Bach

Bach,
German family of musicians, of which Johann Sebastian ( 1685 – 1750 ) has become a central figure in British musical appreciation since a revival of interest in the early 19th cent. led by Samuel Wesley ( 1766 – 1837 , son of C. Wesley ) and Mendelssohn . His youngest son, Johann Christian ( 1735 – 82 ), settled in London in 1762 and became known as the ‘English Bach’: he became music-master to the family of George III , and though his operas for London were in the prevailing Italian fashion he also wrote various arias in English and some settings of folk songs. He was painted by his friend Gainsborough and is buried in St Pancras churchyard.