ABSTRACT
Burney's writings help us to understand Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in relation to the surrounding European musical culture; his notion of a "Bachist" is a useful tool with which to evaluate how far contemporary German keyboard culture had been colored by Bach's example. Writing to Mrs. Chambers on 3 November 1797, Burney appears to complain of excessive chromaticism in Bach; he mentions that the young composer Steibelt "was a scholar of old great favourite Bach. In terms of performance influence, the most widely recommended technical advances that derived from Bach involved the "Bachische Applicatur," the system of fingering that he promoted in the Versuch; even reviewers noted the importance of observing the fingerings suggested in his published music. Modern commentators have expanded on Burney's catalogue of internal evidence to take in Bach's later style, combining it with historical association in their hunt for Bachists.
