BACH Family: Chamber music for two
flutes
Wilhelm Friedemann BACH (1710-1784)
Trio in D for two flutes and continuo, F.48 [10:03]
Trio in A minor for two flutes and continuo, F.49 [5:29]
Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst BACH (1759-1845)
Trio in G for two flutes and viola [20:16]
Johann Christian BACH (1735-1782)
Trio in C for two flutes and bass, T.317/2 [10:20]
Johann Christoph Friedrich BACH (1732-1795)
Trio in C for two flutes and harpsichord obbligato, HW VII/7 [15:35]
Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH (1714-1788)
Trio in E for two flutes and continuo, Wq.580 [17:29]
Hansgeorg Schmeiser (flute); Jan Ostrı (flute); Eszter Haffner (viola); Othmar
Müller (cello); Ingomar Rainer (harpsichord)
rec. Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, Wales, September 2008. DDD
NIMBUS NI 5869 [79:22]
Apart from violist Eszter Haffner, these are the same soloists that featured
on two previous releases by Nimbus of flute trios and sonatas by Johann Sebastian
Bach. These were reviewed on MusicWeb International here
and here.
Apart from being a general indication of these musicians' familiarity with
the repertoire, this also means that the six 18th century trios played here
are performed on modern flutes - something that may or may not appeal to the
potential buyer.
The CD booklet is informative when it comes to biographies of the performers
but disappointingly fails to provide any information beyond the track-listing
on any of these trios. Dates of composition or publication, for example, would
have been an important aid to the listener for slotting works into some kind
of historical context. As the trios by W.F.E. and J.C. Bach are not listed
in New Grove, any information regarding their authenticity or origin
would be very welcome. In fact, the New Grove article on W.F.E. states
that "Wilhelm Friedemann Bach [...] was almost certainly also the composer
of the strongly contrapuntal Trio in G major for two flutes and viola, published
as W.F.E. Bach’s by Rudolf Ermeler." Surely Nimbus should have something
to say on this in their notes?
The works listed as being by Wilhelm Friedemann date from around 1740, two
of a group of three trios. There is no question that W.F. was a highly original
composer, even if much of his music was dispersed or lost when penury in old
age forced him to auction off his estate - a number of his father's works
included. The Trio in D is imaginative and sunny; the more reflective
single-movement Trio in A minor is presumably the survivor from an
originally longer work - again, the liner-notes ought to explain this.
Whether or not the Trio in C for two flutes and bass - shared between
harpsichord and cello here - is J.C. Bach's handiwork, it certainly bears
his stamp of quality; though short, it is a thoughtful, thoroughly beautiful
work. The Trio in E by C.P.E. Bach also exists as a flute sonata. There
are two main thematic catalogues of C.P.E.'s works, the older, probably more
familiar one by Wotquenne, and the one published in 1989 by Helm. According
to New Grove, C.P.E.'s Trio in E, listed as Wq.580 on this disc, is
actually H.580 - or Wq.162. In any case, the work dates from 1749, well into
C.P.E.'s Berlin years with the 'flute king', Friedrich II. Again, this is
an outstanding work of art, marvellously mellifluous and contemplative, with
a sparkling finale.
J.C.F. Bach is often know as the "Bückeburg Bach", although his
son, W.F.E., has a greater claim to the title, having been born in Bückeburg.
J.C.F.'s Trio in C, dating from the period 1770-80, was originally
the fifth of a set of six trio sonatas, for keyboard, viola and flute or violin,
three of which are lost. J.C.F.'s music often, and here, sounds like a stylish
cross between that of his brother J.C. and half-brother C.P.E. As befits a
fine keyboard-experimentalist, J.C.F.'s Trio accords the harpsichord a more
prominent role, giving this work above any others on the CD the feel of a
true trio. In this work at least J.C.F. is the equal of more illustrious family
members.
W.F.E. was probably not as great a composer as his father, although so much
of his work has been lost that it is not easy to tell. His - or more likely
W.F.'s - Trio in G for two flutes and viola is in four movements. The
viola is in this case at times quite difficult to hear, set back as it is
from the two flutes, whose general high pitch tends to white out the rich
middle tones of the viola. If this really is W.F.E.'s work, he is inexplicably
writing in the style of the generation before - this is still clearly a Baroque
piece, much more likely the work of an old W.F. than a very young W.F.E.,
whose earliest dated work is from 1788 and who, by the beginning of the 19th
century, was already adopting the language of early Romanticism. Again, a
fine, profound work.
An essay by harpsichordist Ingomar Rainer gives some background to the featured
composers and the Bach family in general, but nothing referring to the recorded
works in particular. Rainer's essay has been marred in translation from its
original German by the kind of linguistic incompetence all too common in liner-notes.
The translator - a company name is given - clearly has little idea what exactly
the text is about. Quite why a concern of the stature of Nimbus does not bother
to proof-read the texts of its own CD booklets is anyone's guess. But this
is the kind of nonsense poor editing lets in: "But then it [the music]
also has real intellectual fun glorying in the light-and-shade Freidemann";
or "Emanuel (of Hamburg) [is a master] of the drab and grey"
- this latter phrase a ludicrous, sense-twisting rendering of "[der]
Grau in Grau" (literally "the grey in grey"); as well as translating
the German city of Halle into "Hall". There are many such examples.
Recorded at Nimbus's reliable Wyastone Leys facilities, sound quality on this
disc is admirable throughout, and, with the exception mentioned above, instrumentalists
nicely balanced. This is seventy-nine minutes of 24-carat music. It is very
ably performed by an experienced team of soloists - and in Schmeiser's case
played fittingly on a 24-carat gold instrument!
Byzantion
Seventy-nine minutes of 24-carat music very ably performed.
see also review by Kevin Sutton