Can anyone recommend me some reading on CPE Bach’s solo keyboard music?

[Mandryka]

This is likely to be too expensive for you too, but perhaps there is a friendly university library nearby that might have a copy:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keyboard-Music-Bach-Philip-Barford/dp/0807900729

Keyboard Music of C.P.E.Bach
Hardcover – 1 June 1966
by Philip Barford (Author)

Fuller title and a bit cheaper at .com:

https://www.amazon.com/Keyboard-Music-C-P-Bach-Considered/dp/0214156516

The Keyboard Music of C.P.E. Bach: Considered in Relation to his Musical Aesthetic and the Rise of the Sonata Principle Hardcover – Import, January 1, 1965
by Philip Barford: (Author)

!!!!!! MUCH CHEAPER AT ABE BOOKS !!!!!!

Used - Hardcover
£ 8.45
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£ 4.01 Shipping
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https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-sear...%B0-music-%B0/

The one in Abe is in Travis and Emery, which I can easily pop into - I’ll let you know what the book feels like.

[Mandryka]

Thanks. I have a few of both series, but I'm not so keen on the instruments Spányi chooses - the tangent piano in the concertos is nice enough but I would prefer to have a bit more variety, and the clavichord in the solo music seems a bit ungratefully recorded. For me the solo music comes down to the "Prussian" and "Württemberg" sets of sonatas, the Concerto for solo harpsichord, the "Kenner und Liebhaber" pieces and the character pieces with Couperin-like titles. The rest is a bit of a blur, but that's probably the result of unfamiliarity - the two sonata sets and the Concerto were recorded by Bob van Asperen, one of my favourite players, many years ago.

Re clavichord recordings, the ones I really like are by Jocelyne Cuiller

[MickyD]

Thanks. I have a few of both series, but I'm not so keen on the instruments Spányi chooses - the tangent piano in the concertos is nice enough but I would prefer to have a bit more variety, and the clavichord in the solo music seems a bit ungratefully recorded. For me the solo music comes down to the "Prussian" and "Württemberg" sets of sonatas, the Concerto for solo harpsichord, the "Kenner und Liebhaber" pieces and the character pieces with Couperin-like titles. The rest is a bit of a blur, but that's probably the result of unfamiliarity - the two sonata sets and the Concerto were recorded by Bob van Asperen, one of my favourite players, many years ago.

I remember those van Asperen recordings. I have since bought a bargain box of the same pieces by Pieter -Jan Belder. He rings the changes by using harpsichord and clavichord.

[Mandryka]

The fourth of the Probestüke sonatas is a pretty impressive bit of music I think. So is the 5th. On Spanyi v. 22.

Re the sound of Spanyi’s clavichord, I know this is a heresy but I think it helps to turn the volume up a bit.

[Mandryka]

This is likely to be too expensive for you too, but perhaps there is a friendly university library nearby that might have a copy:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keyboard-Music-Bach-Philip-Barford/dp/0807900729

Keyboard Music of C.P.E.Bach
Hardcover – 1 June 1966
by Philip Barford (Author)

Fuller title and a bit cheaper at .com:

https://www.amazon.com/Keyboard-Music-C-P-Bach-Considered/dp/0214156516

The Keyboard Music of C.P.E. Bach: Considered in Relation to his Musical Aesthetic and the Rise of the Sonata Principle Hardcover – Import, January 1, 1965
by Philip Barford: (Author)

!!!!!! MUCH CHEAPER AT ABE BOOKS !!!!!!

Used - Hardcover
£ 8.45
Convert currency
£ 4.01 Shipping
Within United Kingdom

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-sear...%B0-music-%B0/

Thanks Pulcinella. Book bought today direct from Travis and Emery - it looks like a serious book, signed Christopher Hogwood on the flyleaf (Travis and Emery bought the music books in his estate, I’ve got a few things from it.)

I must say, going to Travis and Emery today, a real and very old fashioned bookshop, felt like stepping into A Dance of the Music of Time - the novels, not the Poussin - probably the effect of the «esoteric» bookshop on the same street! Or maybe even stepping into a Henry James novel. I wonder how long these places can last, whether Cecil Court will become a street of restaurants.

[Pulcinella]

Thanks Pulcinella. Book bought today direct from Travis and Emery - it looks like a serious book, signed Christopher Hogwood on the flyleaf (Travis and Emery bought the music books in his estate, I’ve got a few things from it.)

I must say, going to Travis and Emery today, a real and very old fashioned bookshop, felt like stepping into A Dance of the Music of Time - the novels, not the Poussin - probably the effect of the «esoteric» bookshop on the same street! Or maybe even stepping into a Henry James novel. I wonder how long these places can last, whether Cecil Court will become a street of restaurants.

Hope it suits your purpose.
I was at school with (one of?) the author's sons.

[MickyD]

Thanks Pulcinella. Book bought today direct from Travis and Emery - it looks like a serious book, signed Christopher Hogwood on the flyleaf (Travis and Emery bought the music books in his estate, I’ve got a few things from it.)

I must say, going to Travis and Emery today, a real and very old fashioned bookshop, felt like stepping into A Dance of the Music of Time - the novels, not the Poussin - probably the effect of the «esoteric» bookshop on the same street! Or maybe even stepping into a Henry James novel. I wonder how long these places can last, whether Cecil Court will become a street of restaurants.

Oh, lovely Cecil Court - I am glad to hear there are still some long-established shops there. I used to spend many a happy hour in Orchesography in the 80s.

If I remember correctly, Christopher Hogwood was the chairman of the new edition Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works, which aimed to publish a complete edition of C.P.E. Bach's music in 2014. I wonder if this ever happened, bearing in mind Christopher died in September 2014?

[RichardB]

If I remember correctly, Christopher Hogwood was the chairman of the new edition Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works, which aimed to publish a complete edition of C.P.E. Bach's music in 2014. I wonder if this ever happened, bearing in mind Christopher died in September 2014?

See https://www.cpebach.org/ - Robert Levin took over as chair.