Camerata Köln - J.C.F. Bach: Sonatas & Trios (2004)

Bach Son No. 19 -- Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, also known as the "Bückeberg Bach" through his long association with the royal court in that town -- was by all counts industrious, loyal to his position and employers, generously good natured, and brimming with the talent inherited from his father. In other words, the second youngest Bach son was everything his eldest half-brother Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was likely not. However, his extant worklist is only about half the size of Wilhelm Friedemann's, and that owes to the World War II-ra bombing of the institute constructed to house his manuscripts; ironically, the building from which they were moved remained intact. The lack of access to Bach's work and the inauspiciousness of his position have led to a notion that Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach must not be a very significant composer; however, such notion is rapidly evaporating in the path of wider dissemination of his extant work. CPO's Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Sonatas & Trios featuring Camerata Köln, reveals that as a chamber music composer Johann Christoph Friedrich was every bit the equal of his more celebrated brothers, and worthy of the mantle of his exalted father.

The program consists of five works, a Trio Sonata in E minor for flute and viola composed before 1760; two cello sonatas, one that originally appeared in Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Musicalisches Vielerley in 1770, and another dating from the 1780s. The remaining pieces -- two trios for piano, with flute and violin alternatively and interchangeably -- also date from the late Bückeberg period. Of these, there are two clear standouts, the cello sonata published by Bach's elder brother, and the D major Pianoforte Trio that opens the disc. The opening Larghetto of the cello sonata has a beautiful, generous cantabile line that could have been written by his father; whereas the Allegro and Minuet that follow bear the influence of the galant idiom and some measure of virtuoso technique. Blindfolded, one could almost say it was by Boccherini. The D major Trio is almost a perfect blend of Johann Sebastian's typical melodic shapes and gestures combined with the clattering motor rhythms of classical style. While some of Johann Christian Bach's music also betrays this combination, the handling and density of texture here are different; Johann Christoph Friedrich's music is more German and less Italian sounding than his younger brothers.

Camerata Köln maintains a very high performance standard throughout all of this music; even considering the strong showings that they have made in the past with eighteenth century chamber music, one is strongly moved to state that this is one of its best outings ever. Anyone who treasures chamber music of the eighteenth century and values the forward trajectory of Johann Sebastian Bach's music through that of his sons should not be scared of CPO's Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach: Sonatas & Trios, as it is immediate, highly entertaining, and revelatory.