These Bach sonatas
for viola da gamba are works of consummate
mastery and beauty. They are also rather
unusual, in that they are something
of an amalgamation of styles and genres.
You will find, for example, both complex
counterpoint and more frivolous "gallant"
features usually associated with dances
– such as the binary form as used in
the second movement of the second sonata.
At the time of composition,
the viola da gamba - previously seen
as a rather aristocratic and sometimes
virtuosic instrument, had gone out of
fashion a bit. It was viewed as slightly
anachronistic, so Bach’s choice of instrument
in itself was unusual. Another idiosyncratic
feature is Bach’s use of the harpsichord
in an obbligato role. There is a glorious
and quite revolutionary bit in the last
movement of the D major sonata when
the harpsichord has an extended cadenza-like
solo and the viola da gamba accompanies.
We don’t know when
or why these sonatas were written, and
whether they belong together as a set
or not. They are estimated to date from
Bach’s Leipzig years although much of
his chamber music is usually dated to
his time as Kapellmeister at Cothen.
Greater detail than usual in terms of
performance instructions (ornamentation,
etc.) might point to the sonatas being
prepared for a specific performance,
possibly by Carl Friedrich Abel.
The G major sonata
is probably a reworking of a trio for
two violins and continuo (also arranged
for two flutes and continuo). Here,
the trio texture is retained in that
the right and left hands of the keyboard
each play separate lines. The G minor
sonata is different in that it is not
modelled on a four-movement sonata but
has three movements, like an Italian
concerto. It is more concerto-like in
style, too.
So, overall, these
are exciting and dramatic works – both
in being something of a mixture of ancient
and modern, and in Bach’s striking out
on his own as using the harpsichord
for both solo line and the "bass
continuo" line.
Both discs include
a fourth work – the Harmonia Mundi concludes
with BWV 1019, an arrangement from a
violin and harpsichord sonata. The performers
felt licensed to arrange it given Bach’s
own numerous re-arrangements and re-uses
of his own works, and the fact that
the cantabile movement is taken from
a soprano aria in cantata 120 Gott,
man lobet dich der Stille,
anyway! The Avie disc concludes with
BWV 1030b. Bach’s B minor flute sonata
was a reworking of a G minor sonata
of which only the harpsichord line is
extant. The G minor work could have
been for a number of instruments – flute,
violin or oboe, but works well on the
viola da gamba, as here.
The Avie disc has a
pleasing balance and the recording is
of a good quality – albeit the sound
is slightly abrasive. Much of it is
very heartfelt – the Adagio of
the G minor sonata, for example, and
the performers achieve an excellent
contrast between the moods of the movements.
Their outstanding duet skills are exemplified
in the Allegro of the G minor
sonata, in which they work brilliantly
together, echoing each other’s styles.
Jonathan Manson has a way of making
the da gamba really sing – listen to
the Andante of the final work
BWV 1030b, which includes some extremely
expressive da gamba playing. Trevor
Pinnock is, as one would expect, a superb
accompanist.
The performers on the
Harmonia disc, Juan Manuel Quintana
and Celine Frisch, take things more
gently. Their playing is, as a general
rule, softer and less fiery. In the
G major sonata, Celine Frisch imparts
more ornamentation in the harpsichord
line than Pinnock, almost to the point
of over-doing it. On the whole, however,
I far prefer the sound of the harpsichord
in the Harmonia disc. Pinnock’s harpsichord
is more articulated and comes across
as quite thumping and heavy, and not
as flowing, gentle, soft, sensitive
or delicate as Frisch’s. As if keeping
in line with the slightly "clangy"
harpsichord, the da gamba is rougher
and harsher on the Avie disc as well.
I like the way that
Quintana and Frisch make the music dance,
more graceful than the blunter Avie
rendition. Listen to the rocking lilt
in the Andante of the G major
sonata, as opposed to Pinnock and Manson’s
version, where all the notes are played
slightly clinically and of equal length.
I also find the Avie tempo a little
too slow – yet on the other hand the
fourth movement Allegro moderato
is much perkier in Avie – not as
graceful as Harmonia again, but pleasantly
bold and confident, and the instruments
(particularly the harpsichord) sing
out more.
In the D major sonata,
the performers on Harmonia come across
more musically, although I prefer the
clarity of the recorded sound on Avie,
and Manson and Pinnock’s upbeat second
movement is livelier than Quintana and
Frisch’s. The third movement is more
stately and formal with Manson and Pinnock
while Quintana and Frisch gently dance
and sing. The coarser, rougher sound
of the da gamba in Avie is very audible
in the last movement of this sonata.
In BWV 1029, the G
minor sonata, we again find Quintana
and Frisch much gentler and less forceful
than Manson and Pinnock – the sound
they create is much prettier and flows
more – listen to the third movement,
for example, where the Harmonia disc
has a much lighter and more dance-like
touch. In the second movement, however,
the slower-sounding Avie performance
is more laden with sorrow, more heartfelt
than Harmonia, which comes across as
more frivolous, and not as serious or
intense. Here I definitely prefer the
heavy brooding quality of Manson and
Pinnock.
It would be quite hard
to choose between these two recordings,
very different though they are. The
recorded sound is more acute and clear,
yet also slightly harsher on Avie, and
the instruments are a great deal coarser
and rougher in sound – so the gentler,
prettier tones of the instruments on
Harmonia are far preferable to my ear.
Yet the Avie disc has a raw intensity,
a throbbing passion and an energy that
the dancing, lilting, and - in a way
- more musical Harmonia, lacks. There
is more fire and spirit, blood and guts
in Manson and Pinnock’s playing, whilst
Quintana and Frisch are more delicately
sensitive and relaxed. Both discs are
excellently played, however, and a choice
would have to come down to the individual
listener’s wants and needs.
Em Marshall
Juan Manuel Quintana (viola da gamba), Celine
Frisch (harpsichord) 
