While Johann Sebastian Bach is probably the undisputed master of baroque music, musical talent also ran in his family. In this programme we hear three of Johann Sebastian’s great works, presented alongside pieces by his sons Wilhelm and Carl. Both sons were heavily influenced by their father, but they also pushed forward stylistically into the Classical era, pointing the way to Mozart and Haydn.
Programme:
- WF BACH: Duet for two flutes;
- CPE BACH: Keyboard Concerto in C minor Wq 43/4;
- BACH arr Sauer: Contrapunctus 14, from The Art of Fugue, Unfinished;
- BACH: Orchestral Suite No 3 in D BWV1068;
- BACH: Chorale Prelude, Vor deinen Thron BWV668
Diedre Irons (fortepiano), New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Vesa-Matti Leppänen (violin/director)
Recorded in Alan Gibbs Hall, Wellington College by RNZ Concert.
Listen to this performance here:
WF BACH: Duet for Two Flutes
Kirstin Eade & Bridget Douglas play WF Bach Photo: Screenshot NZSO/Latitude Creative
This duet is a unique example of the composer's exceptional range of expression, and personal compositional voice which forms a link from the Baroque to the Classical period.
Recorded 31 October 2020, Alan Gibbs Hall, Wellington College by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
CPE BACH: Keyboard Concerto No 4 in C minor Wq43/4
Diedre Irons (fortepiano) plays Bach Photo: Screenshot NZSO/Latitude Creative
The versatility of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s music is impressive. He was primarily a composer of keyboard music, and that's what he is most famous for. No other composer of the 18th century Enlightenment wrote as many concertos for keyboard and orchestra as CPE Bach. The catalogue lists fifty solo concertos and ten sonatinas, plus two concertos and two sonatinas for two keyboards and orchestra. The six concertos of this set were published in 1773 and have a special place.
The fact that they were published at all was quite unusual for larger scale compositions. Printing all the parts was expensive, and such works didn't sell well because they were usually beyond the grasp of amateurs. But these six concertos were specifically intended for "connoisseurs and amateurs" and the composer did everything possible to make them accessible for potential performers.
Recorded 31 October 2020, Alan Gibbs Hall, Wellington College by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
BACH arr Ralph Sauer: Contrapunctus XIV, from The Art of Fugue
Bach Extended - Brass Photo: Screenshot NZSO/Latitude Creative
'The Art of Fugue' was JS Bach’s last major work and the 'Contrapunctus XIV' is performed here by players from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, in a brass quintet arrangement by Ralph Sauer.
Recorded 31 October 2020, Alan Gibbs Hall, Wellington College by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
BACH: Orchestral Suite No 3 in D BWV 1068
Members of NZSO play Bach Photo: Screenshot NZSO/Latitude Creative
Although the exact composition date of JS Bach's third 'Orchestral Suite' is not known it's likely that he wrote it around 1731 and that it was part of the repertoire of his Collegium Musicum in Leipzig.
There are five movements and the second of these is a wordless Aria featuring especially eloquent writing for the violin.
Recorded 31 October 2020, Alan Gibbs Hall, Wellington College by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
BACH arr Ralph Sauer: Chorale Prelude, Vor deinen Thron
Bach Extended - Brass Photo: Screenshot NZSO/Latitude Creative
This haunting and evocative Chorale Prelude by JS Bach, 'Before Thy Throne', was reputedly written on his death bed in 1750. The arrangement for brass is by Ralph Sauer.
Before Thy throne I now appear,
O Lord, bow down Thy gracious ear
To me, and cast not from Thy face
Thy sinful child that sues for grace.
Recorded 31 October 2020, Alan Gibbs Hall, Wellington College by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
