CPE BACH Solo Keyboard Music Vol.24
Joris Potvlieghe’s reconstructed clavichords for Spányi’s latest CPE discs
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: BIS
Magazine Review Date: 09/2012
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 63
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: BIS-CD1763
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
"Petit Pieces" (Character Pieces), Movement: Clavierstück für die rechte oder linke Hand allein (Wq117/1 (H241)) |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
"Petit Pieces" (Character Pieces), Movement: Solfeggio in C minor (Wq117/2 (H220)) |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
"Petit Pieces" (Character Pieces), Movement: Solfeggio in E flat major (Wq117/3 (H221)) |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
"Petit Pieces" (Character Pieces), Movement: Solfeggio in A major (Wq117/4 (H222)) |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
"Petit Pieces" (Character Pieces), Movement: Fantasia in G major (Wq117/11 (H223)) |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
"Petit Pieces" (Character Pieces), Movement: Fantasia in D minor (Wq117/12 (H224)) |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
"Petit Pieces" (Character Pieces), Movement: Fantasia in D major (Wq 117/14) |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
Sonata for Keyboard |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
Fugue |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
Composer or Director: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: BIS
Magazine Review Date: 09/2012
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 72
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: BIS-CD1764
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Sonata for Keyboard |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
(4) Sonatas for Keyboard, Movement: D minor |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
(4) Sonatas for Keyboard, Movement: E |
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Composer Miklós Spányi, Clavichord |
Author: Harriet Smith
Vol 24 concentrates on works written in his late twenties, by which point CPE was already a seasoned composer. It ranges from the D minor Sonata, Wq62/4, with its straightforwardly galant opening movement, to the far more experimental B minor Sonata, Wq65/13. Spányi displays throughout a profound understanding of this music, tempering his approach to each piece accordingly.
It’s in the slow movements that I found myself wishing for a more yielding approach, particularly in the Andante sostenuto of the D major, Wq62/3, and the Adagio of the B minor. Here, the effect is a little too careful, though there’s precision and neatness to his playing and a terrific understanding of the niceties of the period. And in the outer movements of the glorious E major Sonata, Wq62/5, the dramatic changes of texture and dynamic are slightly underplayed. Sometimes I wished Spányi would let his hair down a little more.
But Vol 23 is a veritable box of delights. Here, sonatas from the 1750s rub shoulders with all sorts of fascinating oddments. We can revel in the sheer variety of JSB’s most outlandish son, with music from the frankly weird to the exultantly brilliant. The D minor Fugue, Wq119/2, is rendered particularly obsessive in Spányi’s hands, while the fleeting fantasias and solfeggios make an impact out of all proportion to their duration. In the more substantial D major Fantasia, Wq117/14, the delight comes as much from Spányi’s instrument as in the brilliance of CPE’s imagination. To finish, the rhetorical A major Sonata, Wq65/32, full of the idiosyncrasies that makes CPE Bach such a compelling character. If you’re following this series, you’ll want both volumes. But as a taster, Vol 23 is the one to go for.
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