"Tangere" - Russian pianist Alexei Lubimov records works of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach on a tangent piano

Alexei Lubimov (photo:Francois Sechel)

“Tangere” (Latin: touch) is the title of Alexei Lubimov’s recording of “Fantasias, Sonatas, Rondos and Solfeggi” of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), J.S.Bach’s fifth and second surviving son. Here, Lubimov performs the pieces on a tangent piano (German: Tangentenflügel) built by Späth & Schmahl, Regensburg (1794). An instrument whose strings are struck by freely-moving wooden posts (resembling harpsichord jacks), the tangent piano has the advantage of combining the timbres and potential of the fortepiano, the clavichord and the harpsichord, but with more strength than salon keyboard instruments of the time.

 

The tangent piano spread throughout Europe, in Italy being referred to as the ‘cembalo angelico’ and in France as the “clavecin harmonieux et céleste”. Franz Jacob Späth, a builder of pianos, clavichords and organs, was the most important of those producing tangent pianos in the second half of the 18th century, having built one for the Elector of Bonn in 1751. As demand for his tangent pianos increased, he took his son-in-law, Christoph Friedrich Schmahl, into the business as a full partner. Their tangent pianos were the prized instruments of some of the most eminent musicians of the time, including Mozart who, in 1777, referred to it as the “Späthisches Klavier”. By the early 19th century, Späth tangent pianos, now found in many European countries, boasted a range of six octaves. However, as the fortepiano was gaining more popularity than the harpsichord, the tangent piano was also on the losing side. After a short period of popularity, it sank into obscurity around the late 18th- or early 19th century. C.P.E.Bach’s keyboard concertos may or may not have been intended for the instrument, but it is an established fact that Johann Sebastian’s other musician sons wrote works expressly for the tangent piano. Some ten Späth and Schmahl tangents survive. Dating from 1780 to 1801, they all have the same action and compass of 5 octaves: FF – f3, but are of differing lengths - from 184- to 222 cm.

 

The tangent is activated by the player’s finger, striking the string to produce sound. Unlike the clavichord, where the tangent remains in contact with the string to keep the note sounding, the Tangentenflügel’s tangent leaves the string swiftly, allowing it to vibrate freely. The instrument has an intermediate lever, increasing the velocity with which the jack-striking post is driven towards the strings. Serving the new aesthetic of the early Classical period, the instrument offered a range of tone-changong devices, including an early damper system and a buff stop; the player was now in control of its volume by the strength with which he struck the keys, now free to engage the tangent piano’s choice of timbres in playing that was highly expressive, at times, quite intense! It is clear why this instrument, with its substantial expressive and coloristic potential, would appeal to Alexei Lubimov, an artist of much temperament and fantasy, just as it had fired the imagination of C.P.E.Bach, inspiring the composer to write daring new repertoire.

 

The disc offers a representative selection of C.P.E.Bach’s most concise keyboard pieces, many taken from the “Clavierstücke verschiedener Art” (Keyboard Pieces of Various Kinds, 1765) and from the “Musikalisches Vielerley” (Musical Miscellany, 1770). Four Fantasias feature here, some more chordal, some more contrapuntal, others a mix of both. Lubimov’s playing of them displays humour, offering lush spreads, “comments” and vibrant contrasting of subjects, as in the Fantasie in B minor Wq112/8. Exquisite miniatures, none exceeding one minute, each emerges in beautifully-sculpted- and satisfying durchkomponiert (through-composed) writing. And the same can be said of the disc’s four Solfeggi – some bristling with ornaments and brimming with good cheer, othersthe  spontaneous and improvisational in character. Especially impressive is Lubimov’s playing of the energetically arpeggiated C minor Wq117/2 (played by many of us as young piano students), buoyant, exciting and then gone in the wink of an eye. Then there is the charming, bell-like (probably pedagogical) “Clavierstück  für die rechte oder linke Hand allein” Wq 117/1 (Piano Piece for the Right- or Left Hand). Emanuel Bach’s Rondos sold well to the amateur music community, but there is no guarantee that Baroque house musicians would have read into them the suspense and caprice with which Lubimov lavishes Rondo II in D minor Wq 61/4!

 

In the recording’s two lengthier “Fantasien”, Lubimov gives bold expression to some of Bach’s most unique and unleashed utterances. Fresh, thrilling, unpredictable and inspiring in its sense of discovery, the C major Fantasie Wq 59/6 (1784) abounds in textural- and tonal changes, with Bach’s sentimental central melody appearing as an unexpected guest! Another highlight, the ‘Freye Fantasie’ (Free Fantasia) in F sharp minor Wq 67 (1787), probably the longest of the fantasias, comprises different sections (some repeated). It is as if Bach, a year before his death, wishes to present a kaleidoscope of keyboard practice of his era, indeed, a compendium of music from under the fingers of one of the greatest improvisers of all time. Alongside his display of contrasts in virtuosic figurations and imposing timbres, Lubimov’s personal and insightful playing also gives refined expression to the work’s introspective moments.

 

Of the more than 150 solo keyboard sonatas composed by C.P.E. Bach, two from ‘Für Kenner und Liebhaber’ (For Connoisseurs & Amateurs) appear on the disc. Lubimov’s suspenseful reading of Sonata VI in G major Wq 55 (1779) brings home the spirit of the “empfindsamer Stil” (sensitive style), perfectly timed- and suited to the discourse of Emanuel Bach’s impulsive, volatile temperament. (It should be noted that the composer’s musical mannerisms were no less astounding to his contemporaries than to today’s listeners.)  Note that Lubimov’s interpretation of Sonata II in D minor Wq 57 (1787), however, is more restrained and Classical in concept.

 

With a strong liking for music of the Baroque and the 20^th century, soloist, chamber musician and accompanist Alexei Lubimov (b. Moscow, 1944) is a pianist who plays harpsichord and fortepiano. Founder of the Moscow Baroque Quartet and a co-founder of the Moscow Chamber Academy, he has been instrumental in the ‘Alternativa’ Avant-garde Music Festival. An artist enquiring deeply into the music of C.P.E.Bach, Lubimov harbours no doubts as to the fact that the tangent piano, with its forthright signature timbre, its dynamic possibilities and strong potential for contrast, is tailor-made to this unique repertoire. Lubimov’s inspired performance of it gives formidable expression to the temperament and fantasy, the unconventional beauty and excitement of the Hamburg Bach’s style. Recorded in Antwerp (2008) for the ECM New Series, “Fantasias, Sonatas, Rondos and Solfeggi” offers recording sound quality every bit as lively as the works it presents.