Wilhelm Friedmann Bach
(1710 - 1789)

Sonata for Viola and Harpsichord in C minor

1. Adagio e mesto
2. Allegro non troppo
3 Allegro schezzando


Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

(1714 - 1788)

Sonata in G minor

4. Adagio moderato
5. Larghetto
6. Allegro assai


Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685 - 1750)

Three Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord

Sonata in G major BWV 1027

7. Adagio
8. Allegro ma non tanto
9. Andante
10. Allegro moderato


Sonata in D major BWV 1028

11. Adagio
12. Allegro
13. Andante
14. Allegro


Sonata in G minor BWV 1029

15. Vivace
16. Adagio
17. Allegro




J.S. Bach: Sonatas for Viola (da gamba) and Harpsichord, BWV 1027-1029

The three Sonatas for Viola da gamba and harpsichord form part of the relatively small corpus of "chamber music" (a modern term) that has come down to us from the pen of Johann Sebastian Bach. Nearly half (11) of Bach's works in this category are sonatas for a solo melody instrument (flute, violin, or viola da gamba) with a written-out harpsichord part, a configuration to which the name "obbligato duo sonata" has been applied. Most, if not all, of these sonatas are arrangements of lost trio sonatas. Apart from the early Sonata for Two Flutes and Continuo, BWV 1039, there exists only one authentic trio sonata by Bach: the four-movement sonata for flute, violin, and continuo included in the Musical Offering, BWV 1079, Bach's homage to King Frederick the Great of Prussia. Bach apparently came to prefer a texture of three independent and equal instrumental voices that dispensed with the ubiquitous chordal "filler" provided by the harpsichord continuo. The absence of such a chordal foundation required the composer-arranger to make the harmonic direction clear solely on the basis of the instrumental lines and to avoid intervals between voices that would have been "softened" by a chordal accompaniment. The three sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord, BWV 1027- 1029, were thought to have originated in the early 1720s, when Bach was employed at the court of Anhalt Cöthen. Indeed, Bach's court obligations included the provision of instrumental ensemble music, and his employer, Prince Leopold, played the viola da gamba. The chronology of Bach's chamber music has recently been reassessed, and it is now thought that the extant versions of the viola da gamba sonatas originated in the mid 1730s, prepared for the public concerts of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum directed by Bach in the 1730s and early 1740s.

Sonata in G major, BWV 1027

This Sonata is an arrangement for viola da gamba and harpsichord of the Sonata for Two Flutes and Continuo, BWV 1039. The second flute part was transposed down an octave and given to the viola da gamba, in which configuration it serves not only as an independent melodic line but also occasionally as a replacement for pitches that would have been supplied by continuo chords in the original flute version. The principal theme of the first movement is elegantly articulated with bowing and staccato indications in Bach's own hand. It consists of two brief motives, presented in the first half of the first measure and subsequently transformed throughout the movement, which ends expectantly on the dominant chord. The fugal second movement, Allegro ma non tanto, was considerably altered from the original flute version to involves the bass fully in the motivic elaboration of the principal subject. After a cadence on the tonic one-third of the way through the movement the subject is presented alternately in inversion and in its original form-an erudite touch in such a light hearted context. The brief Andante in E minor concentrates on a rising four-note motive, at least one of whose pitches dissonates against the prevailing harmony controlled by the bass line which falls chromatically from E to A in the first half of the movement, then from D to B, before coming to rest on a long tonic pedal sustained by the viola. When Bach revised the original flute version of the final movement, he reinforced its "learned" profile by treating the suspended dissonances more rigorously.

Sonata in D major, BWV 1028

The Sonatas in D major and G minor exist only as copies made within a few years of Bach's death by Christian Friedrich Penzel (1737- 1778), a student at the Thomasschule in Leipzig. Penzel had access to many of Bach's manuscripts, so there can be no doubt about the authenticity of the two works. Like BWV 1027, the D-major sonata is four-movement work whose first movement, a dialogue between the often widely spaced melodic lines, concludes with a harmonic preparation for the following Allegro. Not the least contribution to the rhythmic vitality of this Allegro is the frequent placement of accents off the principal beats against constant sixteenth-note motion. (Towards the close of the second section Bach increased the sonority with written-out chords for the harpsichord.) The beginning of the Andante might remind the listener of the instrumental ritornello of the aria "Erbarme dich" from the St. Matthew passion. The closing Allegro dissipates this meditative mood. Its harmonic plan, certain features of its structure,and its virtuosity are reminiscent of the concerto. The harpsichord is assigned a quasi cadenza about two-thirds of the way through the movement.

