Composer: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Performer: Keith Jarrett
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: ECM
Catalogue: 4858495
Release: 2023
Size: 1.3 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Keyboard Sonata in A minor, Wq. 49 / 1 (H30) ‘Württemberg Sonata No. 1’
01. I. Moderato
02. II. Andante
03. III. Allegro assai
Keyboard Sonata in A flat major, Wq. 49 / 2 (H31) ‘Württemberg Sonata No. 2’
04. I. Un poco allegro
05. II. Adagio
06. III. Allegro
Keyboard Sonata in E minor, Wq. 49 / 3 (H33) ‘Württemberg Sonata No. 3’
07. I. Allegro
08. II. Adagio
09. III. Vivace
Keyboard Sonata in B flat major, Wq. 49 / 4 (H32) ‘Württemberg Sonata No. 4’
10. I. Un poco allegro
11. II. Andante
12. III. Allegro
Keyboard Sonata in E flat major, Wq. 49 / 5 (H34) ‘Württemberg Sonata No. 5’
13. I. Allegro
14. II. Adagio
15. III. Allegro assai
Keyboard Sonata in B minor, Wq. 49 / 6 (H36) ‘Württemberg Sonata No. 6’
16. I. Moderato
17. II. Adagio non molto
18. III. Allegro
Keith Jarrett’s account of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Wurttemberg Sonatas is a revelation.
“I’d heard the sonatas played by harpsichordists, and felt there was room for a piano version,” says Jarrett today. This outstanding recording, made in 1994 and previously unreleased, finds the pianist attuned to the expressive implications of the sonatas in every moment. The younger Bach’s idiosyncrasies: the gentle playfulness of the music, the fondness for subtle and sudden tempo shifts, the extraordinary, rippling invention…all of this is wonderfully delivered.
The fluidity of the whole performance has a quality that perhaps could be conveyed only by an artist of great improvisational skills. In Jarrett’s hands, CPE’s exploration of new compositional forms retains the freshness of discovery.
Recorded at Keith Jarrett’s Cavelight Studio in May 1994, the album includes liner notes by Paul Griffiths.