It was the Bachs who launched the harpsichord on its career as a concerto soloist and the sons did not wait to follow in father's wake; the first of Carl Philipp Emanuel's 52 concertos, spanning more than 50 years, probably just predates the first of JSB's. Neither did they pursue the practice of having more than two soloists. In his F major Concerto (the numbering of which differs from that given in Grove: H410, Wq46) CPE accepts the formal plan of the ritornello but not the concept of its unity of thematic mood; he introduces a diversity that is more like that of the exposition in sonata form—though the resemblance ends there, and the element of contrast is maintained in the 'solo' episodes, not derived from the ritornello material.
The well-known painting of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach reproduced on the cover of this CD must be one of the most immediately attractive composer portraits ever made. The wide-brimmed hat, the fur-lined coat, the wisp of steely hair and, above all, the reddened but unmistakably genial face (displaying, if I’m not mistaken, his father’s nose) suggest a man one would want to accompany straightaway to the nearest coffee-house. But Friedemann was actually a little more complex than that, both as a person who could be lazy and argumentative and as a talented musician torn between the styles of the late baroque and early classical periods, so it is perhaps no surprise to find that there is considerable variety in the music on this disc.
Here is another of Gustav Leonhardt's mixed programmes but this one, unlike the earlier European grand tour ((CD) 426 352-2PH, 4/90), is confined to German repertory and is played not on the harpsichord but on the clavichord. The earliest music is by Christian Ritter, who was born in the mid seventeenth century and who was based mainly in Halle where he was employed as an organist. His Suite in F sharp minor is an appealing work somewhat in the manner of Froberger; the opening Allemande is beautifully written and well sustained and the poignant Sarabande an affecting piece built on a descending octave pattern which gives it the character of a lament.
The musical world of the eighteenth-century court at Dresden is characterised by its diversity: Vivaldi, Hasse, Ristori and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach were all highly esteemed. The Zürcher Barockorchester perform selections from this demanding repertoire and successfully transport listeners to Dresden’s vibrant Augustan era.
The novelties here are the Mattheson works, the first two fully composed, the third a figured-bass exercise from Mattheson's treatise on the subject. The sonata is a dramatic, virtuoso outing in the Italian style; the suite, ostensibly more french in character, retains a typical German heaviness.
The son of the peerless Johann Sebastian, Wilhelm Friedemann was the least famous Bach of his time. Yet he is now regarded by some as the most brilliant of the Bach children, and is occasionally reported to have been his father's favourite. A master of numerous different keyboard instruments, he was not particularly prolific, and of his 100 or so known works, many remained unprinted until the 20th century.
When on 12 May 1764 Wilhelm Friedemann Bach tended his resignation as Music Director and Organist at Halle a brilliant musical epoch came to an inglorious end. From the time of Samuel Scheidt the position of organist of the Halle Marktkirche had always been occupied by outstanding virtuosi and composers, and with W. F. Bach the last of them quit the service. The twenty or so surviving Halle cantatas by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach form a long-neglected body of music which is in many respects unparalleled. They represent extraordinarily individual attempts to emulate the musical achievements of his great paternal teacher and model, and to develop them further. Thus this son of Bach arrived at solutions to problems in his works which strive repeatedly towards grace and pathos, brilliance and originality, artistic diversity and natural simplicity.
Although finally welcomed into the classical canon – with some trepidation late in the 20th century, mostly among the cognoscenti, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach remains a bit of a cipher to many listeners, among the musical sons of Bach whom they've never heard anything from. The experts who love him attest to his high level of enigmatic eccentricity and his sense of stylistic separation from any other Bach son, and this echoes to some extent what Carl Friedrich Zelter remembered about him long after Bach's death; "As a composer he was driven by a need to be original, to distance himself from his father and brothers." But also, as Zelter continued, "he fell into fussiness, pedantry and futility."
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was Director of Music in Halle from 1746 to 1764. This position was in many respects similar to that of Johann Sebastian Bach’s in Leipzig. Certainly, in performing his duties Friedemann Bach largely followed the example of his father – whether in matters of organ playing, choice of repertoire or making demands of the musicians. W. F. Bach was required to perform a cantata every third week and also on all feast days. The cantatas and Mass compositions performed here for the first time are works from this era – outstanding artistic contributions to the genre of the church cantata after J. S. Bach. Under the direction of Jürgen Ochs the eight singers of the Rastatter Hofkapelle perform both the choral as well as solo passages.