The five works on the first disc are by two of the sons of J.S. Bach, and all are examples of what were known at the time as trios. Yet they are a diverse group, reflecting not only the distinct styles of their two composers by also the various types of sonatas written by them. The works on the second disc illuminate the crucial role played by C.P.E. Bach in the shift from the Baroque to the Rococo style and the tremendous artistic value of his work. On the faculty at Duke University, flutist Rebecca Troxler specializes in the music of J.S. Bach's sons and other Rococo composers and this repertoire shows off her warm tone, stylish phrasing and brilliant technique.
"…Musica Antiqua convey equal vitality and character to the two most striking rarities here. JCF Bach’s double concerto for fortepiano and viola appears as a prototype symphony with important solo interjections. Melodically unexceptional, it is nevertheless stylish in a jejune way. CPE Bach – the most iconoclastic of the sons – successfully combines the prevailing keyboard instruments of the day, harpsichord and fortepiano. Fingers fly with aplomb – and no little mischief – as one is left to ponder the impact of this last Bach generation on Mozart and Beethoven, with whom there were (and are) of course many significant connections. Goebel provides a historical wake-up call." ~Gramophone
That Johann Sebastian Bach had created his unbelievable compositional skills passed on to his sons as well the baroque ensemble Les Adieux shows with recordings of chamber music works by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and Johann Christian Bach.
…In short: an all around enjoyable and highly recommended CD!
…In short: the so-called "English Bach" is portrayed here in a very fascinating way; you only really regrets having so few comparisons to the reading of historical conductors.
The literature of duets for oboe and flute, with no bass instrument, is not large, and in putting together an album's worth the veteran Swiss musicians Heinz Holliger (oboe) and Felix Renggli (flute) come up with a rather mixed bag of pieces. The good news is that they include some real finds and play them well. The three sonatas for oboe and flute of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach are taken from a group of six he composed at various times in his career, and you can see why this most Bachian of Bach's sons might have been attracted to the experiment. The outer movements of these sonatas are rigorously polyphonic, with the flute and oboe contributing textural variation in the manner of the different stops of an organ, but at a more intimate scale. It's a delightful effect.
Abel published quite a few chamber works with flute, meeting the demand for new music by the many gentleman flutists in England. The flute concertos contained here, despite their opus number, were never published, but are found in a manuscript held in Leipzig which can be dated prior to 1759. Stylistically these works have left the Baroque far behind, with regular phrases, simple basses , broad harmonic movement. The melodies make ample use of lombardic rhythms and syncopations and the florid passaggi sparkles with triplets and scalar passages in sixteenths. Though there are occasional harmonic complications which recall Abel's background, the overall tone here is that of the Enlightenment. Who can Abel have written these works for?
It is a well-established fact that our approach to music is generally twofold: this is the physicists' as well as the musicians' doing. One the one hand, music is considered to be based on acoustics, or even mathematics, which ought to give it the status of a science; on the other hand , it is acknowledged that it proceeds from psychological and sociological phenomena which, over the ages, have developed into an art, itself depending on various crafts. There is no longer any contradiction between the two approaches so long as one is prepared to accept them jointly, with enough insight to respect the methods proper to each end of the "chain."