Peter Lukas Graf Sonata For Flute Bwv 1030~1035

'Les Six' (so named in 1920 by critic Henri Collet) hit the classical music scene with almost the same outrageous force with which the punk movement slammed into popular music in the 1970s and early '80s. It consisted of a group of six composers working in France: Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Georges Auric, Germaine Tailleferre and Louis Durey. Their music was largely a reaction against Impressionism and Wagnerism and incorporated the ideas of Satie and Cocteau with the popular styles of the time: French vaudeville, American jazz and café music.

This new album by flutist Stathis Karapanos represents Paul Hindemith’s (1895–1963) complete works for flute featuring an impressive roster of accompanying artists. This selection, which also includes one world première recording, shows the unexpected versatility of Hindemith, one of the major names in 20th Century music, as a composer.

Bach's viola da gamba sonatas with Lautenwerk! While the Sonata for Flute, Violin, and Passing Bass is an arranged version, the three Sonatas for Viola da gamba and Harpsichord that follow were composed around 1740, using Bach's own Lautenwerk (an instrument similar to a harpsichord, but with gut strings instead of metal strings), which belonged to Bach himself. Robert Hill used a replica of the lautenwerk to make this recording. The recording is a replica of the Lautenwerk, which allows for a greater sense of unity with the sound of Eckhard Weber's viola da gamba, and recreates the sound of the instrument at the time it was composed.

Bach's viola da gamba sonatas with Lautenwerk! While the Sonata for Flute, Violin, and Passing Bass is an arranged version, the three Sonatas for Viola da gamba and Harpsichord that follow were composed around 1740, using Bach's own Lautenwerk (an instrument similar to a harpsichord, but with gut strings instead of metal strings), which belonged to Bach himself. Robert Hill used a replica of the lautenwerk to make this recording. The recording is a replica of the Lautenwerk, which allows for a greater sense of unity with the sound of Eckhard Weber's viola da gamba, and recreates the sound of the instrument at the time it was composed.

Patrick Gallois belongs to the generation of French musicians leading highly successful international careers as both soloist and conductor. From the age of 17 he studied the flute with Jean-Pierre Rampal at the Paris Conservatoire and at the age of 21 was appointed principal flute in the Orchestre national de France under Lorin Maazel, playing under many famous conductors, including Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Pierre Boulez, Karl Böhm, Eugen Jochum, and Sergiu Celibidache. He held this post until 1984, when he decided to focus on his solo career, which has subsequently taken him throughout the world.

The duo 'À deux fleustes esgales' is here expanded. The two treble voices are joined by a basso continuo made up of harpsichord and cello, for a programme of famous trio sonatas by 'the Bachs'. From the father Johann Sebastian to the sons Carl Phillip and Wilhelm Friedemann, the stylistic evolution from Baroque to Classical can be traced here through the many facets of that crucial period in music, the eighteenth century: · Counterpoint and flowing polyphony raised to their zenith by Johann Sebastian in such a way that instrumentation becomes almost immaterial · Wilhelm Friedemann retains a certain contrapuntal denseness, placed at the service of an instrumental style sometimes reminiscent of Italian concertante writing · Carl Phillip Emanuel concentrates on the melodic line, with the continuo assuming more of a harmonic function, in a style that makes room for fantasy and sensibility or Empfindsamkeit. This CD takes us through this development - a guided tour that is sheer delight.