Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/218

 198 BACH BACHE music, of which six violin quartets originally appeared in London. XV. Johann Christian, knuwn as the Milan or the London Bach, the eleventh son of Johann Sebastian, horn in Leip- sic in 1735, died in January, 1782. He enjoyed his father's instructions until his 16th year, when upon his death he went to Berlin, to prosecute his musical studies with his brother Emanuel. He bade fair to rival his elder brothers in that style of music which seems to have been in some degree peculiar to the family, and had already produced several smaller com- positions successfully, when he was induced, at the age of 19, by some of the Italian vocalists of Berlin, to visit Italy. During a short stay in Milan, he attracted so much attention by his abilities as to be elected one of the organists in the cathedral. But he devoted himself al- most exclusively to composition for the voice, and in 1759, upon his appearance in London, had lost much of his previous skill as a virtuoso upon .keyed instruments. His style was so much admired, however, that he endeavored to recover his former great skill, but was never able to. fully make up the loss his hands had sustained through disuse. In 1763 he was in- vited to compose an opera for the London stage, and produced Orione, which had a most successful run of three months. This was fol- lowed by a series of works, some entirely of his composition, others partially so. Many of his airs are admirable, and at the time were ex- ceedingly popular, being always natural, ele- gant, and in the then best Italian style. He was particularly noted for the richness, varie- ty, and beauty of his accompaniments, which showed the influence of his father and elder brothers upon him, and the profoundness of his theoretical studies. His pianoforte music, however, was in a light and pleasing style, very different from that of any other of his name. Emanuel once reproved him for it, in a letter to which he answered, " I am obliged to use baby talk, that children may understand me." Schubert says of his works: " His church music has great depth, but there is a certain worldly air to it, and one finds therein a sort of taint of corruption. All the operas written by him for Italy, Germany, and England show a mas- ter-spirit in the realm of music. This Bach had it in his power to be whatever he would, and he may well be compared to the Proteus of fable. Now he spouts water, now he breathes forth flame. In the midst of the trivialities of fashionable style, the giant spirit of his father may be discovered." His wife, Ccecilia Giassi, was long prima donna in the London opera. BACH, Alexander, baron, an Austrian states- man, born at Loosdorf, Jan. 4, 1813. He succeeded his father in an extensive law prac- tice, and was at first a liberal ; was prominent during and shortly after the revolution of March, 1848, when he was appointed minister of justice, but soon seceded from the revolu- tionary ranks, and as member of the constitu- ent assembly of that year, and minister of the interior as successor of Count Stadion (1849- '59), he became an uncompromising advocate of the strictest centralizing principles and the most decided opponent of the autonomy of Hungary and other nationalities. He reorgan- ized the judiciary, carried out the emancipa- tion of the peasantry from feudal burdens, which the revolution had decreed, on the prin- ciple of indemnity to the owners of land, re- modelled the political administration of the crown lands, and promoted the concordat. De- tested by the liberals, he left office after the Italian war of 1859, and was minister to Rome till the end of 1865. BACHARACH, a town of Khenish Prussia, 26 m. by railway S. by E. of Coblentz, on the left bank of the Rhine; pop. about 1,800. It is surrounded I by an old wall flanked with 12 towers, has a ruined Gothic church of St. Werner, and the dilapidated castle of Stahleck, and has long been celebrated for excellent wines, especially muscatel, although the Bacharach wines at the present day do not maintain their ancient re- pute. In the middle ages the town was with Cologne a chief depot of the wine trade, which is still active. The name is traditionally de- rived from a rock in the Rhine, called Bacchi ara (altar of Bacchus), the exposure of which in very dry weather is regarded as prophetic of a good vintage. BACHAUMONT, Francois le Coisncux de, a French writer, born in Paris in 1624, died in 1702. He was a councillor in the parliament of Paris, and acquired celebrity by his satirical publica- tions, in prose and verse, against Mazarin. He was the first to apply the term frondeurs (slingers) to the cardinal's adversaries, compar- ing them to boys throwing stones from slings. When the parliament of Paris became recon- ciled with Mazarin, Bachaumont sold his coun- cillor's commission. With his intimate friend Chapelle he travelled in southern France, and the witty narrative of the journey, their joint production, was separately published in 1704 and 1732, while other writings of Bachaumont are included in Chapelle's works (1755). BACHE, Alexander Dallas, an American savant and hydrographer, born in Philadelphia, July 19, 1806, died in Newport, R. I., Feb. 17, 1867. He was the son of Richard Bache and Sophia i Burnet Dallas, and a great-grandson of Benja- min Franklin. He attended a classical school in Philadelphia, and in his 15th year was ap- pointed a cadet at West Point, where he grad- uated with high honors in 1825, becoming a lieutenant of engineers. He was retained for some time at the academy as an assistant pro- fessor, and subsequently served two years under Col. Totten in engineering work at Newport, R. I., where he formed the acquaintance of Miss Nancy Clarke Fowler, afterward his wife and his collaborator in astronomical observations. He next filled the chair of natural philosophy and chemistry in the university of Pennsyl- vania at Philadelphia, and became a member of the newlv established Franklin institute.