J.C.F.Bach: Six Sonatas “für das Clavier mit Begleitung einer Flöte oder Violine” - a new recording on period instruments by Jochewed Schwarz (square piano) and Ashley Solomon (Baroque flute)

 

A recently-issued disc of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach’s Six Sonatas “für das Clavier mit Begleitung einer Flöte oder Violine” (for the Clavier, with flute or violin accompaniment), performed by Ashley Solomon (flute) and Jochewed Schwarz (pianoforte), offers the listening public an opportunity to visit works of the lesser-known third of Johann Sebastian Bach’s four composing sons. Born in Leipzig, the sixteenth of J.S.Bach’s twenty children, and the ninth child born from the union with Anna Magdalena, J.C.F.Bach (1732-1795) received his musical education from his father and from a distant cousin Johann Elias Bach, who lived in the Bach house, serving as J.S. Bach’s personal assistant. Christoph Friedrich also served as his father’s copyist for a number of years and, like his brothers and father, was known as a virtuoso keyboard player. In 1750, the year of his father's death, Friedrich was offered the position of harpsichordist at the court of Count Wilhelm of Schaumberg-Lippe in Bückeburg, nine years later being promoted to Konzertmeister. (To avoid confusion with other members of the Bach family, he is often referred to as "Friedrich" or the "Bückeburg Bach".)  In 1778, Friedrich took leave of absence from his post, travelling to London to visit his brother Johann Christian. While in London, he was exposed to the music of Mozart and the burgeoning Classical style, the music he heard in London influencing his later works. Friedrich was a versatile composer, writing in a variety of forms, including symphonies, chamber music, keyboard music and vocal works. The number of printed compositions was limited, however, by the cost of printing and publishing and his music remained mostly in manuscript form. Sadly, a considerable part of it was lost in World War II.

 

Friedrich developed musically in keeping with the stylistic fashions of his time: his mature style is  hybrid, equally influenced by Italian and German characteristics, while his late works clearly belong to the Classical style. It was the Italianate tastes of Count Wilhelm that forced Friedrich Bach to assimilate the characteristics of that style in his middle period works, including the works on this recording, which attest to the galant style. Jochewed Schwarz spoke of this salon music as having been written not for professional- or virtuosic musicians (albeit not without challenges) but for the personal enjoyment and creativity of  players, the players, in this case, possibly including Count Wilhelm himself. Composed in the standard three-movement form some time before 1776 and published in Riga in 1777, the piano parts appeared in the C-clef. Indeed, to date, only three of the six have been published in modern notation.

 

In contrast to the title given to these sonatas, the melody instrument (the transverse Baroque flute here) does not accompany the harpsichord; different as they are in character and timbre, the two instruments perform as equal partners, their roles intertwining, commenting and imitating, at times, each busy with their own agendas. The artists' choice of instruments bears mentioning: Ashley Solomon chose to play a flute by Martin Wenner (2005) after Carlo Palanca (c.1750). In contrast to many other Baroque flutes, Turin bassoonist/instrument maker Palanca built his instruments with an oval embouchure, making for a more powerful sound, not rough in timbre, but rather offering diverse tonal shadings. Jochewed Schwarz plays a square piano by Johannes Zumpe and Gabriel Buntebart (1769). It seems that the oldest known square pianos were made in 1766 by Zumpe himself, a German instrument maker working in London and the first to inspire general interest in this instrument. Gabriel Buntebart, another of the numerous German piano makers settling in London during the mid-18th century, worked with the famous Johannes Zumpe until 1778. This square piano (housed in the Cobbe Collection) possesses a more metallic sound than Zumpe's later instruments, which were larger and fuller in sound.

 

Splendid salon music, the sonatas, although less elitist than some court repertoire of the time, are far from superficial. They invite players to be creative and spontaneous. Schwarz and Solomon's performance of the Six Sonatas vouches for well-oiled teamwork, their sense of rediscovery and fine-spun music-making giving splendid expression to J.C.F.Bach's wealth of lyrical melodies, his delicate textures and to the composer's refined sense of harmony, as the artists engage individually in a diversity of embellishments. The very different timbres of the two instruments do not hinder one's concept of the music; indeed, they make for a transparent texture, inviting the listener to choose how to listen to its various strands and textures at any given moment. As to dance forms, Minuets conclude five of the sonatas, with the Polonaise, evoking proudly-stepping couples, appearing (Andante alla Polacca) as the second movement of four of the sonatas. All the sonatas are in major keys except for Sonata No.1 in D minor, which the artists have strategically placed as the fifth item on the disc. Following the flowing, busy, spirited opening of Sonata No.1's Allegretto, the Andante presents a scene atypical of the works of this collection - sections of their elegiac, introspective joint playing are punctuated by recitative-type keyboard sections, with Schwarz' solos of an improvisatory- and harmonically audacious nature emerging as spontaneous, as each new moment of musical speculation asks to be probed. Then, whisking away any trace of the enigmatic Andante, the final Allegro takes us back to Friedrich's vibrant, ebullient music, its lengthy phrases enhanced by some inégal playing. 

 

Recorded in February 2023 at the Cobbe Collection Trust, Surrey, UK, a handsome property of the National Trust, this disc provides insight into both the constraints and breadth of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach's writing in his employ at the court of Count Wilhelm of Schaumberg-Lippe. Enquiring deeply into this very specific repertoire and its cultural background, Jochewed Schwarz (Israel) and Ashley Solomon (UK) present the interplay of two fascinating period instruments, creating much interest for the listener. Recorded for the Meridian label, the CD's natural, clean sound zeroes in on the artists' mindfulness of fine detail, highlighting their understanding of the personal character of the music. 

Sheer delight!

 

Jochewed Schwarz & Ashley Solomon (Luisa Salomon)