Johann Christoph Bach: Welt, gute Nacht; Johann Christian Bach: Missa da Requiem – review

Two members of the extensive Bach clan: the first Johann Sebastian's distant elder relative whose music he venerated, the other his most successful son. What a difference a couple of generations make: Johann Christoph's intense, concentrated music is worlds away from the extrovert, operatically inclined Johann Christian. CPE Bach called Christoph "the great and expressive composer", and here the marvellous Lament (the excellent Matthew Brook) and quirky Dialogue (with its endlessly varied Chaconne) amply bear this out in superb performances by Gardiner's consort. Christian's unusual Requiem is no less striking in its force, but more conventional in its language.