C. P. E. Bach's Sonatas for Solo Flute

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1/48

C. P. E. Bach's Sonatas for Solo FluteAuthor(s): Leta E. MillerReviewed work(s):Source: The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Spring, 1993), pp. 203-249Published by: University of California PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/764030 .Accessed: 15/09/2012 06:03

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2/48

C.P.E.

Bach's Sonatas

for

Solo Flute

LETA E.

MILLER

Considering

the singular importance of the flute

at

the court

of

Frederick the Great

(the

King

himself

was an accom-

plished flutist

who

employed

Quantz

as his

instructor)

and

C.

P. E.

Bach's

position

as

Frederick's

accompanist

for over

a

quarter century,

it seems at first

quite

surprising

that Bach

composed only

eighteen

sonatas

for the

instrument.'

Explanations,

however,

have been

readily

proffered:

the

King's

conservative musical

taste,

his unbridled

admi-

ration

for

Graun

and

Quantz,

his

less than enthusiastic

reception

of

Emanuel Bach's

experimental style.

Bach's disdain for the

King's

mu-

sical talents-particularly Frederick's erratic rhythm-is no less leg-

endary. Perhaps,

then,

the

appropriate query

is

precisely

the

oppo-

site:

given

Frederick's

indifference

to

Bach's music and Bach's

deprecation

of the

King's performance,

what

prompted

the

compo-

sition

of

so

many flute

sonatas?

Why,

too,

are

these

works

not

concentrated

exclusively

in

Bach's

early years

at the

court,

in the first bloom of a

potentially

harmonious

relationship

with one of

Europe's

most

powerful

monarchs? For

indeed,

Bach's

Berlin

flute

sonatas

span nearly

his

entire

residency

at Frederick's court (1738-68). Additional sonatas for the instru-

ment

pre-date

his

association

with

Frederick,

and Bach's final

work

in

this

genre

was

composed

in

1786,

long

after

he

had left Berlin for

Hamburg.

Although

in numbers

Emanuel Bach's

flute

sonatas are

dwarfed

by

his hundreds

of

keyboard

sonatas and vast

output

of

concerti,

the

excellence

of the

compositions

themselves

places

them

among

his

Volume

XI

*

Number

2

*

Spring

1993

The

Journal

of

Musicology

? 1993

by

the

Regents

of

the

University

of

California

There

are also

four

flute concerti

(discussed below)

and

a

few minor works. The

concerti

are listed in

E.

Eugene

Helm,

Thematic

Catalogue of

the Works

of

Carl

Philipp

Emanuel Bach

(New

Haven

and London: Yale

University

Press,

1989),

nos.

431, 435,

438,

and

445.

203


3/48


4/48

C.

P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS

here;

suffice

it to note that

study

of

C.

P. E.

Bach's flute sonatas

sup-

ports

his

hypothesis.

There

remains,

then,

the G-minor

sonata,

BWV

1020,

which even Marshall postulates to have been composed by

Emanuel Bach.

Nevertheless,

serious

questions

about

the

authorship

of this work

persist,

and the

possibility

that

the sonata

was

composed

by

J.

S. Bach cannot be

wholly

discounted.

Questions

have also been

raised

about

the sonata's

intended

instrumentation,

hypotheses

about

which will

be

advanced

below.

3.

The historical

relationship

between he continuo

sonata,

the trio

sonata,

and the

obbligato

onata. The

present

investigation supports hypotheses

that Bach's sonatas

for

flute and

obbligato

keyboard

postdate

trio

sonata versions of the same works,6 a development consistent with

historical

trends

in

the late

eighteenth

century

that favored an in-

creasingly prominent

role

for

the

keyboard.

4.

Evolution

ofBach's compositional

tyle. Study

of the flute sonatas

reveals

chronological changes relating

to

the balance

of the move-

ments within the

sonata;

Bach's treatment

of

empfindsam

composi-

tional

elements;

and the evolution

of such

"Classical"

stereotypes

as

balanced

phrase

structures and

homophonic

textures. Bach's

compo-

sitional

process

is elucidated

through

an examination

of

the

manner

in which rhetorical interjections interact with the structural basis of

the

composition,

and

through

a

study

of

his

reworking

of

several

of

the sonatas

either

in

the same

or in

a different medium.

Overview

of

the

flute

sonatas

The

eighteen

flute sonatas fall into

two

categories

as

defined

in the Nachlassverzeichnis: oli and

trii. The soli

include

eleven

works

for flute and continuo and one

for

flute

alone;

the trii

include six sonatas

for flute

and

obbligato keyboard.

In

Table

1

below,

these

eighteen

sonatas are

arranged chronologically

and divided into

six

temporal groups.

Group

1.

Sonatas

from

the

period

before Bach's

association

with

Frederick.

Group 2.

Sonatas

from

Bach's

first

years

at Frederick's court.

Group

3.

Sonatas

from the late

1740s,

composed

after a

hiatus of

six

years.

Group

4.

Sonatas

from the mid

1750s.

under

the

category

of

works

"von

Johann

Sebastian

Bach,"

read: "Trio aus dem Es

firs

obligate

Clavier und die Fldte.

In Partitur

...;

Sonate

fir

die

Fldte und BaB aus

C

#"

(see

Wade,

The

Catalog of

Carl

Philipp

Emanuel Bach's

Estate,

pp.

67-68).

In

a

forthcoming

article

in

Early

Music,

Jeanne

Swack notes close

parallels

between

BWV

1031

and

J.

J.

Quantz's

Sonata in E-flat

major,

QV

2:18.

6

See Michelle

Fillion,

"C. P. E. Bach

and the Trio Old and

New,"

in

C. P. E. Bach

Studies,

ed.

Stephen

L. Clark

(Oxford:

Clarendon

Press,

1988),

pp.

83-104.

205


5/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF MUSICOLOGY

Group

5.

A sonata from the

176os.

Group

6. The final

work,

from Bach's

Hamburg

years.

One

sonata,

H.

548,

is

undated,

but

there

are

compelling

reasons

(discussed

below)

for

placing

it

in

the

period

1738-40.

Except

for

the

Hamburg

sonata,

all of the soli

predate

the trii or

were

composed

in the same

year

as

the

earliest

of them. The two

types

of

works also have different

movement structures:

nearly

all of the

trii

are

in

the fast-slow-fast

format

typical

of

Bach's

keyboard

sonatas,

while the soli

(again

with the

exception

of the

Hamburg

sonata)

are

in

a slow-fast-fast format. This difference

in

movement

order

reflects

less upon chronological factors than upon stylistic features associated

with the solo and trio

genres

in

mid-century Germany.

Scheibe,

for

example,

describes the solo as follows:

In

general

a

solo

begins

with a slow movement. Here a

pure

and

concise

melody

must

dominate.

At the same time the movement

must be

light

and

flowing....

It

must,

so

to

speak, sing

itself....

This movement is followed

by

a fast

one,

which

may

well be some-

thing

fugal

or

designed

with free imitation....

In the

most

skillful

compositions

the

primary

theme

will

be a

singing,

new, clear,

and

pleasantmotive. This theme will hereafter progressthrough many

variations

and

through strong

and drawn-out

phrases;

yet

the first

theme must stand

out

very clearly....

The solo ends with a fast or

minuet-type

movement,

or even with

a

minuet

itself,

which is varied

severaltimes.

....

Difficult

and

digressing passages

must,

as

much

as

possible,

be avoided....

If it

is

a

minuet

with

variations,

the bass

notes must remain

unchanged through

all of

the variations

n

the

melody.

The variationsthus involve

only

the

upper part

and must

always

demonstrate the

strength

of the instrument

....7

7

Johann Adolph

Scheibe,

Critischer

musikus

(Leipzig:

Breitkopf, 1745),

PP.

681-

82:

"Ein

Solo

fingt insgemein

mit einem

langsamen

Satze

an. In diesem muB eine reine

und

btindige

Melodie herrschen.

Diese

muB

zugleich

leicht und flieBend

seyn....

Er

muB

gleichsam

selbst

singen

....

Hierauf

folget

ein

geschwinder

Satz. Dieser kann nun

wohl

etwas

fugenmiBig,

oder nach der

freyen

Nachahmung eingerichtet

werden....

Ein

singender,

neuer,

deutlicher

und

angenehmer

Satz wird also

am

geschicktesten

zur

Haupterfindung seyn.

Dieser wird hernach durch

mancherley

Verinderungen

und

durch starke und

weitliuftige Saitze fortgefiihret,

doch

muB

die

Haupterfindung

tiber-

all auf das deutlichste

hervorragen....

Den

SchluB

machet

endlich

ein

geschwinder,

oder auf Menuettenart

eingerichteter

Satz,

oder auch

selbst

eine

Menuet,

die hernach

verschiedenemale verindert

wird.... Schwere

und

ausschweifende

Gedanken

miis-

sen,

so viel

mtglich, gemieden....

Wenn es eine Menuet mit

Verinderungen

ist: so

mtissen

die

BaBnoten

bey

allen Ver~inderungen

der Melodie durchaus

unverrindert

bleiben. Die

Verinderungen

betreffen

also nur die

Oberstimme,

und

miissen

allemal

die Starke des Instrumentes

...

beweisen."

Quantz

also describes the solo as

three

movements, slow-fast-fast,

with

the two fast movements

contrasting

in nature. See his

Versucheiner

Anweisung

die

Flte traversierezu

spielen

(Berlin:

Johann

Friedrich

Voss,

1752;

reprint

of the

1789

edition,

Kassel and Basel:

Bairenreiter,

1953),

ch.

18,

sections

46-50.

206


6/48

C. P. E.

BACH'S

FLUTE SONATAS

On the

other

hand,

Scheibe describes the trio as

comprised normally

of four movements-slow-fast-slow-fast-but

notes

that

the

opening

movement is frequently omitted, "especially when the sonata is com-

posed

in concerto

style."8

All but the latest

of the six

obbligato

sonatas survive in alternative

trio sonata versions as

well.9

Variants

between the

obbligato

and

trio

sonata versions

of the same work are minimal: the

keyboardist

as-

sumes one

of the melodic lines

of

the trio sonata

in

the

right

hand

to

create the

obbligato

version;

in so

doing,

she/he omits most of the

figured

bass

realization,

although

some

of the

obbligato

sonata manu-

scripts

have added

notes

filling

out

the

harmonies in either the

right

or left hand.

Frequently

overlooked

by

commentators on Bach's

obbligato

so-

natas

is the

B-flat

major

sonata,

H.578;

though

published

as

a

trio

sonata

for

flute,

violin,

and

continuo

(along

with a

programmatic

trio

for two violins and

bass),1o

its title

page specifies multiple perfor-

mance

options

for both works.

ZWEY

TRIO,

das

erste

fir

zwo

VIOLINEN und

BASS,

das zweyte fir

1

QUERFLOTE, 1

VIOLINE

und

BASS;

bey

welchen

beyden

aber die eine

von den

Oberstimmen

auch auf dem

Fligel

gespielet

werden

kan

[sic]....

Two

eighteenth-century

manuscripts preserve

the

flute/keyboard

ver-

sion of the sonata."

8

Scheibe, Critischermusikus, pp. 676-77:

"Zuerst erscheint

ein langsamer Satz,

hierauf

ein

geschwinder

oder

lebhafter

Satz;

diesem

folget

ein

langsamer,

und zuletzt

beschlieBt

ein

geschwinder

und munterer Satz.

Wiewohl

man kann dann und wann

den

ersten

langsamen

Satz

weglassen,

und so fort mit dem lebhaften Satze

anfangen.

Dieses

letztere

pflegt

man insonderheit zu

thun,

wenn man die Sonaten

auf Concertenart

ausarbeitet."

9

The alternative

performance

options

are derived from the title

page

of the

original print

or from

descriptions

in

the NV.

Although

H.

505

is

designated

in the NV

only

in its trio sonata

version,

Johann Jakob

Heinrich

Westphal,

an associate of Bach

during

the

178os,

added the

words

"oder

Clavier" after the word "Violine" in his

copy

of

the

NV and the

obbligato

version survives

in

an authoritative

manuscript copy

in

Brussels

(Bc

6354).

1o

Published

in

Nuremberg

in

1751 by

the widow of Balthasar Schmid.

SStaatsbibliothek

Preussicher

Kulturbesitz, Berlin,

Musikabteilung,

St 260 and

St

572.

The NV

designates

this

sonata as follows:

"Fldte,

Violine

und

BaB. Ist

das 2te

der durch

Schmidt

in

Niirnberg gedruckten

Trii";

the

supplementary

instructions on

the title

page suggesting

the

possibility

of

obbligato performance

are not

reported.

It is

typical,

however,

that NV

listings

of

published

works are

highly

abbreviated

(incipits,

for

instance,

are

omitted),

apparently

on the

assumption

was

that

the

print

was

readily

available.

207


7/48

t0

TABLE 1

C. P. E.

Bach's Sonatas for

Solo

Flute

Scoring

Sonata

Date

Key

Mvt.

Alternate Mvt. 1

Mvt.

Order Versions

Group

1

(soli,

1735-37,

Frankfurt):

fl/cont

H.

550

(W.

123)

'735

G

maj.

SFF

-

Andante

Allegro

H.

551

(W.

124)

1737

e

min.

SFF

-

Adagio

Allegro*

Group

2

(soli,

1738-40,

Berlin):

fl/cont

H.

552

(W.

125)

1738

B,

maj

SFF

-

Adagio

Allegro

H.

553

(W. 126)

1738

D

maj

SFF

-

Largo

Allegro

H. 554 (W. 127) 1739 G maj SFF - Adagio Allegro

H.

555

(W. 128)

1740

a

min

SFF

-

Andante

Allegro

H.

556

(W.

129)

1740

D

maj

SFF

-

Adagio

Allegro

?H.

548

(W.

134)

undated G

maj

SFF

-

Adagio

Allegro

Group

3A

(soli,

1746-47,

Berlin):

fl/cont

H.

560

(W.

130)

1746

B,

maj

SFF

-

Largo

Allegro

H.

561

(W.

131)

1747

D

maj

SFF

-

Andante

Allegrett

fl

alone

H.

562

(W.

132)

1747

a

min

SFF

-

Poco

adagio Allegro

Group

3B

(trii,

1747-49,

Potsdam):

fl/keybd

H.

505

(W.

83)

1747

D

maj

FSF

fl/vn/cont

Allegro

un

Largo

(H.

575)

poco*

H.

578

(W. 161/2)

1748

B,

maj

FSF

fl/vn/bc

Allegro

Adagio

vn/keybd

(binary)

troppo

H.

506

(W.

84)

1749

E

maj

FSF

2

fl/bc

Allegretto*

Adagio

(H.

580)


8/48

TABLE 1

(cont.)

Scoring

Sonata Date

Key

Mvt.

Alternate

Mvt.

1

Mvt.

Order

Versions

Group

4

(trii,

1754-55,

Berlin):

fl/keybd

H.

5o8

(W.

85) 1754

G

maj

FSF

fl/vln/bc

Allegretto

Andanti

(H.

581)

(binary)

2 vln/bc

(H.

583)

H.

509

(W.

86)

1755

G

maj

SFF

fl/vln/bc

Andante

Allegrett

(H.

586)

Group

5

(trio,

1766,

Berlin):

fl/keybd

H.

515

(W.

87)

1766

C

maj

FSF

-

Allegretto

Andanti

(binary)

Group6 (solo, 1786, Hamburg):

fl/bc H.

564

(W.

133) 1786

G

maj

FSF

-

Allegretto

[unlabell

(binary)

recitativ

*These movements

are

through-composed;

the

opening

material

recurs

periodically

in

close

modulating

sections.

In

H5o5

and

506,

the

opening

theme is treated

imitatively

at all

recurr

O


9/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF

MUSICOLOGY

Table

1

reveals a

striking

trend

among

the

soli: the final

move-

ments increase

in

speed

from minuets in

the two earliest

works

to

vivace in the sonatas of group 2, to allegro in those of group 3A. That

vivace

represented

to

C. P.

E.

Bach a

slower

tempo

than

allegro

is

ver-

ified

by

several

contemporaneous

theoretical

sources

(e.g.,

Leopold

Mozart),12

as well

as

by

strong

internal

evidence:

the vivace

move-

ments are most often

minuets

(or

in

one

case,

a

gavotte)l's

and most

contain extensive

passages

of short notes.

With rare

exceptions,

these

finales

also

become

lengthier

over time

(thus

assuming greater

weight

in

the sonata

cycle),

as well as

increasingly

virtuosic.

The

obbligato

sonatas

show the reverse trend.

The

earliest works

(group 3B) are the longest and most difficult of Bach's sonatas in this

genre.

The

opening

movements are

particularly

lengthy

and feature

complex counterpoint

and

expansive Fortspinnung.

In

contrast,

the

two sonatas from the

175os

(group

4)

are set

in

the

flute's

brightest

and

most

comfortable

key

and

are

notably

less

demanding

(though

no

less

attractive)

than the sonatas from

the

1740s.

Thus

in

terms

of

technical

brilliance,

length,

and

seriousness of

expression,

Bach's

Frankfurt

and Berlin sonatas form a

type

of

arch,

reaching

an

apex

in

the

late

174os

with the

last soli and

the first

12

Mozart

lists the fast

tempi

in

the

following

order: Prestissimo

(or

Presto

assai),

Presto

(or

Allegro

assai),

Molto

Allegro,

Allegro, Allegro

ma non tanto

(or

allegro

non

troppo,

or

allegro

moderato),

Allegretto,

Vivace. He

defines

vivace

as follows:

"Vivace

heil3t

lebhaft,

und

Spiritoso

will

sagen,

dab

man mit Verstand und

Geist

spielen

solle,

und Animoso ist

fast

eben

dieB.

Alle

drey Gattungen

sind

das Mittel

zwischen dem

Geschwinden und

Langsamen,

welches uns das

musikalische

Stick,

bey

dem diese

Wirter

stehen,

selbst

mehrers

zeigen

mu3." (Leopold

Mozart,

Versuch iner

griindlichen

Violinschule

Vienna:

Carl

Stephenson,

1756], pp.

48-49).

Alexander Malcolm

lists the

tempi

in

ascending

order

as

grave, adagio, largo,

vivace,

allegro, presto,

prestissimo:

"Because

the

Italian

Compositions

are the

Standard and

Model

of

the

better Kind of

modern

Musick,

I shall

explain

the

Words

by

which

they

mark their

Movements,

and

which are

generally

used

by

all others in Imitation of them:

They

have 6 common

Distinctions of

Time,

expressed

by

these

Words,

grave,

adagio,

largo,

vivace,

allegro,

presto,

and sometimes

prestissimo.

The

first

expresses

the

slowest

Movement,

and

the rest

grad-

ually quicker;

but indeed

they

leave

it

altogether

to Practice to

determine

the

precise

Quantity."

Alexander

Malcolm,

A

Treatise

of

Musick

(Edinburgh,

1721; reprint,

New

York: Da

Capo

Press,

1970),

p. 402.

According

to

Rousseau,

vivace

defines

the char-

acter of the work

rather

than

its

tempo

(Rousseau,

Dictionnairede

musique,

s. v.

"Mouve-

ment":

"Chacun de ces

degrds

[largo,

adagio,

andante,

allegro, presto]

se

subdivise

et

se

modifie

encore en

d'autres,

dans

lesquels

il

faut

distinguer

ceux

qui

n'indiquent

que

le

degrd

de vitesse

ou

de

lenteur,

comme

larghetto,

andantino,

allegretto,

prestissimo;

et

ceux

qui

marquent

de

plus

le

caractare et

I'expression

de

l'air,

comme

agitato,

vivace,

gustoso,

con

brio,

etc.").

The reader

should

be

cautious

about

applying

statements

by a particular writer to the music of a later period or of another geographical region,

as

the use

of

a term such

as

vivace

could

vary

from

composer

to

composer.

See,

for

example,

Charles

Cudworth,

"The

Meaning

of 'Vivace' in

Eighteenth-Century

England"

and

Barry

S.

Brook,

"Le

Tempo

dans

l'ex6cution

de la

musique

instrumen-

tale

A

a

fin

du

XVIIIe

sibcle:

Les Contributions de

C. Mason et

William

Crotch,"

Fontes

Artis Musicae XII

(1965),

194-o201.

13

Minuet-type

movements

include

H.

552,

553,

and

554;

the

gavotte

is

H.

555.

210


10/48

C. P. E.

BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

obbligato

works.

Bach's interest in

contrapuntal intricacy

and virtu-

osity

in the late

1740s

may

have been

prompted

not

only by

the tastes

of his royal employer, but also by the visit of his father to Potsdam and

Berlin

in

1747,

a visit

that

inspired

the Musical

Offering,

whose trio

sonata

is one

of

the most

challenging

works

written for the

baroque

flute.

It is

likely

that the

earliest

flute/continuo

sonatas

(group

1),

along

with

six

trio sonatas

for

flute/violin/continuo

that Bach

composed

in

1731

and

1735

(H.

567-72),

encouraged

Frederick to

issue his initial

invitation for

Emanuel to

join

the court

in

1738.

The

increase

in

the

number of

flute/continuo

sonatas

in

the

period

immediately

following

(group 2) is hardly surprising in view of this new position. Similarly,

the lacuna

in

the number of

flute

sonatas

between

1740

and

1746

is

easily explainable by

the less than ideal

musical

relationship

that sub-

sequently developed

between the

composer

and the

King,

and

the

gap

between

1755

and

1766

is

equally

understandable

in

view of

Freder-

ick's

military

involvement

in

the Seven Years' War

(1756-63).

More

curious,

however,

is

the

reawakening

of

Bach's

interest

in

the

flute

in

the late

1740s

and

early 1750s,

during

which

time

he not

only composed

the three additional

flute

soli shown

in

group 3A,

but

also revised his six early trio sonatas for flute, violin, and continuo;

wrote seven more trio

sonatas

using

flute,

five

of

which

survive

in

flute/obbligato

keyboard

versions

(groups

3B

and

4);

'4

and

composed

four

flute

concerti

(1750-55),

which also

survive

in

versions

for cello

and

keyboard.'s5

One

might argue

that the

rewriting

of

the six trio

sonatas from

the

1730s

was

part

of

a

systematic process

of

revision that

Bach un-

dertook

during

the

mid

1740s.

According

to

the

NV

(where

the list-

ings

of

many early

works

provide

not

only

the

dates

of

original

com-

position but also the dates at which they were "erneuert") clavier soli

from

1731-38

were

revised

in

1743-44,

concerti from

1733-37

were

revised

in

1743-45,16

and two

sonatas

for

clavier

and violin

were

'4

The

other two

are: Trio in C

major

for "flute or

clavier, violin,

bass"

(H.

504

and

573;

1745);

and Trio

in

G

major

for

flute/violin/bass

(H.

574;

1747).

15

It

is

not

possible

to

ascertain

definitely

the

priority

of the three

alternative

versions of the

concerti,

but in some

cases evidence

suggests

that the flute

version

may

be the earliest. In the

A-major

concerto,

H.

437/438/439,

for

example,

added

measures

and ornamentation in the cello

and

keyboard

versions

suggest

that

the

flute version

pre-dated

them.

Jane

Stevens reaches the same conclusion in her

forthcoming

edition

of H.

437.

On

the other

hand,

for H.

444/445,

the

keyboard

version

appears

to

be the

earliest.

Helm,

Thematic

Catalog,

also

lists

a doubtful

arrangement

for

flute

of

the

cembalo concerto H.

425

(H.

484.1).

'6

Two

later concerti were revised after the

1740s:

NV no.

5

in C

minor was

written

in

1739

and revised

in

1762;

and

no.

22 in

A

minor was written in

1747

and

revised

in

Hamburg

in

1775.

211


11/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF MUSICOLOGY

revised

in

1746-47.17

The revision

of the trio sonatas in

1747

is a

logical

extension

of this

apparently

systematic "house-cleaning."

(We

will see below that both continuo sonatas from this period are also

based

in

part

on earlier

works.)

Yet at the same

time,

why

should

Bach

have undertaken revisions

of these

works

without the

motivation of a

new

performance?

Nor

does

this

theory

account

for

the new

compo-

sitions for

flute

from

the late

1740s.

It is

certainly possible

that the

flute

works of this

period

were not

written for Frederick at all. There

were,

of

course,

other

flutists

in

Berlin,

including

several

at

the

court.'s

On the other

hand,

a later

remark attributed

to Bach

suggests

that

H.

562,

the

unaccompanied

sonata of 1747, was indeed written for Frederick, but that the King

had more

than a little trouble with

it.

Some

thirty-six years

later,

in

1783,

the

thirteen-year-old

blind

flutist,

Friedrich

Ludwig

Dillon,

met

Emanuel

Bach

in

Hamburg.

The

young

man

performed

"for the

elder Bach

a solo of

[Bach's]

own

composition."

According

to

Dillon's

own

report

in

his

autobiography, upon completion

of his

perfor-

mance

Bach

remarked,

"Isn't it

strange:

the one

for whom I wrote this

piece

could

not

play

it;

the one

for whom I did not

write

it,

can."'s

While

Dilon

does not

specify

which of Bach's

soli he

performed,

the unaccompanied sonata is the only logical candidate. Of the twelve

flute

soli,

this

work is

the

only

one

published

in

Bach's

lifetime.2o

It is

highly improbable

that an

obscure

thirteen-year-old

flutist

from

Sten-

dal would

have had access to

manuscripts

of

Bach's continuo sonatas

written some

forty years

earlier. The

unaccompanied

sonata,

how-

ever,

would

have been

readily

available to

him.

'7

The

sonatas for clavier and violin are listed in the

NV,

36,

and

in

Helm,

Thematic

Catalog,

nos.

502

and

503.

These two sonatas are Bach's

only

works for a solo

instrument with obbligato keyboard before 1745. Their revision in the late 1740s, when

Bach also undertook

revisions of six

early

trio sonatas and

began

to

explore

the obbli-

gato

sonata

format,

coupled

with the

fact

that the

majority

of Bach's

obbligato

sonatas

survive

in

trio sonata

versions,

makes one

wonder whether these

sonatas

may

have been

originally composed

as

trio

sonatas

and assumed

their

obbligato

format

during

the

revision

process.

i8

See E.

Eugene

Helm,

Music at the

Court

of

Frederick he Great

(Norman,

OK:

University

of Oklahoma

Press,

196o),

pp.

1o7-09

and Friedrich Wilhelm

Marpurg,

Historisch-Kritische

eytriige

zur

Aufnahme

der

Musik,

I

(Berlin,

1754),

PP.

76ff.

'9

"Ich

spielte

dem Vater Bach

ein

Solo

von

seiner

eignen

Composition

vor,

und

als

ich

es

geendigt

hatte,

sagte

er: es ist doch

seltsam; der,

fir

den ich es

machte,

konnt'

es nicht

spielen;

der,

fir

den ich es nicht

machte,

kann es."

Diilons

des blinden

Fl1ten-

spielersLebenund Meynungenvon ihmselbstbearbeitet(Zirich: Heinrich Gerlner, 1807-08),

I,

p.

152.

2o It

appeared

in

1763

in an edition

by

G. L. Winter and in

the

anthology

Musika-

lisches

Mancherley,

where the

work

is the

forty-sixth piece

of

the fourth

quarter,

al-

though

the

last

part

of

the

third

movement

is

erroneously

labelled no.

47.

A

facsimile

of the latter source

is included in

the edition

by

Hermien Teske

(Amadeus,

1978).

212


12/48

C. P. E.

BACH S

FLUTE

SONATAS

Nor does

Dilon

elaborate

on Bach's

remark,

assuming

that

his

readers

in

1807-when

the

autobiography

was

published-would

surely know "the one" for whom Bach had written the sonata. The

most

likely

candidate,

of

course,

is Frederick

himself.

Indeed,

Bach's

disparaging

remark is in

keeping

with similar

comments he is

said

to

have made

concerning

Frederick's

musical

capabilities.

Assuming

that the works of the late

174os

were written for

Fred-

erick,

it

is

tempting

to

speculate

that

the

climate

for

Bach's

music at

the court

may

have

temporarily

taken

a

more

favorable turn at that

time,

possibly

even in

connection with

J.

S. Bach's

visit to the court in

1747.

It also

suggests

a

demand

for

serious and

difficult

flute

sonatas

in this period.

In

addition to the works in

Table

1,

several

other sonatas

may

have been

performed

in versions for

solo

flute

during

the

eighteenth

century. Among

the continuo

sonatas,

H.

558

(C

major)

was

actually

designated

for

flute

in

the

NV,

as shown in

Plate

1

(p.

50,

no.

11),

a

reproduction

of

the

soli

section from the

copy

of

the

catalog

owned

by

Johann Jakob

Heinrich

Westphal,

a

correspondent

and avid admirer

of Bach who

acquired

a vast

library

of his

music.21

Westphal

has

altered

the

word "Fldte" to

read

"Viol

di

Gambe,"

probably

in

re-

sponse to a letter he received from Bach's widow in December 1i791;

Johanna

Maria Bach notes: "Das

Solo No.

11

ist

nicht

fir

die

Flkte,

sondern

for

die

Gambe

gesetzt."'2

Surviving

manuscripts

of this

so-

nata

preserve only

the

gamba

version,

which,

though

notated

in

treble

clef,

is

unplayable

on the

flute

because of its

range

and

multiple stops.

There

is

no

record

of

any

flute

version. As shown

below,

the

apparent

error

in

the

NV

may

have arisen from

the

close similarities

between

this

work

and the

flute

sonata

H.

561,

for which

it

seems

to

have

served

as a

model.

Surviving manuscripts also suggest that other trii may have been

performed by

flute

and

keyboard.

H.

504 (1745),

designated

in

the

NV for "Flate oder

Clavier,

Violine

und

Baf,"

is

found in versions

for

flute

with

keyboard

and

flute

or violin

with

keyboard;

and the

trio

21

On

Westphal,

see

Miriam

Terry,

"C. P. E.

Bach and

J. J.

H.

Westphal-a

Clari-

fication,"

Journal

of

the American

Musicological

Society

XXII

(1969), 106-15.

See

also

Helm,

Thematic

Catalogue,pp.

xix-xx.

Westphal's

copy

of

the

catalogue

is

in the

Bib-

liothbque

Royale

Albert

Ier

in

Brussels.

Letters

within

each

listing

indicate the

place

of

composition:

Frankfurt, Berlin,

Hamburg,

etc.

22

See Manfred Hermann Schmid, "Das Geschift mit dem NachlaI von C. Ph. E.

Bach. Neue

Dokumente

zur

Westphal-Sammlung

des

Conservatoire

Royal

de

Musique

und der

Bibliothbque Royale

de

Belgique

in

Brtissel,"

in

Carl

Philipp

Emanuel Bach

und

die

europtische

Musikkulturdes Mittleren 18.

Jahrhunderts,

ed.

Hans

Joachim

Marx

(Got-

tingen:

Vandenhoeck

&

Ruprecht,

1990o),

pp.

496-97

(letter #8).

Westphal's

catalog

of

his

collection of

C. P. E.

Bach

manuscripts

also

designates

this work

for

gamba.

213


13/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF MUSICOLOGY

PLATE

1.

C.P.E. Bach's

Nachlassverzeichis,

pp. 48-51.

?

Bib-

liotheque royale

Albert

Ier,

R6serve

pricieuse:

F6tis

S217

A

LP, pp.

48-51.

Brussels.

Reproduced by permission.

in..

Ur.

f~

t764.

( atikr1

2

.~fflt,

1 3t6.

ten1, ~jolinen,Prarfc~

nb

Zag.

-

~5o.12. (p. 1764.

~Eoatict,

S)Smer,

'3I6.

ten,

?I3ioline,

rt3rLOt

nb

4~

~Lon

ittenonotinen

11

uiar

ur

,,

I itt

wib

me(gbrbucfr,

be

na4berto

ang

Pertbub

Soil

f~W

nbere

nllrumtntefl

bas

~lfnkr.

~o.

t,

fiWt

it

~f~Qof.r

SIn..

2,

firw

bie aIate.

-

5~.

4 ~.

737,

f3S

bit

i ~ll

-

~O.

.

139, aW

it

~(.te

- ?Io.6.

.

'?

738, Fair ie

~(&e.

-

d

7.

.

3?

739'

r~r

kr~l6re.

-

~a

8.

~9.

1740,

fih'

bi' aI6~e.

rn..9

sonata H. 587-89 for two violins/continuo, viola/bass recorder/con-

tinuo,

or bassoon/bass

recorder/continuo

survives

in

obbligato

ver-

sions

for violin or

flute with

keyboard

(H.

543).

In

addition,

H.

503

for

"Clavier und

Violine"

is also found in an

alternative

trio

sonata

version

for

flute/violin/bass

(H.

596).23

Although

the sources of

these

arrangements

are

unknown,

they

confirm

the

commonplace

practice

of

arranging

trio

sonatas

as

obbligato

works

with a

variety

of

instru-

mentation.24

23 H.

504:

D-brd B, St

24o01

and St 240II. (This sonata has been recorded by the

author

in the

flute/obbligato keyboard

version

on a

compact

disc: C. P. E.

Bach,

Four

Sonatas

or

Flute and

Keyboard,

Musical

Heritage Society 513

258L)

H.

543:

D

brd

B,

St.

244

and St.

253;

US

Wc

M3x12.A2Bx3.

H.

596:

US

Wc,

M422.A2Bx3.

24

Other

works

surviving

as both trio sonatas and

obbligato

sonatas

include

H.

507/585

(violin/keyboard

or

2

violins/bass);

and H.

542/570 (violin/keyboard

or

flute/

violin/bass).

214


14/48

C.

P.

E.

BACH'S

FLUTE SONATAS

PLATE 1.

(continued)

-

-o.

9. •5. 3740, fTirbit

,316te.

•iooionceg.

.,. •o.

12.

•3. 1746, f,',r

it

•3ioIbi •amW.

S-.a

~-,-;-

-

-L='---•

?

-

.T----

-

lo.

14.

5Z.

1747,

f?r

bt•

ite..

~

o.rr.

. 172. rGIbic

1Z..l 'jsk.

~

.

15?12?

747,

if boB

cbrubft f6ftu.

eozo

orn ~~

'

Zreoline,

ill im

~tulita~ircfitnlei(ctlr

S'e

bruft.

-

70.

18?

~5

1762?

ru

bitr 4rfe.~2l~im

-

fo.

19.

3

1786, fur bit jI~c.

%u

artetn

f-6 aiir,-rt-1un~

The

Composition of

the

Hamburg

Sonata

In

1768,

Bach

moved

to

Hamburg, replacing

Tele-

mann as Kantor of the Johanneum and musical director of the city's

five main

churches.

The

Hamburg

flute

sonata

(1786;

Table

1,

group

6)

is the

only

other solo sonata he

composed

after

leaving

Berlin.25

It

is

hardly surprising

that Bach ceased to

compose

flute sonatas when

he left Frederick's

court.

The

question

is,

rather,

what

prompted

him

to write this last work two

years

before his death?

Ernst Schmid

suggests

that the sonata was intended for

Dillon,

who visited

Hamburg

during

a tour of northern

Europe

"in

those

years,"26--but

an

examination of

Dillon's autobiography suggests

that

25

Bach's

only

other chamber

music with

flute

during

his

Hamburg years

includes

three

quartets

for

clavier,

flute,

viola,

and bass

(written

in

1788,

the

year

of

his

death),

and six

septets

for

2

horns,

2

flutes,

2

clarinets,

and bassoon.

Helm,

Thematic

Catalog,

nos.

537-539

and

629-634.

26

Ernst Fritz

Schmid,

Carl

Philipp

Emanuel Bach und seine Kammermusik

Kassel:

Birenreiter,

1931),

P-

91.

215


15/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF MUSICOLOGY

this

hypothesis

is

unfounded.

Dillon

vividly

recounts his visit

to

Ham-

burg

in

1783

(three

years

before the sonata

was

written),

which he

considered one of the turning points in his career. He not only met

Bach and

performed

for him

but also studied

composition

with him.

The

autobiography

is filled with

encomia to

Bach's

genius,

kindness,

and

honesty.

Dillon

describes

in

excruciating

detail his

day-to-day

activities

in

the critical

year

1786;

he

visited

Amsterdam, Leiden,

Harlem,

Rot-

terdam,

and

London,

and then returned to

Germany,

but

not to

Hamburg.

In

fact,

the

Hamburg

sonata

is

not

mentioned,

a

curious

omission

if Bach

had

composed

the sonata for

him,

particularly

in

view of Dillon's admiration for Bach and the detail and pride with

which he

relates

his tours.

The Staats- und Gelehrte

Zeitung

des

Hamburgischen

Unpartheyischen

Correspondenten

HUC)

for

1786

discloses the name of

only

one flutist

who visited

Hamburg

in that

year-a

Christian Carl

Hartmann from

Paris,

who

appeared

in

two concerts on

Saturday,

17

June

and Tues-

day, 29 June. Originally

from

Altenburg,27

Hartmann

lived in

Paris

during

the

1780s,

during

which

time he

apparently distinguished

himself

as

a brilliant

artist. The HUC and the

Hamburgisch-AddreJ3-

Comtoir-Nachrichtenntroduced Hartmann to the Hamburg public as a

"famous virtuoso" and

"a

member

of

the

Royal

French

Academy

of

Music

in

Paris,"28

a statement echoed in

the

biographical

sketches of

Gerber,

Choron/Fayolle,

and

F6tis,

but more

recently

challenged by

R.-Aloys

Mooser

in

his

study

of music and musicians in

eighteenth-

century

Russia.29

Hartmann was

apparently enthusiastically

received,

since the HUC and the

AddrefJ-Comtoir

nnounced

on

28

and

29

June

that

the

subscription

list

for

his

second concert

was

full.so

27

See Ernst Gerber, NeuesHistorisch-Biographischesexikonder TonkiinstlerLeipzig:

A.

Kuhnel,

1812-14;

reprint,

ed. Othmar

Wessely,

Graz:

Akademische

Druck-u. Ver-

lagsanstelt, 1966);

and the Mercure de

France,

21

Feb.

1784,

p. 143,

and

22

May

1784,

p.

192.

28

HUC

Wednesday

14

June

1786;

Addref3-Comtoir

2

June

1786,

p.

358.

The

notice in the

Addref3-Comtoir

s

datelined to

June

and

merely

informs

readers that

Hartmann had arrived in

Hamburg.

The

HUC

article

announces and describes Hart-

mann's concert

of

17

June.

29

Ernst

Ludwig

Gerber,

Historisch-Biographisches

exikonder

Tonkiinstler Leipzig:

Breitkopf,

1790o-92;

reprint,

Graz: Akademische Druck-u.

Verlagsanstalt,

1977);

Eti-

enne Choron and

Frangois

Joseph

Fayolle,

Dictionnaire

historique

des musiciens

(Paris:

Valade

&

Lenormant,

1810;

reprint,

Hildesheim

and

New

York:

Georg

Olms,

1971);

Frangois-Joseph Fitis, Biographieuniverselledes musiciens Paris, 1878-80; reprint, Brus-

sels: Culture et

civilisation,

1963);

and

R.-Aloys

Mooser,

Annales

de

la

musique

et des

musiciensen Russie

au

XVIIIme

sitcle

(Geneva:

Mont-Blanc,

[1948-51]),

II,

444-

30

After

leaving

Hamburg,

Hartmann went to

Russia,

returning

to

Germany

in

1788-90,

at which

time

he

had

a

rather

unpleasant

brush with the law

(Musikalische

Real-Zeitung,

17

March

1790

and

Musikalische

Korrespondenz,

8

July

1790).

I have not

216


16/48

C.

P. E.

BACH'S FLUTE

SONATAS

Although

direct evidence that

C. P. E. Bach

knew

Hartmann has

yet

to come to

light

and

the

possibility

that the

Hamburg

flute sonata

was composed for his June visit to the city still rests on circumstantial

evidence,

two

obscure references

suggest

a

possible

connection be-

tween the two men.

The first is a

notation

in

the NV's

listing

of Bach's

collection

of

paintings. Among

the

portraits

in

his

collection

was a

silhouette of

an unidentified "Herr Hartmand"

(NV,

127)-either

the

flutist Hartmann or

the

tenor,

"Herr

Hartmann,"

who

performed

in

Bach's

Matthiiuspassion

n

1769

and

1773.3'

The second reference is

a

notation

in

a

Hamburg pay

record

dating

from

1789

referring

to "the

late C.

P. E. Bach" and

specifically

citing

an

instrumentalist

named

Hartmann.32

Whether

the sonata were written for

Hartmann, Dillon,

or some

as

yet

unidentified

flutist,

there is

no

question

that

it

was intended

for a virtuoso

solo

performer.

Although

it is set in the flute's most

convenient

key,

both fast movements

require

formidable technical

control.

There are more

than

superficial

similarities between

this sonata

and the

keyboard

sonata

H.

209

(W. 60),

composed

in

1766

but

pub-

lished

by Breitkopf

in

1785,

only

one

year

before the flute

sonata was

written. Both works open with Classical allegrettos, characterized by

galant opening

motives

accompanied

by

a drum bass.

Furthermore,

in

both

works,

the central slow movement

is almost

completely sup-

pressed

(in

H.

564

it is

replaced

by

a seven-measure

quasi-recitative)

and connects without break to

a

delightful

rondo

(see

Examples

l

a

and

ib).

In a letter to

Breitkopf

on

23

September

1785

Bach de-

scribed the

keyboard

sonata as

"totally

new,

light,

short,

and

almost

without an

Adagio,

because this

[type

of

movement]

is no

longer

fashionable."3ss

The chain of

suspensions

in

the

keyboard

sonata's

largo (Example ib, mm. 6-7) resembles a similar passage in the rondo

of the

flute sonata

(Example

ic)

and the broken chord

figuration

in

been able to substantiate

statements in several

sources that he returned to Paris in the

1790s.

31

On the tenor

Hartmann,

see Heinrich

Miesner,

Philipp

Emanuel

Bach in Ham-

burg (Leipzig:

Dr. Martin

Sidig,

1929;

reprint,

Wiesbaden:

Breitkopf

&

Hirtel,

1969),

p.

19.

Bach also

possessed

a

portrait

of

Dillon,

painted

by

Carstens

(NV,

101:

"Dillon

(Friedlieb [sic]

Lud)

ein

blinder

Fl6tenist.

Gezeichnet

von

Karstens. 8.

In

schwarzen

Rahmen, unter Glas").

32

Miesner,

ibid.,

pp.

121-22.

as

"Sie ist

ganz

neu,

leicht,

kurz und

beynahe

ohne

Adagio,

weil dies

Ding

nicht

mehr Mode

ist."

See

Ernst

Suchalla,

Briefe

von Carl

Philipp

Emanuel

Bach an

Johann

Gottlob

mmanuel

Breitkopf

und

Johann

Nikolaus

Forkel

(Tutzing:

Hans

Schneider,

1985),

p.

191.

217


17/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF

MUSICOLOGY

the

recapitulation

of

the first movement of H.

564

(Example

id)

is

reminiscent

of

the

second

key

area of H.

209

(Example

le).34

It

would not be

unreasonable to conclude that the form of

the

Hamburg

flute sonata

was modelled on that of the

keyboard

sonata

H.

209,

which Bach

had

just

prepared

for

publication

a

year

earlier.

As

he

himself

noted,

his aim in H.

209

was

to

present

to the

public

a

composition easily

understood,

readily

accessible,

and

immediately

appealing.

The

Hamburg

flute

sonata,

with the

elegance

of

its first

movement,

the

virtual lack of a slow

movement,

and the

flashy

display

of

its

finale,

fulfills a similar

role.

The Sources

The

only

flute sonatas

published

in

Bach's

lifetime

were the A-minor

unaccompanied

sonata

(H.

562)

and the

B-flat-

major obbligato

sonata/trio sonata

(H.

578).

The

eleven

flute/continuo

sonatas survive in

unique

manuscript

copies

in

Brussels,

ten of

them

in a

single

source

(Bc

5517)35

in

the same

unidentified

hand,

which,

though inelegant, proves

extremely

reliable.36

Curiously,

the

single

sonata

omitted

from Bc

5517

is

not the late

Hamburg

sonata,

but one

of

the

early

Berlin

works,

H.