Sonata in G minor, BWV 1029

The concertante features of the first movement of the G-minor Sonata have usually been explained by supposing that it (and by implication the entire sonata) derived from a now lost concerto. Recently, however, scholars have pointed to its relationship to a genre known as the Sonate auf Concertenart (sonata in concerto style) that was cultivated by many German composers of the time. The opening of the first movement (viola accompanied by harpsichord continuo) is a classic incarnation of the Vivaldian ritornello, which is immediately restated by harpsichord. (This movement reminded Philipp Spitta, Bach's great nineteenth-century biographer, of "a composition in Magyar style: a rushing as of wild and fiery steeds across an open space.") Segments of the ritornello return to confirm the modulations carried forward in the "soloistic" portions, just as would happen in a true concerto. The striking unison passage toward the end of the movement was one of the identifying clichés of the Sonate auf Concertenart. Lawrence Dreyfus has argued that the second movement (Adagio) combines simultaneously an ornamented Italianate Adagio (viola), a sarabande decorated in the French manner (harpsichord), and an ostinato bass typical of concert slow movements. The parts exchange roles in the second half of the movement, which tends to emphasize the second beat of the measure, a phenomenon typical of the sarabande. The Sonata closes with a concertante fugue on a brief repeated-note subject contrasting with a cantabile theme-all presented over a static bass line.

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach: Sonata in C minor for Viola and Harpsichord

Bach (1710-1789), the eldest son of Johann Sebastian, would have been initiated into the art of composing three independent parts without continuo by the six sonatas for organ (BWV 525-530). According to Bach's first biographer, J. N. Forkel, these sonatas were written specifically for his instruction. Wilhelm Friedemann's appointment at the age of 23 as organist of the Sophienkirche at Dresden seemed to presage the beginning of a brilliant career, a promise apparently confirmed when he became Director of Music at Halle and organist at the Liebfrauenkirche. Within a few years, however, his relationships with the town council began to sour, and he resigned abruptly in 1764 without expectation of another position. Wilhelm Friedemann remained in Halle until 1770 before moving to Berlin; but neither in his personal life nor in his career did he find happiness and fulfillment. The Sonata for Viola and Harpsichord obbligato on this recording is attributed to W. F. Bach in a manuscript presently in the Library of Congress. Other contents of the collection include authentic trio sonatas by his brother, Carl Philip Emanuel, as well as two trios of Wilhelm Friedemann that have been accepted as genuine. On the basis of the authentic attributions in this manuscript the argument for Wilhelm Friedemann's authorship of the C-minor sonata seems amply justified. All three movements of the sonata (with the rather unusual tempo pattern slow-fast-fast) are in the tonic key, C minor. The first movement is tripartite, cadencing successively on the relative major and then on the dominant minor for a varied restatement of the first half. Languorous long appoggiaturas impart a sober cast to the opening and close of the movement. The extended second movement (Allegro non troppo) was obviously designed for a pair of virtuoso players. It is filled with brilliant figuration, thus deceiving initial expectations that it would concentrate primarily on motivic development. As befits a finale, the third movement is less complex in texture and allows both instruments an equal share of the limelight.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Sonata for Viola (da gamba) and Harpsichord in G minor,Wq 88, H 510

