Miklós Spányi, the harpsichordist, has won first prize at international harpsichord competitions in Nantes (1984) and Paris (1987).
Composer Biography
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of Sebastian Bach, was a 19-year-old university student when he wrote his first solo keyboard concerto.
Interpretation
Miklós Spányi, the harpsichordist, chose to record these concertos on harpsichord based on historical research and personal experimentation, even retuning the highest treble notes to solve an instrument limitation.
Instruments
The harpsichord used in this recording was built in 1991 by Werner Stannat, after a Hieronymus Albrecht Hass instrument from Hamburg in 1734.
Compositional Technique
The German composers of Emanuel Bach's generation adopted a standardized three-movement concerto plan, influenced by Antonio Vivaldi's works from the 1720s and 1730s.
Composer's Artistic Vision
In the earliest and latest works on this album, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach introduced what could be called 'psychological complexity,' where two self-aware musical personalities confront each other.
Historical Context
In the 1730s, writing a solo concerto for a principal keyboard instrument was still rather new and unusual, with few composers pursuing it apart from Emanuel Bach's father, Sebastian Bach.
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Bach: Complete Keyboard Concertos, Vol. 1
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Bach: Harpsichord Concertos etc.
Bach, J.S.: Harpsichord Concertos After Vivaldi, Telemann, and A. Marcello
