(Vienna, April 29, 1782, to his sister Nannerl.)

95. "Johann Christian Bach has been here (Paris) for a fortnight.
He is to write a French opera, and is come only to hear the
singers, whereupon he will go to London, write the opera, and
come back to put it on the stage. You can easily imagine his
delight and mine when we met again. Perhaps his delight was not
altogether sincere, but one must admit that he is an honorable
man and does justice to all. I love him, as you know, with all my
heart, and respect him; as for him, one thing is certain, that to
my face and to others, he really praised me, not extravagantly,
like some, but seriously and in earnest."

(St. Germain, August 27, 1778, to his father. Johann Christian
Bach was the second son of Johann Sebastian, and born in 1735.
He lived in London where little Wolfgang learned to know him in
1764. Bach took the precocious boy on his knee and the two played
on the harpsichord. [Bach was Music Master to the Queen. "He
liked to play with the boy," says Jahn; "took him upon his knee
and went through a sonata with him, each in turn playing a
measure with such precision that no one would have suspected
two performers. He began a fugue, which Wolfgang took up and
completed when Bach broke off." H.E.K.])

96. "Bach is the father, we are the youngsters. Those of us who
can do a decent thing learned how from him; and whoever will not
admit it is a..."

(A remark made at a gathering in Leipsic. The Bach referred to is