Johann Christian Innocenz Bonaventura Cannabich was the son of a flute-player and composer, Martin Friedrich Cannabich; Christian was born in Mannheim, in 1731, and was a pupil of Johann Stamitz; he joined the court orchestra as a "scholar" at the age of 12, in 1744; in 1746/1747 he was formally appointed a violinist in the orchestra.

Cannibich also went with Jomelli to Stuttgart, but then left his teacher and went back to Italy in 1754; he stayed there until he was appointed the leader of the Mannheim court orchestra upon the death of Stamitz in 1757.

Cannabich married Elisabeth de la Motte, lady of the bedchamber of the Duchess of Zweibrüchen, in 1759.

Cannabich used his wife’s position to try to get Duke Christian IV to influence the spreading of Mannheim music into Paris.

Cannabich travelled with the Duke to France in 1764, and lived there in the Duke’s palace in Paris.

He went back to France in 1766, where he had six symphonies and six trios printed.

After his 1766 success, the majority of Cannabich’s works were published in Paris and issued.

In 1772, on another visit to Paris, he appeared as soloist at the Concert Spirituel and won a medal for the composition competition.

In 1774, Cannabich fully replaced Stamitz as director of instrumental music, becoming the conductor and trainer for the most famous and celebrated orchestra in the world.

He experienced a time of tremendous success and fame, and the court moved to Munich in 1778.

Cannabich had an open house to musicians, and had many musical friends, including Wolfgang Mozart; he wrote in a letter to his father Leopold: "I cannot tell you what a good friend Cannabich is to me."

Wolfgang Mozart actually lived for a time in Cannabich’s home, and gave daily keyboard lessons to the older composer`s daughter, Rosa; for her, Mozart composed his sonata in C, K. 309.

The 1790s saw cutbacks in musical activities and spending, and Cannabich — along with such colleagues as Toeschi and Fränzl — complained about the lessened funds, especially in the areas of withheld wages.

In the last year of his life, Cannabich’s salary was cut to about a third of its previous amount, and he was forced to conduct tours to supplement his income.