Bach, C P E

[verismissimo]

He's been popping up in various threads recently and, since his tercentennial birthday is on Saturday, I thought he might have his own thread.

In a recent article by John Allison in the Telegraph, he pointed out that when Mozart said "Bach is the father, we are the children," he was not referring to JS, nor to JS's eldest son WF, nor to JC, but to CPE.

I've never really connected with his music - until quite recently, that is. I could see that he was a real innovator, but I always felt that his work was a bit disjointed.

What I've been listening to are his Sinfonias, some played rather well in the late 1960s by the "semi-skimmed" ECO with Leppard, and another in the harmonia mundi Lumieres box by the English Concert/Manze. Really they are so much more cohesive (and innovative) than I'd imagined.

I'd like to explore more. Do you have particular favourites/recordings?

Sorry I missed the CPE Bach concert on the South Bank by the OAE a few days ago. Anyone there? This is Ivan Hewitt's enthused review of that: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/m...re-review.html

[DublinJimbo]

I was taken aback when you said Saturday was the tercentenary. It's actually a month away, on 8th March.

[Serial_Apologist]

Eras of aesthetic transition when everything seems up for grabs, and nothing has hardened yet into genre, are in many ways the most interesting, and this thread links in with another one some time ago looking at what distinguished the Rococo from the Baroque in music. I'd like to find out more about music from the period in which CPE lived. Telemann's music started acquiring some surprisingly Mozartian turns of phrase and harmony, right at the end of his life, while CPE Bach's earliest work seemed designed to prove himself, one assumes, to his old-fashioned elders and betters, just as capable a contrapuntalist as his dad. But from what I can gather, it is not to his symphonies that we should look for immediate and long-term influence - in that respect Haydn really was, was he, the initiator, standardiser and innovator?

[Stunsworth]

I ordered this recently at very little cost...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/C-P-E-Bach-Edition-Various/dp/B00GK7MQCW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1391716316&sr=8-5&keywords=cpe+bach

I haven't had a chance to listen to any of it yet, something I'll correct at the weekend.

[richardfinegold]

One of my first classical lps 35 years ago was a CPE Bach Album with Gustav Leonhardt and the Collegium Aureum. It featured a harpsichord concerto one one side and an oboe concerto on the other. The haprsichord concerto was avery striking sturm and drang kind of piece that many of my friends also took to. I've heard the same work on the radio many times in the intervening years. Unfortunately none of the other keyboard concertos by the same composer struck the same response.
I find that his music tends to lurch about from mood to key, sometimes within a phrase.

[MickyD]

I absolutely adore this composer and have many of his works on my shelves....I have to say that they often touch me more than those of JS, dare I say. Some of the keyboard concertos are quite wonderful...I will never forget the electrifying effect his concerto Wq14 had on me in an early recording by the English Concert...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CPE-Bach-Harpichord-Concertos-Pinnock/dp/B00004LN2O/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1391718790&sr=1-1&keywords=cpe+bach+pinnock

The six string symphonies were also a revelation in the pioneering account from the AAM, now helpfully coupled with the wonderful quartets:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/C-P-E-Bach-Carl-Philipp-Emanuel/dp/B0000042HP/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1391718881&sr=1-2&keywords=cpe+bach+hogwood

Not forgetting the sublime cello concertos with Bijlsma and Leonhardt along with four more superb symphonies:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CPE-Bach-Symphonies-Concertos-Leonhardt/dp/B00004TQQL/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1391719031&sr=1-1&keywords=cpe+bach+leonhardt

These recordings were my first introduction to the bizarre but often extremely moving sound world of this composer and I would recommend them as an excellent starting point for any collector. Happily there is so much more on offer, too!

[Suffolkcoastal]

CPE Bach's music went up considerably in my estimation after a day's listening to it about 3 weeks ago. The Magnficat being one of my discoveries of the past 2-3 years. I was very taken with his very expressive range and chromatic twists in his harmony which clearly anticipate Mozart, who obviously knew his music well. His music has plenty of character with a distinct style of his own and I am certainly keen to explore more.

[David-G]

There was a half-hour discussion of new CPE Bach recordings in last Saturday's CD Review, at 10.20 a.m. (i.e. after BAL). It is all worth listening to, but I was particularly taken with the Magnificat - two recordings, starting at about 1h 49m. A wonderful piece. Anyone interested, do try to catch this while still available on the iplayer.

Pity you missed the OAE concert, verismissimo. It was an extraordinary concert, quite exceptional. It is a long time, I think, since I have heard quite such an ovation for the OAE. The good news is that the concert was being recorded for CD. Incidentally, we learnt that we should be calling the composer "Emanuel Bach" - "CPE" is rather discourteous.

[verismissimo]

I ordered this recently at very little cost...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/C-P-E-Bach-Edition-Various/dp/B00GK7MQCW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1391716316&sr=8-5&keywords=cpe+bach

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I decided to invest in this one.

[amateur51]

There was a half-hour discussion of new CPE Bach recordings in last Saturday's CD Review, at 10.20 a.m. (i.e. after BAL). It is all worth listening to, but I was particularly taken with the Magnificat - two recordings, starting at about 1h 49m. A wonderful piece. Anyone interested, do try to catch this while still available on the iplayer.

Pity you missed the OAE concert, verismissimo. It was an extraordinary concert, quite exceptional. It is a long time, I think, since I have heard quite such an ovation for the OAE. The good news is that the concert was being recorded for CD. Incidentally, we learnt that we should be calling the composer "Emanuel Bach" - "CPE" is rather discourteous.

Having read several very positive reviews and spoken to a friend who was there (but who forgot to remind me to get a ticket!) and was in raptures, I think this news is "hat's in the air"-time

[verismissimo]

... Incidentally, we learnt that we should be calling the composer "Emanuel Bach" - "CPE" is rather discourteous.

Think it's too late in my case, David. Will we also have to switch to Sebastian, Christian, Friedemann etc?

[verismissimo]

Discovered that I have two LPs of CPE's keyboard music - played variously on harpsichord, clavichord and fortepiano. Quite surprisingly, it's Inger Grudin-Brandt's performances on the clavichord that bring out best the energy and drama of the music.

[mathias broucek]

I recently acquired this new recording as a download after reading some good reviews. The music sounded good but I was very put off by an excessively loud fortepiano continuo. Some of the continuo playing was quite tasteful but at one point I thought the pianist was playing a completely different work.....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bach-Symphonies-Stuttgart-Orchestra-Hanssler/dp/B00H8VUUV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391798421&sr=8-1&keywords=bach+stuttgart+christ

(BTW is the player of a fortepiano actually a forteist?)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I've spent a good part of this week with the bargain DHM 10CD set of Manny Bach's works. Still forming an opinion; there is much to enjoy and surprise, but quite a bit that (on first acquaintance) sounds a little ... erm ... well; unexceptional.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I've spent a good part of this week with the bargain DHM 10CD set of Manny Bach's works. Still forming an opinion; there is much to enjoy and surprise, but quite a bit that (on first acquaintance) sounds a little ... erm ... well; unexceptional.

Damn, I've just ordered this myself from a recommendation higher up this thread! Still, I'm probably easier to surprise than you are and (?)more easily amused, fhg