Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonatas for violin

Product detailed description

The six violin sonatas on our CD do not constitute any planned whole. Three of them were written for solo violin accompanied by basso continuo, while the other three are, as already mentioned, trio sonatas with obbligato harpsichord. J. S. Bach´s authorship is, in several cases, either dubious or only partial. The sonata in G minor BWV 1020 appears to have been written by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and originally intended for solo harpsichord and flute. However, a copy of the work in the State Library of Berlin unambiguously refers to the violin as the melodic instrument. Our CD then gives you an opportunity to hear the sonata in its now rarely presented, albeit original mid-18th-century version. Similarly, the E-flat sonata BWV 1031 was originally intended for the flute and, by all accounts, also written by C. P. E. Bach. The G major sonata for violin and basso continuo BWV 1021 is recognized as an authentic work by J. S. Bach. However, the next sonata in F major for concerto harpsichord and violin BWV 1022 is a curious arrangement of the former. Both share the same continuo line and harmonic structure.Whereas the former sonata BWV 1021 has only one melodic part, the latter BWV 1022 has two such voices while the motifs and themes of the two sonatas are unrelated to each other. Sonata in E minor BWV 1023 exists in only one copy deposited in the Dresden Court Library under the name of „Violino solo del sgn Bach“. German musicologists have for years been disputing the authenticity of the sonata in C minor BWV 1024, unable to find convincing proof of J. S. Bach´s authorship or reliably refute it either. The impressive prelude with enharmonic twists is remotely reminiscent of the organ Fantasy in G minor BWV 542, the second movement is really a violin concerto making a clear distinction between solos and tutti. The final part is a French Baroque-type rondo.