Bach, C P E: Sonate en ut mineur H514, Wq78

This double album offers a portrait of the violinist Amandine Beyer drawn from the recordings she has made for ZZT.

The first CD selects highlights from her chamber repertoire, including works by Jean-Féry Rebel, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Nicola Matteis, and Robert de Visée. The second is devoted to the concerto, with compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, and Arcangelo Corelli. This programme is an ideal introduction to the multiple facets of Amandine Beyer’s talent and to the grace and joie de vivre of her music-making. It also provides an opportunity to discover one of Corelli’s Concerti Grossi op.6, a preview of the complete set to be released on ZZT in the autumn of 2013.

Aline Zylberajch and Alice Piérot offer a selection of pieces for both violin and keyboard and solo keyboard, all composed during Carl Philipp Emanuel’s mature years, from the 1760s up until his death. The programme has been put together to offer a trip back in time, starting with the Fantasia in F# minor then moving backwards to pieces which, although older, already feature his whole world of expression in embryonic form.

During CPE Bach's early years, the trio sonata underwent a number of significant changes. The keyboard, especially, made the transition from a continuo role to an independent obbligato part, with the right hand on par with the treble, melodic parts. It was then not a great step to the interesting idea of a solo piece for keyboard with the accompaniment of one or more melody instruments. This is what we witness in CPE Bach's pieces for keyboard and violin recorded here. This is the debut solo recording on ATMA of the two outstanding English musicians Adrian Butterfield and Laurence Cummings.