A secret society, a clandestine community, mythical rituals in dark temples. The image of the Freemasons is surrounded by the mystic mists of the unknown. When it comes to their music, one should by no means think of Hans Zimmer's epochmaking soundtracks to the Hollywood movies based on Dan Brown's novels! Vocal Concert Dresden has turned to the authentic music of Freemasonry. The exclusivity and selfimposed isolation of the movement fed the legend of the "Royal Art" that grew up about the fascinating mysteries of the Freemasons. What really took place in the inner confines of their temple remained hidden from view. The development of their mythical, symbolic use of formulae, objects and rituals went hand in hand with a cultivation of specific music. This album offers a whole programme of music that covers both overt and subliminal examples of musical pointers to the lodge brethren's symbols and values: threefold repetition for example will symbolise the three ranks of St John Masonry and the three ideals (wisdom, strength and beauty); pounding note repeats represent the masons' hammer blows, while the alternation between soloist and tutti represents the teacher-apprentice relationship between the individual ranks. Schiller's "Ode to Joy" won favour in more than 100 different settings and gained immortal status as the culmination of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The widespread view that it was commissioned as an original poem for the masons is simply untrue. Long before Beethoven took possession of the poem, a number of composers in Leipzig and Dresden had set the words to music. Four of those first settings laid the foundations for it's popularity and they are featured here on this album. Accompanied by a comprehensive booklet, this release by Vocal Concert Dresden under the direction of Peter Kopp aims to demonstrate the importance of music, not only to the freemason movement. Masonic music-making made a huge contribution to the development of middle-class and non-sacred music. Recorded in Dresden's "Institute of Freemasonry", a school building sponsored for more than 150 years by the movement, this album featuring numerous works never recorded until now offers a truly fascinating view into a world seldom seen or heard.

For fifteen exciting years the manuscripts of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's keyboard concertos have held me in their thrall. Both delightful and challenging at the same time, a hitherto unpublished and therefore completely unknown world revealed it's hidden beauties. With an eighth CD, my series comprising around half of all the available keyboard concertos now comes to an end. This musical form - according to Emanuel Bach himself his 'most personal' - occupied the composer repeatedly throughout his lifetime. From the astonishingly self-confident concerto Wq1 by a 19-year-old to the cheerfully ironic Wq47 from the year of his death, a long and very fruitful career is illustrated by the search for distinctive new means of expression. As later with the symphonies composed in Hamburg, Emanuel Bach here also took 'all the liberties he needed'. We find bold innovation as well as exuberant kinetic joy, exquisite chromaticism and demanding virtuosity alongside profound contemplation. Michael Rische

Most of C.P.E. Bach's sonatas for flute and continuo date from the composer's early creative period. While some show elements of musical Sturm und Drang, others are more galant works. All of them are true jewels of the 18th century flute repertoire. The flutes played by Barthold Kuijken on the recording are replicas of instruments from the mid-18th century. The simple continuo instrumentation with only harpsichord (or fortepiano) places the emphasis on the imaginative little twists and turns of the flute lines.

With this recording, volume 42 of the complete music for solo keyboard by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Miklos Spanyi continues his exploration of transcriptions of concertos originally written for keyboard and orchestra, to which he adds some movements from early versions of sonatas (the standard versions of which appear on earlier volumes in this series). Four of the six concertos from the Wq 43 collection are featured here (the remaining two appear on the previous volume, BIS-2397). When Bach published this set of six concertos for keyboard and orchestra in 1772, he also prepared a version for solo keyboard intended for moderately advanced amateurs who could then play them at home, without orchestra, thus opening up a much larger market. A smart move by the shrewd businessman that Bach was. About his decision to record these works on a clavichord rather than a tangent piano as previously, Spanyi says that it allows 'nearly infinite possibilities for fine dynamic shadings' and that 'the required dynamic contrasts can be emphasized even better than on other keyboard instruments of the period'. Spanyi adds that this release is a tribute to the clavichord, and especially to his own instrument, built by Joris Potvlieghe.

An exciting journey through the time: Mozart played on a fortepiano, according to 19th Century performing style, with today sensitivity. Keiko Shichijo introduces us to Baron van Swieten's salon, where Mozart used to play the piano in the early 80s. In this salon Mozart got to know in depth the music of Bach and Haendel. Keiko constructs a clever programme of great masterpieces somehow related to these years and to the new influence Bach excerted on Mozart.

New: supplemented and completed! "The recordings are of the highest quality throughout! The different interpretations are also convincing, original sound ensembles underline the mastery of Bach's son! A must for every music lover!" "The CPE Bach Edition brings together beautiful music played by outstanding musicians. Ideal for anyone who wants to get to know the work of this composer at an affordable price."

