Bach Koopman

Possibly written as a homage to Marin Marais, the great master of the basse de viol who had recently passed away at the age of seventy-two, François Couperin’s Pièces de Violes, published in 1728, are today considered as one of the finest masterpieces of baroque chamber music and one of the absolute pinnacles of the viola da gamba repertoire, comparable in rank to J.S. Bach’s 3 Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord.

This was the dream of the current director of the Claves label: to record his favourite work ever, in its original version and with a pioneer of Baroque interpretation, Ton Koopman.One of Joseph Haydn's most mature works, The Seven Last Words were commissioned by the Holy Cave Oratory in Cadiz, for its inauguration in 1786, on Good Friday.Haydn told of the particular circumstances of the creation: in a church shrouded in black, the priest proclaimed each word and then prostrated himself during each sonata.The work is surrounded by a meditative introduction and an apocalyptic earthquake. In the centre, seven slow movements in sonata form follow one another, in which we find the young Haydn's Sturm und Drang vein and his maturity brought to light by his imminent London triumphs from 1791 onwards.

The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, it is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may also have been the first performer of the work. The story of how the variations came to be composed comes from an early biography of Bach by Johann Nikolaus Forkel: (For this work) we have to thank the instigation of the former Russian ambassador to the electoral court of Saxony, Count Kaiserling, who often stopped in Leipzig and brought there with him the aforementioned Goldberg, in order to have him given musical instruction by Bach. The Count was often ill and had sleepless nights. At such times, Goldberg, who lived in his house, had to spend the night in an antechamber, so as to play for him during his insomnia.

A trio of Bach’s devotional masterpieces from a vibrant young Dutch early-music ensemble and an exciting Australian baritone.

In many of his works, Bach made use of a hidden symbolism of numbers. The number “three” had a special meaning for Bach and was the basis for the triple concertos, the concertos for three solo instruments, recorded here. On the one hand, the number three had for Bach a Christian connotation; on the other hand, there were also entirely profane reasons. As an essential element of late-baroque texture, the “three” was reflected in the trio sonata, whose structure was the basis of numerous instrumental and vocal pieces. Bach probably composed the Concerto for three harpsichords especially for two of his sons (and pupils), taking the third part himself. In the Third Brandenburg Concerto, the idea of three solo instruments is carried even further in that each of the three string groups – violins, violas, and violoncellos – have three independent parts.

In many of his works, Bach made use of a hidden symbolism of numbers. The number “three” had a special meaning for Bach and was the basis for the triple concertos, the concertos for three solo instruments, recorded here. On the one hand, the number three had for Bach a Christian connotation; on the other hand, there were also entirely profane reasons. As an essential element of late-baroque texture, the “three” was reflected in the trio sonata, whose structure was the basis of numerous instrumental and vocal pieces.