Bach << bahk >>, Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788), was a German composer. He was the second oldest son of the famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach wrote in almost all of the forms of his day except opera. His music had a strong influence on the styles developed later by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn and the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Many of his symphonies, concertos, keyboard sonatas, and chamber works are intense and dramatic. Emotion dominates his most successful vocal works, which include a Magnificat (1749) and the oratorio The Israelites in the Wilderness (1769).
Bach was born on March 8, 1714, in Weimar. He was influenced as a young man by the works of his father, but he soon developed a personal style that had much in common with young composers of his day. In 1740, he was appointed harpsichordist at the court of Frederick the Great, king of Prussia. While at the court in Berlin and Potsdam, he became famous for his book Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments (first part, 1753; second part, 1762), and for his keyboard compositions. In 1768, Bach became the music director of the five main churches in Hamburg. He died on Dec. 14, 1788.
