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He was the eleventh son of Johann Sebastian Bach, and was born in Leipzig, Germany. His father, and possibly also Johann Elias Bach, trained young Johann Christian in music. It is believed that Book II of Johann Sebastian's The Well-Tempered Clavier was written and used for Johann Christian's instruction. Johann Christian served as copyist to his father. On the death of his father in 1750, Johann Christian became the pupil of his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in Berlin.

In 1754 he went to Italy where he studied counterpoint under Giovanni Battista MartiniGiovanni Battista Martini ( April 24, 1706 August 4, 1784), Italian musician, was born at Bologna. His father, Antonio Maria Martini, a violinist, taught him the elements of music and the violin; later he learned singing and harpsichord playing from Padre, and from 1760Events January 9 Afghans defeat Marathas in Battle of Barari Ghat. March 20 The "Great Fire" of Boston destroys 349 buildings. June 4 Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia Canada taken from the Acadians. July 8 French an to 1762Events Neolin begins to preach. January 4 Britain declares war on Spain & Naples July 17 Catherine II becomes empress of Russia upon the murder of Peter III of Russia. Empress Go-Sakuramachi ascends to the throne of Japan British East India Company seizes held the post of organist at MilanThis is about the Italian city of Milan. For other uses, see Milan (disambiguation). Milan Milano in the Italian language, and Milan in Milanese dialect, from Latin, Mediolanum with the meaning of 'in the middle of the plain') is the main city in northern cathedralA Cathedral is a Christian church that serves as the central church of a bishopric. As cathedrals are often particularly impressive edifices, the term is sometimes also used loosely as a designation for any large important church. The term is not official, for which he wrote two MassThis article discusses the Mass as a standard form of classical music composition. For the Mass and its meaning as a part of the Eucharistic liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, see Mass (liturgy). For mass as a concept in physics, see mass. The Mass ases, a RequiemA requiem is a Roman Catholic mass performed in commemoration of the dead, also known in Latin as the Missa pro Defunctis . It is used as a funeral service, and is also performed as part of the liturgy of All Souls Day (which occurs annually, on November, a Te DeumTe Deum is a hymn of praise of uncertain authorship. Some scholars have suggested that the hymn is the merger of two (or more) earlier hymns: one to the Christian God, another to God the Son in particular. Under this schema, the second begins with the phr and other works. Around this time he converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism.

He was the only one of Johann Sebastian's sons to write opera in Italian, starting with arias inserted into the operas of others, then pasticcio s, the Teatro Regio in Turin commissioned him to write Artaserse, an opera seria that was premiered in 1760. This led to more opera commissions, leading to commissions for the King's Theatre in London, an invitation in 1762 to go there, where he spent the rest of his life. Thus, he is often referred to as the "London Bach". The Milan Cathedral kept his position open, hoping he would return.

For twenty years he was the most popular musician in England. His dramatic works, produced at the King's theatre, were received with great cordiality. The first of these, Orione, was one of the first few musical works to use clarinets. He was appointed music master to the Queen, and his duties included giving music lessons to her and her children, and accompanying on piano, the King playing flute. His concerts, given in partnership with Abel at the Hanover Square rooms, soon became the most fashionable of public entertainments.

During his first years in London, Bach made friends with a very young but very promising musician, namely Mozart, who was there as part of the endless tours arranged by his father Leopold for the purpose of displaying him as a child prodigy. Many scholars judge that J. C. Bach was one of the most important influences on Mozart, who learned from him how to produce a brilliant and attractive surface texture in his music.

Johann Christian Bach died in London on the first day of 1782. Mozart said in a letter to his father that it was "a loss to the musical world".