As second of five surviving sons, Emanuel Bach (as he was known) embarked on an unusual journey to overcome the prodigious shadow of his father, Johann Sebastian Bach. Although he was personally trained in music by his father, Phillip Emanuel, didn’t seriously pursue his career as a composer in earnest until he graduated from law school and obtained an appointment as the harpsichordist in Frederick the Great’s royal orchestra in 1738. He spent the next 50 years of his life establishing an impeccable reputation of his own as an accomplished composer, music theorist who wrote the first important treatise on keyboard playing, and mentored scores of Classical giants such as Mozart and Haydn. In fact, when asked about C.P.E. Bach, Mozart famously noted that “He is the father, we’re the children.”

However, he never escaped the omnipresent legacy of his own father and, consequently, his music became forgotten over time.…