Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach

Who was Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach?

Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach was the eldest son of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and the only grandson of Johann Sebastian Bach to gain fame as a composer. He was music director to Frederick William II of Prussia. He said, "Heredity can tend to run out of ideas." He should not be confused with Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, his uncle, also a composer.

Ernst Bach received training in music from his uncle, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and from another uncle in England, Johann Christian Bach. He was in London when Johann Christian Bach died there on New Year's Day, 1782. Ernst Bach remained in England until 1784 before returning via Holland to Germany. He held a few positions, namely those of Kapellmeister of Minden in 1786, and from 1788 to 1811 as Kapellmeister in Berlin with the blessing of King Friedrich Wilhelm II. Ernst Bach retired from his position after prince Heinrich, the brother of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III granted him a pension.

Ernst Bach married twice. He had two daughters by his first wife, who died young, and a son by his second wife. When WFE's only son died in infancy, the event served to extinguish the long line of musical Bachs.