The instrument 'flute' is closely associated with the Prussian king Frederick the Great and his residence Sanssouci, as the Prussian king was a passionate flutist and numerous works were composed for him. For the recorder player Isaac Makhdoomi, it is a special challenge to transfer these works, which were actually composed for a transverse flute, to his instrument. The idea behind this was to bring new aspects and facets to the works originally composed for the transverse flute, which he actually succeeds in doing brilliantly.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) was regarded as one of the greatest theoretical and practical musicians of his time even during his lifetime; arguably the most famous son of Johann Sebastian Bach, he broke new ground in the concerto genre between the Baroque and Classical periods. His flute concerti are not only technically exceptionally demanding but are particularly challenging "in the art of expression", to quote one of his contemporaries. In this new recording of C.P.E. Bach's flute concertos in A minor (Wq 166 / H. 431), G major (Wq 169 / H. 445) and D minor (Wq 22 / H. 425) the Georgian Chamber Orchestra Ingolstadt and Ariel Zuckermann (solo flute and conductor) invoke the zartliche Empfindungen, the tender sentiments that the composer considered essential in order to reveal new aspects of music.

This recording combines three of the most significant musicians belonging to the generation of the empfindsame or "sentimental" style. As a reaction to the late baroque of J.S. Bach and Handel, they systematically explored contrast and extreme juxtapositions in their compositions. This avant-garde style remained in fashion for only a short period, but anticipated many pre-eminent aspects of early romanticism. In this recording a harpsichord concerto by W.F. Bach (J.S. Bach's eldest son) is combined with two concertos by Bohemian composer G. Benda. They perfectly illustrate the empfindsame style, quickly oscillating between excitement and melancholy, furious frenzy and serene calm. The programme concludes with major solo harpsichord pieces by C.P.E. Bach and a beautiful Adagio and Fugue for orchestra by W.F. Bach - showcasing the composer's ability in the stile antico.

N the 18th century, Europe experienced a profound musical transformation from the Baroque to the Classical period. At the centre of this period stands Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. He emerges as a fascinating and highly influential figure in music history, embodying the transition from the Baroque to the Classical and Romantic periods. Throughout his life, C.P.E. Bach composed over three hundred keyboard works. His foray into organ music was significantly influenced by his association with Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia (1723-1787), sister of his employer King Frederick and recognised as one of the most enthusiastic collectors, performers, and composers among the women of the 18th century. The princess, had an organ installed in her living room to immerse herself in the 'learned style' epitomised by Bach's father. It cannot be coincidence that the first four of Bach's five organ sonatas were composed in 1755, the same year Amalia's organ was installed. These compositions represent a departure from traditional forms, emphasising an expansive expressive range and harmonic innovation. Only the five sonatas listed in Bach's own catalogue have been included in this recording. Amidst the flourishing creativity of the Classical period, a fascination with mechanical music swept across Europe. Esteemed composers such as Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart embraced this trend, creating compositions that enhanced both public and private musical experiences.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Sonatas with Varied Reprises (comp. 1758-9, publ. 1760) constituted a bold experiment. Spelling out every repeat, Bach applies to each the art of variation. Starting off as a service ("play this and you'll sound as if you're improvising"), the opus ends up a masterclass in variation. Tom Beghin, playing his own beloved clavichord, enacts the role of the keyboardist- composer who repeats himself, while never saying the same thing twice.

Classical Music

Young and foolish is the title Café Zimmermann has chosen for this program, which features music from the 1770s and 1780s by Mozart and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, starting with Mozart’s famous and sparkling Divertimento KV 138. For this fascinating W.A.-C.P.E. face-off, Café Zimmermann has invited an exceptional musician: the fortepianist Alexander Melnikov. They perform the Concerto no.17 in G major KV 453, of which Mozart said in a letter to his father that (like his concertos KV 450 and KV 451) ‘they make you sweat’! Melnikov is joined by harpsichordist Céline Frisch, co-founder of the ensemble, in Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Concerto for fortepiano, harpsichord, and orchestra, the only one of its kind ever composed, a work full of energy and mischief.

REVIEW:

This album hosts works by two of the greatest composers of the Classical Era, C.P.E. Bach and Mozart. The performances, featuring the outstanding solo artistry of pianist Alexander Melnikov and harpsichordist Céline Frisch, supported by the ensemble Café Zimmermann, are captivating, and the recording boasts a clear and intimate soundscape.

— The Classic Review (Tal Agam)

This disc completes the set of CPE Bach’s Fortsetzung Sonatas, Wq51 that began in Volume 26 in this series. Although the sonatas were not published together with the composer's own variants on them, such alternative versions exist in manuscript, and splitting this set of large-scale works over two discs, Miklós Spányi also includes recordings of these varied or embellished versions that may represent the composer's revisions but could equally well have been intended as study material for his students.

For some time, writes viola virtuoso Mathis Rochat in the preface of this new release, he had been thinking to adapt Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Cello Concerto in B-flat Major for his own use. He calls it a "somewhat audacious transcription", but the range of the solo part is well-suited for the viola and can be performed on the instrument with great ease. Which had to be proven first! Indeed, the young Swiss artist lends the "higher-pitched" composition a power of momentum and elasticity from which the already supple, melodious music can only benefit. All the more, since it is a superb "overture" to both of the following works, which Johann Gottlieb Graun, eleven years Bach's senior, had intended for the viola. Sometimes flanked by its little sister, as in the quiet Sturm und Drang C Minor concerto, then alone in sole competition with the string orchestra, this under-appreciated instrument shows in the music of the Berlin Court a wealth of expression that need not hide behind its higher and lower rivals.