Johann Sebastian Bach's second son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, was born at Weimar on 8 March 1714. By the time the elder Bach moved his family to Leipzig in 1723, Carl Philipp Emanuel was old enough to attend the Thomasschule and to assist his father as a music copyist. He eventually entered the university at Leipzig to study law, subsequently transferring to Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, until he was taken into the musical service of Frederick, crown prince of Prussia, in 1738. After Frederick's accession to the throne, Carl Philipp Emanuel moved to Berlin as first harpsichordist of the court. His employer's tastes were far less adventurous than his own, hence his music was rarely heard at court. This did not, however, hinder Bach's personal musical success in the Prussian capital. He had many private pupils and participated in privately sponsored musical events, for which his chamber music was most probably intended. Carl Philip Emanuel composed two early sonatas for violin and obbligato cembalo. Apart from these, his earliest sonatas for solo instrument (violin or flute) and obbligato harpsichord were arrangements of conventional trio sonatas. (In this he followed the model of his father's procedure in BWV 1039/1027 and presumably other works as well.) Emanuel Bach's first composition conceived originally as an obbligato duo sonata is the Sonata in G minor for Viola da gamba and obbligato keyboard on the present recording. Written in 1759, it was succeeded in 1763 by a group of four similar works for violin and harpsichord and three years later by an obbligato duo sonata for flute and harpsichord. Emanuel Bach's sonata adopts the normal three-movement form (F-S-F) of the mid-eighteenth century. In the first movement the viola's long opening statement overlaps with its repetition by the harpsichord. It consists of a chain of small motives that in the second half of the movement will be the subject of dialogue and shared melodic elaboration between the two instruments. Most striking is the insistence throughout the movement on two or three repeated notes with varied continuations. Galant triplet passages echoed between string and keyboard offer moments of relaxation. The affective temperament that gave Bach's art a unique stature among his contemporaries is evident in the second movement, a Larghetto in C minor. The initial pathos-laden falling gesture with its chromatic continuation is eased somewhat by a premature move to the relative major. The first theme returns in varied form, a procedure used also in Emanuel Bach's collections of keyboard sonatas "with altered reprises" published in the 1760s. The passionate finale, marked Allegro assai, breaks away from baroque commonplaces in its figuration and harmonic movement. - Joseph Dyer
Although only the Sonata by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach on this recording was originally conceived for the viola, the other sonatas, conceived for the viola da gamba (an instrument already becoming obsolete in the early eighteenth century) adapt well to the instrument. Emanuel Bach's Sonata requires merely minimal changes at cadential flourishes. The performance of his father's Sonatas on the viola necessitates several octave transpositions when the music descends below tenor C. These do not impair the structural integrity of Bach's music or the musical logic of the melodic line. - Joseph Dyer



Michael Zaretsky
Born in the former Soviet Union, Michael Zaretsky graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory cum laude. He began his career as a member of the Moscow Philharmonic String Quartet, and later, of the Moscow Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra. After immigrating to Israel, Mr. Zaretsky became principal violist of the Jerusalem Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra and a soloist of the Israeli Radio. Leonard Bernstein heard him play and brought him to Tanglewood. While a Fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center in 1973, he successfully auditioned for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Active as a performer in solo recitals and chamber music concerts, Mr. Zaretsky has also appeared as a soloist with different symphony and chamber orchestras. He is a member of the faculty at Boston University and is a member and soloist of the Ars Poetica Chamber Orchestra, composed of internationally acclaimed musicians. Mr Zaretsky regularly performs in Japan where he recently recorded two compact discs. In collaboration with pianist Xak Bjerken, Mr. Zaretsky has recently released a new, highly-praised compact disc, Black Snow, under the ARTONA label, featuring music for viola and piano by Russian composers.

Marina Minkin
Marina Minkin left her native Ukraine (in the former Soviet Union) for Israel in 1981; there she studied piano and harpsichord performance at the Jerusalem University Music School. She has performed extensively as a soloist and an accompanist in Israel and the U.S. and has toured in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. In 1984, Ms. Minkin was the Third Prize winner in the Paul Ben Haim Competition of Israeli music, and in 1987 whe was a winner of the Israeli Radio Young Artists Competition. Between 1988 and 1990, Ms. Minkin studied harpsichord with Mark Kroll at Boston Universiy, earning a Masters of Music degree. In 1998, she earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Historical Performance. She was a winner of the 1990 BU Concerto-Aria Competition, semi-finalist at the 1991 Spivey International Harpsichord Performance Competition in Atlanta, and a recipient of the St. Botolph Club Artist's Award of 1994 and the Elsbeth Melville Boston University Women's Guild Scholarship of 1997. Marina Minkin is a founding member and director of the Ad Libitum Ensemble. She is also director of music and organist at the First Church in Dedham, MA. Back to home page