The fortepiano used for the G major concerto, Wq 44, is a 1798 John Broadwood & Sons grand piano, similar in construction to instruments Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach may have seen in Hamburg.
Composer Biography
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the composer, left his post in the Prussian royal musical establishment in Berlin to become music director of five city churches in Hamburg and Kantor of the Johanneum, a prestigious Gymnasium.
Performer Biography
Miklós Spányi, the soloist and artistic director, has concentrated his performance and research on the works of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach for several years and has worked to revive Bach's favorite instrument, the clavichord.
Composition History
The 'six easy harpsichord concertos' (Wq 43), including two on this album, were specifically designed by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach for his own publication and aimed at sophisticated amateur players.
Interpretation
Miklós Spányi, the harpsichordist and fortepianist on this album, chose to record the Wq 43 concertos on a harpsichord with a swell device, a feature popular in Bach's time.
Composer Biography
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's godfather was Georg Philipp Telemann, a renowned composer whose position Bach took over in Hamburg.
Compositional Technique
In the Wq 43 concertos, the three movements succeed one another without a break, connected by transitional 'bridge' passages that prepare the new and often unconventional key of the next movement.
