Classical Music | Music for Flute

Recorded on 04/02/2014, uploaded on 08/26/2014

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

I.     Adagio ma non tanto
II.    Allegro
III.   Andante
IV.    Allegro

Scholars have studied the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) for over 200 years, yet many of our questions remain unanswered from both the musical and historical perspective, which is the case for his flute sonatas.  We constantly find ourselves asking: When did he write the flute sonatas?  For whom?  Did he have a particular flute in mind?  At what pitch should they be played?  Is every sonata entirely by J.S. Bach?

Needless to say, these questions and many others, force us as performers to make decisions which remain valid but debatable, and convincing, but never unambiguous.  Bach’s flute sonatas do not form a homogeneous group because he most likely composed them over a period of about twenty years.  His compositions were constantly evolving and often one finds inconsistencies and contradictions within a manuscript.  The oldest manuscript of the Sonata in E minor BWV 1034 is not very reliable as it is not an autograph done by Bach, but rather a copy done by a pupil of a pupil of Bach.      Jason Moy

Leighann Daihl plays Baroque Flute
Anna Steinhoff plays Baroque Cello
 

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.