Bach, JS :: Vier Sonaten [Four Sonatas]

Vier Sonaten [Four Sonatas]

Bach, JS

Johann Sebastian Bach s preferred instrument for chamber music, after the violin, was the transverse flute. Yet today it is impossible to determine exactly how much music he wrote for this instrument or the genesis of those compositions that survive. Thus, of his seven sonatas for flute and continuo or obbligato harpsichord, it turns out that no fewer than three are of doubtful authenticity: BWV 1033, 1031 and 1020. All three were consigned in 1963 to a future supplementary volume of chamber music for the Neue Bach-Ausgabe in the vague hope that new and illuminating source material might eventually come to light.

Although chamber music is a peripheral area in Bach s oeuvre, it would be wrong to conclude that he was uninterested in it. Particularly in his Cothen period and the post-1726 Leipzig years, he must have had sufficient time to write chamber music. There is much to suggest, for example, that the modern touch in the E-flat major Sonata (BWV 1031), which has come down to us in high-quality sources but does not easily fit our standard picture of Bach s personal style, was connected with the particular circumstances of its origin, and that the work may well stem from the final years of the composer s life, much like the equally modern trio from The Musical Offering (BWV 1079). So as not to anticipate the supplementary chamber music volume of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, Barenreter Verlag has limited their revision of Hans-Peter Schmitz s earlier edition to these four works whose authenticity stands above reproach. The other three are available in a second Barenreiter edition by Alfred Durr (BA 5220).

This Barenreiter Urtext edition of the four authentic sonatas - BWV 1030, 1032, 1034, and 1035 - includes a full set of performance parts, including separate pull-out flute parts and optional cello parts for BWV 1034-1035, covering the solo part, basso continuo part, keyboard realization, and introductory text.