Johann Christoph Bach was a German musician and composer. He was the eldest brother of the more famous German musician and composer Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

. Johann Christoph studied at Erfurt

Erfurt

Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...

 under Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most...

, and his library of keyboard music included works by Pachelbel, Johann Jakob Froberger

Johann Jakob Froberger

Johann Jakob Froberger was a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. He was among the most famous composers of the era and influenced practically every major composer in Europe by developing the genre of keyboard suite and contributing greatly to the exchange of musical...

 and Johann Kaspar Kerll

Johann Kaspar Kerll

Johann Kaspar Kerll was a German baroque composer and organist.Son of an organist, he showed outstanding musical abilities at an early age, and was taught by Giovanni Valentini, court Kapellmeister at Vienna. Kerll became one of the most acclaimed composers of his time, known both as a gifted...

. In 1690 he became organist at the Michaeliskirche

Michaeliskirche (Ohrdruf)

The Michaeliskirche in the Thuringian town of Ohrdruf was the site of Johann Sebastian Bach's first employment.J. S. Bach was orphaned at the age of 10 and went to live with his eldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach, who was the organist at the Michaeliskirche. It contained a three-manual German...

 at Ohrdruf

Ohrdruf

Ohrdruf is a small town in the German federal state of Thuringia. It lies some 30 km southwest of Erfurt.-Medieval settling:Ohrdruf was founded in 724–726 by Saint Boniface, as the site of the first monastery in Thuringia, dedicated to Saint Michael. It was the first of several religious...

, and in 1694 he was married there.

Relationship with JS Bach

According to JS Bach's obituary written by Mizler, it was under Christoph's guidance that JS Bach "laid the foundations of his keyboard technique". Christoph is however more commonly remembered for denying his younger brother access to a book of his keyboard pieces: