J.S. Bach: Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord

Featuring

Sarah Cunningham
Richard Egarr
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Composer Biography

Bach was connected to two families of gamba virtuosi: the Abels (Christian Ferdinand Abel was court gambist in Cöthen, and his son Carl Friedrich Abel studied with Bach) and the Hesses (Ernst Christian Hesse studied with Marin Marais and Antoine Forqueray).

Performer Biography

Sarah Cunningham, one of the foremost viola da gambists, co-founded Trio Sonnerie and has toured globally, collaborating with artists like Sir James Galway and Jordi Savall.

Performer Biography

Richard Egarr, the harpsichordist, was Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music for 15 years and is currently Music Director of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale.

Historical Context

Many of Bach's chamber works, including possibly these sonatas, are now thought to have been composed in Leipzig, where he was active in the Collegium Musicum at Zimmermann's coffeehouse.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Bach's Gamba Sonatas are not merely contrapuntal exercises; they evoke the flexibility and eloquence of obbligato instrumental parts in his cantatas and Passions, matching the rhetorical beauty of vocal lines.