Late Baroque, Early Classical or…?

[french frank]

It seems the attribution to JCB, while the best current theory, is still not definitively established.

Probably the most succinct summary.

One can only add that the number of attributions is usually 'outranked' by the weight (much like the internet, actually!). The 28 at the end of your quote refers to the footnote: 28. A thorough investigation into the problem of attribution was prepared by Elias N. Kulukundis in 2008. I am grateful to him for sending me a copy of his unpublished paper,“J.C. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, and the Keyboard Concerto No. 6 in F Minor: Observations and Speculations.”

I wonder why the YouTube clips attribute it to WF when this paper says he can be 'ruled out'? Again, just depends on which sources people consulted, I suppose.

[Richard Barrett]

I wonder why the YouTube clips attribute it to WF when this paper says he can be 'ruled out'? Again, just depends on which sources people consulted, I suppose.

"Sources" would often be nothing more profound than a published score, and materials for this piece seem to have been published under all three names! The first time I came across a recording of it I'm sure (though I could be misremembering) that it was attributed to CPEB. That would have been in the 1970s. The Halstead recording is the only one I know of that attributes the piece to JCB and was made in 1996. The most recent recording I could find, made in 2010 by the Harmonices Mundi ensemble, attributes it to WFB. Go figure, as they say.

[MickyD]

Thanks Richard...confusing indeed. I must say I prefer Tony Halstead's version to the pulled-about one by Il Giardino Armonico!

[Richard Barrett]

Thanks Richard...confusing indeed. I must say I prefer Tony Halstead's version to the pulled-about one by Il Giardino Armonico!

I like it too. Almost every other performance I've heard plays the main theme of the first movement staccato and highly accentuated, and it's good to hear that this isn't the only option... I presume you also know Halstead's recordings on the same label of JCB's symphonies, and especially the set of symphonies concertantes which for me are his most consistently inventive music, and not just in all the unusual choices of instrumentation.

[vinteuil]

... many thanks to Richard, Micky, and of course Tony for having reminded me of these (and other) cpo JC Bach discs - I've had them on the shelves since they came out, and hadn't listened to them for years : this nudge is leading me to listen to them again - and what treasures! Much joy. Thank you

[MickyD]

Yes, Richard, I already have the Halstead box of the symphonies, which is truly delightful. Next on the shopping list is that box of sinfonia concertantes, most of which I don't know and am really looking forward to hearing.

If I remember rightly, my very first discovery of J C Bach was via the old Collegium Aureum recordings - I still have great affection for these recordings, even if they are not so HIP as the recordings we enjoy nowadays.

[doversoul1]

Next on the shopping list is that box of sinfonia concertantes, most of which I don't know and am really looking forward to hearing.

My latest youtube discoveries;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHWG4reiPyM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3NPeIJJDqg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPslQ3FH_js

[Richard Barrett]

my very first discovery of J C Bach was via the old Collegium Aureum recordings

Same here - and a record of double concertos by CPEB, JCB and WFB with the combined forces of Harnoncourt's and Leonhardt's ensembles which I still (in digital form) listen to now and again.

[MickyD]

Oh yes, Richard - that was another favourite which I played again and again! Also the CRD disc of CPE Bach/JS Bach harpsichord concertos from Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert, recorded way back in the 70s. Pinnock's version of the CPE Bach Concerto Wq 14 is superb, it still sounds as fresh today.

[Richard Barrett]

Oh yes, Richard - that was another favourite which I played again and again!

It makes me very happy to hear you say that. This was a prime example of the HIPP approach making the music sound new and fresh - presumably because for the people performing it, it was: later than their regular repertoire and at that time probably completely unfamiliar, for a larger group of players, something for which the sound had first to be found (as with the same people's recordings of earlier repertoire of course). On the subject of Pinnock, there's also his English Concert CD of JC Bach chamber music, from which this sextet is taken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCDrMEYZ6CA (I note that this is another work with multiple Bach family attributions, this time JCB and JCFB) - beautiful textures and playing.

[MickyD]

Indeed, that Leonhardt/Harnoncourt disc really made an impact on me - and I don't think that the CPE Bach concerto for harpsichord and fortepiano has been bettered since.

I have long had that Pinnock disc of J C Bach on my shopping list, really must get round to acquiring it. Meanwhile, I have just ordered The Hanover Band's set of the Sinfonia Concertantes - can't wait to discover those.

[doversoul1]

Just using this old thread:

Another JCF Bach.
Monday 14 March
00.10
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach's Symphony in C major, W I/6 played by the New Bach Collegium Musicum of Leipzig, conducted by Burkhard Glaetzner.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0739t8d