552

in

B-flat

major,

which

survives in a

separate

manuscript

(Bc

5518)

in the

hand

of

Bach's most

prolific

Hamburg copyist,

Michel. Bc

5517

and

5518

originally

belonged

to

Westphal,

who,

through

an

extensive

correspondence

with

Bach,

compiled

a

vast collection of

copies

of his

music.

Westphal

carefully

recorded

his

holdings

in a

manuscript

catalog;37

his

collection,

which

provides unique

or

supplementary

source material not

only

for

the

flute/continuo sonatas

but also for

a

great

deal of Bach's

music

in

34

The

opening

melody

of

the

Hamburg

sonata also

resembles the

beginning

of

the undated flute/continuo

sonata,

H.

548,

although

the harmonic

rhythm

has been

slowed

considerably.

Unless otherwise

noted,

all musical

examples

are

transcribed

by

the

author

using

the Brussels

copies

for the

flute/continuo sonatas and the

autographs

(where

one

survives)

or the most

authoritative

copy

for the

obbligato

sonatas.

35

See Alfred

Wotquenne,

Catalogue

de

la bibliothlque

du

Conservatoire

Royal

de

Musique

de

Bruxelles

(Brussels:

Coosemans,

1902),

II:

249.

36

There are similarities between

this hand and that of An.

305,

but

enough

variants to

preclude

positive

identification.

I

am

grateful

to Peter

Wollny

for

pointing

out the

possible relationship

to

An

30o5.

37

"Catalogue thimatique

des oeuvres de Ch. Ph. Emm.

Bach"

(Bibliothbque

Royal Albert Ier, Manuscript Fitis 52r18).The title was probably written by Fdtis. See

Helm,

Thematic

Catalogue,

p.

xx,

and Rachel

Wade,

The

Keyboard

Concertos

f

Carl

Philipp

Emanuel

Bach

(Ann

Arbor:

UMI,

1981),

pp.

9-12.

Wotquenne's

catalog

is

clearly

based

on

Westphal's.

Wade

describes all

catalogs

of Bach's music

preceding

the

Helm

catalog,

with their

interrelationships

shown in a

clear

diagram

(Wade, ibid.,

ch.

2

and

especially

p. io).

218


18/48

C.

P.

E.

BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS

EXAMPLE

1

a.

"Hamburg

sonata"

(H.

564, 1786),

end

ofmvt.

1,

link-

ing

"recitative" and

beginning

of rondo. Transcribed

from Bc 5517.

65 r

1. 112.

SFl.

-I

II2

.l

i

3

p

Cont.

*

.. l I

,

-

2 ]5 l• 6 5 7 6_.....

6

675

o

43

4

3

Rondo

70

Presto

70

'II

I

.

.'

7 65 Das Rondo

6

fdillt

ein

other

genres,

was

eventually

purchased

by

F6tis

for the Brussels Con-

servatory

Library.

The ten

sonatas

in Bc

5517-all prepared

by

the same

copyist-

apparently

comprised

a

single

unit

in

Westphal's

collection;38

the in-

clusion of the

Hamburg

sonata

among

them

dates

these

copies

from

after

1786.

That

is,

the nine

pre-Hamburg

sonatas

in

this

manuscript

were

apparently

copied

many

years

after

they

were

written,

possibly

even after Bach's death, as Westphal continued to acquire manu-

scripts

from Bach's widow.

Why

the

B-flat

major

sonata

H.

552-one

of,

but not theearliest

of

the

continuo

sonatas-was

copied

in a different hand remains a

mys-

tery.

One

possibility,

of

course,

is that the sonata was

copied prior

to

the others

for a

Hamburg

performance

(the

copyist,

Michel,

was a

tenor

in Bach's

Hamburg

choir).

Yet

if Bach were

to

have selected one

of

his

early

flute

sonatas

for a

Hamburg

concert,

H.

552

would cer-

tainly

have been

a curious choice. Not

only

is

the

work is

one

of the

38

The eleven

flute/continuo

sonatas

appear

in

Westphal's

catalog

on f.

6v

with

incipits

on the

facing page,

each

listing giving

title,

number of

pages,

and a code

possibly

designating

a

cataloging system.

The ten sonatas of

Bc

5517

all bear the code

"hr";

H.

552

bears the

code "d."

219


19/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF MUSICOLOGY

EXAMPLE lb.

Keyboard

sonata

H.

o209

(1766;

publ. 1785),

end of

mvt.

1,

8-measure

largo,

and

beginning

of

rondo.

Transcribed from print of 1785 (Una Sonata per il

cembalo

olo,

Leipzig

&

Dresden:

Breitkopf);

facsimile

in Darrell

Berg,

ed.

The

Collected Works

or

Solo

Key-

board

by

Carl

Philipp

Emanuel

Bach,

1714-1788

(New

York:

Garland,

1985),

vol. 6.

80

hi

.

Largo

6

f

Po

f

6

1

Presto

c

Lr

-w~

EXAMPLE

1c. "Hamburg sonata" (H. 564, 1786), mvt. 3, mm. 89-96.

Fl.

P

cont.

a

'•

6 5e

I

'•

6

'

6

,i

'1 •

6

220


20/48

C. P. E.

BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

EXAMPLE

id.

"Hamburg

sonata"

(H.

564, 1786),

mvt.

1,

mm.

48-55.

Fl.

Cont.

55

52

5

"

F

r

C C

f 'r '

,

p

l

7

4

4

ten.

54

-

S,,-567

7

least

successful of the flute

soli,

but

its last

movement was also

exten-

sively

revised in

1746

for

use

as the finale of H.

560.

A more likely explanation lies in this very revision process. Bach

often

made emendations to his

compositions

by

writing

on

empty

staves or

by pasting

pieces

of

paper

over earlier

versions. If

the revi-

sions to H.

552

were

inserted

on his

only

copy

of this

sonata,

recon-

struction of the

earlier version

might

have been a

complex

task best

221


21/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF

MUSICOLOGY

EXAMPLE

le.

Keyboard

sonata

H.

209

(1766),

mvt.

1,

mm.

23-28.

26

p

f

P

P "

j

entrusted

to an

experienced copyist

who

had

worked

closely

with

Bach-a

copyist

like

Michel.s9

It is

curious

that

Westphal's manuscripts

are the

only surviving

sources for the continuo sonatas, since Bach's widow announced in

the NV

that

she

could fill

requests

for

copies

of the works

listed

therein

(and

therefore

presumably

had

manuscripts

of the sonatas in

her

possession

at

the time

of

her

husband's

death).

Indeed,

it

appears

that a second set of

manuscripts

may

at one time have been held at the

library

of

the

Berlin

Singakademie,

the bulk

of

whose

holdings

were

lost after World War

II.40

In a

1966 essay

surveying

the

library's

former

holdings,

Friedrich Welter

(a

librarian

who worked at the

Singakademie

between

1928

and

1932)

refers to

"11

Conc. flauto

traverso solo e Basso."41 In spite of the word "Conc.," Rachel Wade

has

suggested

that

this

manuscript may

have

actually

contained the

eleven flute/continuo

sonatas.42

The reference to

"flauto traverso solo

e

Basso,"

the

listing

of

only

four

flute concerti

in

the

NV,

and the

39

A

copying

error

in

the flute

part

of H.

552

(mm.

6-7)

may

have stemmed in

part

from

Michel

inadvertently

substituting

the

reading

from

the same measures in H.

560.

4o

See

Elias N.

Kulukundis,

"C. P.

E.

Bach in

the

Library

of the

Singakademie

zu

Berlin," in C. P. E. Bach Studies,ed. Stephen L. Clark (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988),

pp.

164-65.

