J.S. Bach: Keyboard Works (Arr. for Baroque Ensemble)

Featuring

Emma Murphy
Rachel Stott
Asako Morikawa
incanti
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Composer's Artistic Vision

J.S. Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias were intended as "straightforward instruction" for keyboard lovers to learn clear playing, develop good musical ideas, and achieve a cantabile (singing) style.

Interpretation

The ensemble incantati uses three instrumental timbres—recorder, viola d'amore, and viola da gamba—that were associated with enchantment or otherworldliness in the Baroque period.

Instruments

The viola d'amore used on this recording is a 6-string instrument modeled after a 1726 Franz Ostler, made by Olivier Calmeille in 2011.

Compositional Technique

Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias are organized in ascending chromatic order by key, traversing eight major and seven minor keys.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in 24-bit, 96kHz high resolution at the Church of the Ascension, Plumstead, London, UK, in May 2021.

Performer Biography

Emma Murphy, a recorder player on this album, has been described by BBC Radio 3's Sean Rafferty as 'the Stirling Moss of the recorder world'.

Composition History

The Inventions and Sinfonias were originally part of the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, a collection written for J.S. Bach's eldest son in 1720.