Bach,
Wilhelm Friedemann
(1710-1784), German composer and organist, oldest son of Johann
Sebastian Bach,
born in Weimar,
and instructed in music by his father. From 1733 to 1746 he was organist in the Sophien
Kirche in Dresden, after which he was organist at the Church of Our Lady of Halle until
1764. For the rest of his life he was a recitalist and private teacher in Brunswick
and then Berlin.
Much of his music contains sudden contrasts in mood that lend it an impulsiveness unusual
for his time. This music is representative of the empfindsamer Stil (German,
“expressive style”), one of the preclassical styles that flourished during the
mid-18th century. Bach's compositions include 21 cantatas,
9 symphonies,
several keyboard concertos,
and many fantasies, fugues,
preludes, and sonatas
for keyboard instruments.