Very nice sonata by JC, composed around 1780, which means rather at the end of his life already. This is played on a fortepiano, from around 1785. The recording doesn’t manage to show great differences in piano and forte. However, we should bear in mind that the concept even of “fortepiano” was very new stuff at that time. Most people (and I am willing to bet JC too) were thinking more in the harpsichord tradition, however there were already pianoforte predecessors such as the famous Pantaleon, featuring a non damped sound (harp like). I already played on concerts on it, … it’s a fun thing.
Ok, so Beethoven was around 10 years old when this was composed. To me, the fact that it’s c minor, that the last movement is labelled “prestissimo”, that it’s triplets… and other things, seem to me that this particular sonata was a great influence on young Beethoven on his Op.2. Can this be true? Also, this recording is not supposed to be a perfect CD like recording. Basically, it is me just sitting at the piano after a stressful week and simply letting you also hear my playing (well, via a score video, additionally). A probably unpopular opinion but… I like the music of JC and especially Carl SO much , that I have to admit it appeals to me more than Mozart and haydn… in MANY cases. This is, to me, almost the perfect classical music. So incredibly charming, warm hearted, clever in ideas and rhythms, and melodies, and … almost all parameters imaginable. I don’t compare it to Frescobaldi artistry, the father of all… or Kunst der Fuge or Liszt Sonata here. I am talking about standard classical music, actually more pre classical music, not the Beethoven developments. Of course for example Mozart and Haydn have very grand pieces too (Fantasia c minor, Variations in f minor – two of the actually saddest piece I know at all in any literature). In my opinion, this music especially shines when played on a very early fortepiano or harpsichord even. It just adds to the whole thing a lot. I already played the incredible( which i studied much more), A major sonata (from the same Op.17)
JC (1735-1782) was a German composer of the Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. He is also sometimes known as “the English Bach”, and during his time spent living in the British capital, he came to be known as John Bach. He is noted for playing a role in influencing the concerto styles of Haydn and Mozart. He contributed significantly to the development of the new sonata principle. Johann Christian Bach was born to Johann Sebastian and Anna Magdalena Bach in Leipzig, Germany. His distinguished father was already 50 at the time of his birth—an age gap exemplified by the sharp differences in the musical styles of father and son. Even so, father Bach instructed Johann Christian in music until his death in 1750.
0:00 Allegro
5:19 Andante
9:50 Prestissimo
After his father’s death, he worked (and lived) with his second-oldest half brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who was twenty-one years his senior and considered at the time to be the most musically gifted of Bach’s sons.
More details on wikipedia.
One last note: Bach is widely regarded as having a strong influence on the young Mozart, with scholars such as Téodor de Wyzewa and Georges de Saint-Foix describing him as “The only, true teacher of Mozart”.
