German composer. Received initial instruction from his father, Johann Friedrich; appointed second harpsichordist (after C. P. E. Bach) at the court of Frederick the Great in 1755; taught privately as well. He was promoted after Bach's departure for Hamburg in 1767, and directed the royal opera, 1774-76. In his later years he devoted much time to choral music, founding the Berlin Singakademie in 1789; Zelter, his successor, wrote his biography in 1801.