Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Quotes

Germany, Composer
March 8, 1714 – December, 14, 1788.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and second (surviving) son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach. His second name was given in honor of his godfather Georg Philipp Telemann, a friend of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Also known as Pianist, Musicologist, Music Theorist

What comprises good performance? The ability through singing or playing to make the ear conscious of the true content and affect of a composition.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
- Good
- True
- Singing
According to my principles, every master has his true and certain value. Praise and criticism cannot change any of that. Only the work itself praises and criticizes the master, and therefore I leave to everyone his own value.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
- Work
- True
- Change

A musician cannot move others unless he too is moved. He must of necessity feel all of the affects that he hopes to arouse in his audience, for the revealing of his own humour will stimulate a like humour in the listener.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
- Audience
- Own
- Hopes
Keyboardists whose chief asset is mere technique . . . more often than not astound us with their prowess without ever touching our sensibilities. They overwhelm our hearing without satisfying it and stun the mind without moving it.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
- Mind
- Moving
- Chief
The new, though engaging at times, may often start as offensive to us. The latter is often proof of the worth of this, while in the long run it will receive more recognition, than some, of what we liked so much in the beginning.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
- Long
- May
- Beginning
I have assigned many of my father's basses to students, without endangering their lives. Also, they do no harm to the fingers.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
- Father
- Students
- Fingers