Bach, C P E: Prüfung am Abend Wq194/7

'Trost im Leid' pays homage to the most beautiful holy lieder composed during the maturity of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, selected from the 250 which he left in total. Most of them are unpublished. These magnificent lieder gradually let the baroque influence fade away in favour of themes and contrasts proper to the classical style of Haydn and Mozart.

In turn light, deep, brilliant or meditational, these lieder are written in very different styles, sometimes orchestral, sometimes intimate, sending us on a journey deep into the human soul.

These true marvels are sung by the tenor Hervé Lamy, at the top of his musical talent and his expressivity, and the brilliant harpsichordist Sébastien Amadieu, to whom we owe the extraordinary musicology of reconstituting the accompaniment, which was only evoked by Bach.

The classical and romantic “Lied” (song) genre finds its origins in the settings of strophic poems by o.a. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. His Odes contain settings of (sometimes rather liberal) secular poems as well as sacred texts, in a combination of recitative and aria, with rich and imaginative accompaniment of the continuo.

The Odes form a fascinating overview of the various styles employed by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who during his long creative life developed from the pure Baroque style of his father Johann Sebastian to the “Sturm und Drang” era, with its pre-romantic outbursts of emotions.

New recording, liner notes and sung texts included.