Bach, C(arl) P(hilipp) E(manuel), known as the Berlin or Hamburg Bach 1714-88
German composer

Born in Weimar, he was educated at the Thomasschule, Leipzig, where his father, J S Bach, was cantor, and at Frankfurt University. In 1740 he became cembalist (a cembalo is an instrument like a harpsichord) to the future Frederick II, the Great. Later, he was kapellmeister at Hamburg (1767). He was left-handed and therefore found it easiest to play the organ and clavier, for which his most accomplished pieces were composed. He introduced the sonata form, wrote numerous concertos, keyboard sonatas, church and chamber music, and bridged the transitional period between his father and Franz Haydn, by his homophonic, formal, yet delicate, compositions. In 1753 he published Die wahre Art das Klavier zu spielen (Eng trans The True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, 1949), the first methodical treatment of the subject.