Born in 1735, Johann Christian was the youngest son of the great J.S. Bach and the apple that fell furthest from the tree. Unlike his elder brothers, who mainly remained in Lutheran Germany, Christian studied in Italy, where he converted to Catholicism, played the organ at Milan Cathedral and became the only Bach of his generation to compose Italian opera. This established his reputation beyond Italy, and in 1762, following operatic success in London, he spent his final two decades in the English capital, co-directing a concert series with one of his father’s pupils, C.F. Abel, and composing a string of vigorous, lyrical symphonies. In 1764 he was visited by the Mozart family. The London Bach’s music remained a powerful and enduring influence on Wolfgang: not only did Mozart copy out one of his symphonies but upon hearing of the older man’s death on New Year’s Day 1782, he paid tribute by incorporating one of Christian’s themes into the slow movement of his “Piano Concerto No. 12, K. 414”.