BACH, Carl Philipp Emanuel – All Classical Research

Born in Weimar, March 8, 1714
Died in Hamburg, Dec 14, 1788

Fun fact: C.P.E. Bach was given the name Philipp after his godfather Georg Philipp Telemann.
Young C.P.E. Bach attended the Thomasschule where J.S. Bach taught in Leipzig. One of J.S.’s reasons for working in Leipzig was to obtain better educational opportunities for his children. It worked: C.P.E. Bach was able to attend the University of Leipzig and the University at Frankfurt an der Oder.
After university, C.P.E. Bach entered the employment of Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great). Later in life he worked as a Kapellmeister in Hamburg.
C.P.E. Bach is considered a transitional figure between the Baroque and the Classical periods. In his time (the second half of the 18^th century), he was the most prominent German composer. ¹

There are a couple catalogues of C.P.E. Bach’s works.
- “W” or “Wq” stands for A. Wotquenne’s Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788) (Leipzig, 1905)
- “H” stands for E.E. Helm’sThematic Catalogue of the Works of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (New Haven, CT, 1989).

Christoph Wolff and Ulrich Leisinger, “Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed October 13, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278185.