Special Special tthank hanks tos to Siebe Siebe Henstra and Wilbert

Special thanks to Siebe Henstra and Wilbert Hazelzet for
their support and inspiration.
PROGRAMME
TENDERNESS AND PASSION IN BACH
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784)
The eighteenth century was an era of growing awareness. Kings and rulers became
influenced by enlightened political ideas, modern commerce started to develop and
citizens were realizing their potential. In this time of progress, the name Bach was one
that commanded respect as it does nowadays. However, when near the end of the
century people spoke of “the old Bach,” they usually referred to the youngest of the
three composers on the programme today, Carl Philipp Emanuel. Emanuel was keen
to exploit the possibilities offered by emerging publishing networks for music and new
business models for concert series, which brought music to the ears and households
of the common people. Music was no longer reserved for the court or the church;
public theatres and concert halls were flourishing and well-to-do citizens organized
concerts in their homes or played music themselves.
Sonata in E minor BR B17 for flute and basso continuo
(Dresden, ca. 1740-1745)
Allegro ma non tanto
Siciliano
Vivace
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Les langueurs tendres in F minor Wq 117-30 for harpsichord solo
(Berlin, 1761)
Sonata in E major Wq 84 for flute and harpsichord obbligato (Potsdam, 1749)
Allegretto
Adagio di molto
Allegro assai
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Sonata in D major Fk 3 for harpsichord solo (Dresden, 1745)
Un poco allegro
Adagio
Vivace
For such a purpose Les langueurs tendres was published in the music magazine
"Musikalisches Allerley von verschiedenen Tonkünstlern" in 1761; its melancholy
elegance surely would have appealed to the public. His brother Wilhelm Friedemann,
however, was less successful in his musical publications. The sonata in D major was
printed in 1745 while Friedemann lived in Dresden, but didn't receive much attention.
Probably the piece's scale, contrapuntal outlook and an almost romantic way of
personal expression sounded too complicated and difficult to most amateurs of music
at the time.
More accessible were the flute duets Friedemann also composed in Dresden, as well
as the only recently identified flute sonata in E minor. A showcase piece filled with fast
passages and harmonic twists, this sonata was perhaps composed in connection with
the famous flutist Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin, who taught Johann Joachim Quantz and
was an acquaintance of Friedemann's.
Quantz, in turn, was the flute teacher of Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia. His
court orchestra in Potsdam was among the best in Europe and also counted Emanuel
at the harpsichord among its members. Emanuel's sonata in E major, which is also
preserved as a trio for two flutes and continuo (Wq 162), was composed in Potsdam in
1749 and it's quite possible to have been performed by the student, the teacher and
the composer during one of the King's illustrious private concerts.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Sonata in E major BWV 1035 for flute and basso continuo
(Potsdam, 1741/1747?)
Adagio ma non tanto
Allegro
Siciliano
Allegro assai
Ada Pérez, traverso
Tim Veldman, harpsichord
The concert closes with the flute sonata in E major by father Johann Sebastian. In
some sources, the Prussian Chamberlain Fredersdorf is mentioned as dedicatee and
suggests that the piece was presented to him during one of Bach's visits to Berlin
during the 1740's. It is written in the modern galant idiom but retains essentially Bach's
style, bridging the gap, like his sons did, between old and new.