Bach Heritage: About the Program
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-84) was the second child and the oldest son born to Bach’s first wife, Maria Barbara; he was twelve when his mother died in 1720. In 1733 he earned a position as organist in Dresden before moving on to a more prestigious position in Halle in 1746. Sadly, his career began to decline from this point on. He was embroiled in various conflicts with city officials, in part, because he took an extended absence on the death of his father in 1750, overstaying his leave. He left his post as organist in 1764 without obtaining a new position. His final years were marked by financial difficulties, which led him to sell some of his father’s manuscripts.
W. F. Bach’s Sinfonia in F major (Flack 67) dates from his early years in Dresden and is scored for strings and basso continuo in four movements. The opening Vivace gives the work its nickname, “Dissonance,” for its harmonic surprises. The movement begins with dotted rhythms and rushing scale passages reminiscent of the French Overture, which indicates the work is modeled on a dance suite, along with the use of binary forms throughout the work. The second movement Andante, in D minor, is in flowing quadruple meter, similar to an allemande. The third movement, an Allegro in F major, is in duple time with a pickup, like a bourrée. The final movement in F major features a pair of minuets creating a large ABA form.
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732-1795) was the eighth of thirteen children born to Bach’s second wife, Anna Magdalena. In 1750 he was appointed harpsichordist to the court of Bückeberg, where he remained for the rest of his life. In addition to his performing duties, J. C. F. composed mostly on commission in a wide variety of instrumental and vocal works, which are notable for his willingness to try new musical ideas, including sonatas for two pianos and a wind septet.
J. C. F. Bach’s Sinfonia in D minor (HW I/3) was composed in 1768 for strings and continuo. The work is in the Galant style of being easy to follow by using repetitive motives as building blocks. The opening Allegro is a through-composed sonata form. The opening theme features descending octave leaps and the second theme begins with ascending step motion. Following a cadence in the dominant (C major), J. C. F. develops the opening themes in various ways, including a false recapitulation of the descending octave motive (in A minor) before the true recapitulation soon after. A brief coda transitions directly into the second movement Andante amoroso, which begins with an eight-measure theme in F major. The movement presents two variations of the theme (in C major and D minor) separated by a half statement of the theme and a full repeat at the end. The work concludes with an Allegro assai in D minor in the style of a bourrée—a fast duple with pick up—in a rounded binary form with a brief coda.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-88) was the fifth of seven children born to Bach's first wife, Maria Barbara; he was six years old when his mother died. By 1740 he was the accompanist to King Frederick of Prussia in Berlin, a position he held until he became director of sacred music in Hamburg in 1768 (a position similar to his fathers in Leipzig). Through these prestigious appointments, along with his teaching and publications, C. P. E. was one of the most recognized composers of his time.
C. P. E.’s Symphony in G major (Wq 182/1) is one of a set of six composed in 1773 commissioned by the Austrian ambassador to Berlin, Gottfried von Swieten, for four-part strings and continuo. The opening Allegro di molto and middle movement Poco adagio both use ritornello forms, similar to an orchestral concerto, in which a principal theme alternates with episodic contrasting material. The concluding movement, Presto, is a gigue in binary form with a short coda. The three movements are played without interruption by having the first two movements end on a dominant chord of the subsequent movement.
Johann Christian Bach (1735-82) was the youngest son in the Bach family. He was 15 when his father passed away in 1750, too young to begin his own career, so Wilhelm Friedemann delivered him to Berlin to continue his musical studies with his half-brother, C. P. E. In 1755 he left Protestant Germany for Italy to study music, eventually became an organist at the Milan Cathedral—mostly likely converting to Catholicism to do so. In 1762 he moved to London where he remained for the rest of his life.
J. C. Bach’s Flute Concerto in D major (Warb C 79) was composed by 1768 and is scored for strings, basso continuo, and solo flute. No single manuscript transmits the entire work, and musicologists have reassembled the piece over time from different sources. A manuscript in Berlin contains a flute concerto movement in D in sonata form (a first movement), which features the soloist in extensive runs and broad leaps and a cadenza near the end of the recapitulation. A manuscript in Paris transmits a Rondeau with the same orchestration (a final movement) in J. C.’s handwriting on similar paper. The brisk opening theme (repeated with the soloist with faster triplet passages) is followed by three episodes, the final two explore the parallel and relative minor keys (D minor and B minor). Each return of the theme gives the soloist an opportunity for a brief cadenza. The middle movement was not discovered until 1995 in the Library of the Brussels Conservatory among a group of papers marked “A Collection of Anonymous Autograph Manuscripts.” The Larghetto is in G major and alternates three tutti orchestral statements with extensive lyric solo passages.
