in May 1762 to write operas for the King's Theatre and remained in England for the rest of his life, playing a prominent role in the city's musical life and becoming one of the first musicians successfully to assert copyright. He was appointed Music Master to Queen Charlotte, and he offered a kindly welcome (as well as expert tuition) to the eight-year-old Mozart when the Mozart family visited London in 1764. Bach's contacts with the composers of the Mannheim school, as well as his mastery of the developing forms of symphony and (a particular speciality) Sinfonia Concertante, made him a successful concert promoter – initially at least: fashions later changed and he died in poverty. The Queen herself intervened to provide for his widow and pay for his burial in St Pancras Old Churchyard.