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Reviewer: Bertil
van Boer The final keyboard works by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach were all written during the last two years of his life and were published as the fifth and sixth collections of Sonatas and Free Fantasies. He notes that these were meant for “Kenner und Liebhaber,” both professionals and amateurs, meaning that they were intended for a broad audience of salon performers. We know from Charles Burney’s description that C. P. E. was extremely emotional in his performances, to the point of excluding all else. The intimacy of these works, their variability in terms of phrases, harmonic underlay, and mixture of motives and thematic portions, not to mention the flexible tempos, played an important part in the development of the 19th-century keyboard fantasy. What is more, the style and difficulty were widely imitated by his contemporaries, though without the same degree of precision. Of course, his favorite instrument was the soft-sounding clavichord, and there are numerous discs on that instrument already available, including Preethi de Silva (though she also uses the fortepiano and harpsichord) on Centaur and of course Colin Tilney. The harpsichord is too limited an instrument to perform the extreme nuances, though Bach himself would not have turned his nose up at anyone purchasing the sets with the intent to play them on that instrument. But the fortepiano gives a rather nicer drama and power, especially in these last works. The program of this disc includes both the wide ranges of the fantasies and the less quirky rondos, all of which were published together to give the performer a range of types of pieces. For example, the Rondo in A Major from Wq 58 is a gentle set of variations that proceeds from a lyrical menuetto theme. These include a siciliano and a set of cascading scalar passages that tumble about, all of which come to a sudden halt when the main theme returns. The sprawling Rondo in G Major (No. 1 from Wq 59) has a simple lyrical theme that begins to unravel already at the outset with ornamentation and sequencing. A second section in the relative minor intrudes mysteriously, almost with a hint of melancholy, before the main theme returns, punctuated by twinkling virtuosity in the upper registers of the instrument. The final Rondo in E♭Major from Wq 61 is like an aria, though the left hand of the piano offers some intrusive, even pounding cadential insertions that give it a bit of punch. Here too the melancholy moments appear, albeit ever so briefly. In all of these, the variation techniques are inventive and well integrated into the formal structure of the rondo. The four fantasies are typical of Bach’s style, with abrupt leaps and rolling scales and arpeggios that weave a musical tapestry, against which are set the twisting harmonic and chromatic sequences and sudden changes in tempo and dynamics. While not precisely sentimental, they do depict a sort of manic change in mood that fits the term “empfindsam” accurately. The improvisatory nature of the works is clearly evident, but the virtuoso demands are extreme, ranging from delicate lyrical movement to flashy and challenging figuration. Included in this disc are two sonatas, the first of which, in G Major (Wq 65/48), is an independent work, while the second (in D Major) is part of the Wq 61 set. The former has a lyrical and gentle opening Andantino that merges into an emotional Adagio that would not be out of place in an opera. It is at once insistent and absorbing, while the final Allegro turns about with a gnarly chromaticism that contains fantasy-like surprises in terms of short, unprepared motivic phrases and fragments. The D-Major Sonata, on the other hand, is more conventional (if that is a word that can be used with Bach). The three movements follow a traditional pattern, but the opening is anything but. It whirls about like the beginning of a fantasia, yet collapses into conventional cadences at odd moments. The rolling final Presto certainly gives the fingers more exercise than one could imagine. Keyboardist Mathieu Dupouy performs this music with verve and power, knowing instinctively where the quirky bits ought to stand alone and where the more accessible pieces need to be emphasized. The music is well phrased and quite engaging, even perhaps as emotionally consistent (or variant, depending upon one’s point of view of Bach) as the composer himself would have done. This is an excellent recording, and presents the often tortuous Bach lines with grace and sensitivity. After all, that is what this style of music is all about. | ||||
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