41

Friedrich

Welter,

"Die Musikbibliothek der

Sing-Akademie

zu

Berlin,"

in

Sing-

Akademiezu

Berlin,

ed. Werner

Bollert

(Berlin:

Rembrandt

Verlag,

1966).

See

Kulu-

kundis,

"C. P. E. Bach

in

the

Library

of the

Singakademie,"

p.

160.

42

Kulukundis, ibid.,

pp.

164-65.

222


22/48

C.

P.

E.

BACH'S FLUTE

SONATAS

coincidence between the number of

works

in

this

manuscript

and the

number of continuo

sonatas,

suggest

that she is

correct,

in

spite

of

the

fact that Ernst Schmid (who examined the Singakademie manuscripts

for

his

1931 monograph

on Bach's chamber

music)

cites the

Brussels

copies

as the

only

source for

the

continuo sonatas.

(Schmid

may

have

neglected

to examine

the contents of this

source,

assuming

the works

were

not

chamber

music.)

Unlike

the

flute/continuo

sonatas,

there are

multiple

eighteenth-

century

sources for each of the

obbligato

sonatas. Of the five

unpub-

lished

sonatas,

three-H.

505, 506,

and

508-survive

in

autograph

manuscripts.43

The

autograph

of H.

508

presents

a

trio sonata for two

violins/bass, but includes instructions for adapting the first violin part

to the

flute. As

shown in

Plate

2,

Bach

instructs the

performer

that

"wenn die Iste Violin

mit der Flote

soll

gespielt

werden,

so

mtissen

die

Noten,

woriber

ein

langer Bogen

stehet,

ein

Octav

hdher

gesetzt

werden."

Indeed,

whenever

the

range

of

the first violin

part

descends

below

d',

an

octave

transposition

of the

entire

phrase

is

indicated

by

a

long

slur above the

notes

in

question.44 Although

there

is

no

auto-

graph

of the

flute/keyboard

version of this

sonata,

this

arrangement

is

authorized

in

the

NV:

"2

Violinen

und

Bal;

ist auch

fir

die

F16te

und

Clavier, imgleichen ftir die F16te, Violine und BaB gesetzt," and the

obbligato

version

survives

in a

copy by

Michel with a

title

page by

Bach.45

43

In

D-brd

B,

P357.

In

addition,

Westphal's manuscripts

of

Bach's

unpublished

trio and

obbligato

sonatas

(with

independent manuscripts

for each

version)

have been

transmitted

through

Fitis

to the Brussels

Conservatory

library.

These

manuscripts

are

in

separate parts, mostly

in

Michel's

hand,

rather than in the

score

format of the

autographs.

The eleven trio sonatas from

his collection survive intact.

Of

the fifteen

obbligato

sonatas

for

flute or

violin,

Helm lists five in

B-Bc

6354

(H.

504, 505,

509,

511,

and

515),

six as missing from the same manuscript (H.

502,

503, 512, 513, 535, and

536),

and

one

(H.

508)

at

the

Bibliotheque Royale;

three

are not

listed

in

Brussels

manuscripts

(H.

506,

507,

and

514).

At

the time Helm

compiled

his

catalog

several

sonatas were

clearly

missing

from Bc

6354.

At

the

present

time, however,

all

except

H.

508

are there.

For

additional

manuscript

sources of the

obbligato

sonatas

see

Helm,

Thematic

Catalog.

44

Cecil

Hill,

editor of the Musica Rara

edition of the

flute/violin/bass

version of

this sonata

(1985),

suggests

that the

flute and violin

change

parts

where the first

violin

line

dips

below

the flute's

range.

Hill was

clearly

unaware of the

existence of the

autograph

and

other

manuscript

copies.

(The

editor also omitted the

figures

from the

bass

line,

surmising

that

they

were

not

Bach's,

and has

distinguished

between

a dot and

a vertical dash above a

note,

postulating

that the latter is a "stress mark."

Bach,

how-

ever, explicitly equates the two markings: "Die Noten, welche gestossen werden sollen,

werden

sowohl

durch

daruiber

gesetzte

Strichelgen

als auch durch

Punckte

bezeichnet

Tab. VI

Fig.

1.

Wir haben dismahl

die letztere Art

gewahlet,

weil

bey

der

erstern leicht

eine

Zweydeutigkeit

wegen

der Ziffern

hitte

vorgehen

konnen."

Versuch,

part

1,

p.

125.)

45

A

Wgm,

XI

36262.

See

Helm,

Thematic

Catalog,

no.5o8.

223


23/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF MUSICOLOGY

PLATE

2.

C.P.E.

Bach,

Sonata

for

2

violins/continuo,

flute/violin/

continuo,

or

flute/obbligato keyboard

in G

major

(H.

583,

581,

and

508),

MS

D-brd

B,

P

357

(autograph),

beginning.

Reproduced by permission

of Staatsbibliothek

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24/48

C. P. E.

BACH'S

FLUTE SONATAS

PLATE 3. C.

P.

E.

Bach,

Sonata for

2

flutes/continuo

or

flute/

obbligato

keyboard

in E

major

(H.

506

and

580),

MS

D-brd

B,

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357

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225


25/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF

MUSICOLOGY

EXAMPLE 2a. Trio sonata in

E

major

for

2

flutes and

bass,

H.

580

(1749),

mvt.

3,

ending.

Transcribed from the auto-

graph.

159

6?

F1.2

163

je) P

P,

EXAMPLE

2b. Sonata in E

major

for

flute and

obbligato keyboard,

H.

506

(1749),

mvt.

3,

ending.

Transcribed from

the

autograph.

159

F

L -: •'

-

',i

--

.-

i

F

•

(.

Fl0

Keybd.

163

i

E

-

226


26/48

C. P.

E.

BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

H.

505's

autograph

preserves

the trio sonata version for

flute/

violin/bass

(H.

575)

only.

However,

like H.

5o8,

the

obbligato

version

survives in a manuscript in Michel's hand with a title page by Bach.46

For

H.

5o6,

the

autograph

transmits the trio sonata for two flutes

with notated alterations to create the

obbligato

version,

probably

with

a

view

to

preparing

the

manuscript

for a

copyist

(see

Plate

3).

In the

original

title,

"Trio

fir

2

Flaten,

oder

firs

Clavier

und

eine

Flite,"

the

words

"for

2

Floten oder" have been

deleted,

leaving

"Trio

firs

Cla-

vier und eine

Flite."

The

manuscript

contains

additional notes

in

the

left hand

of

the

keyboard

which fill

out the harmonies

in

the

obbligato

version

(see,

for

instance,

system

3).

For the obbligato version of this sonata Bach assigned the second

flute

part

to

the

soloist and

the

first

flute

part

to

the

keyboard,

thus

dividing

the

keyboardist's right

and

left hands

by

the

intervening

flute

line

(see

Plate

3).

This

peculiar

distribution of

parts

suggests

that as-

signing

the lower

line

to the soloist was

a

late decision.

(Since

both

melody

lines

are

designed

for

flute,

the two could

just

as

easily

have

been reversed in the

original

score.)

The

reason

for

Bach's decision

becomes

perfectly

clear at the end of the last movement

(Example

2a),

where,

in

a

precursor

to

Haydn's

"Farewell

Symphony,"

the

perform-

ers drop out one by one, leaving the second flutist to finish alone. In

the

obbligato

version,

the effect is most natural when

the

flute,

rather

than the

right

hand of the

keyboard,

has

the

last

word

(Example

ab).

Evidence from this

manuscript,

then

suggests

that the trio sonatas

pre-date

their

obbligato counterparts.

The

arrangement

of

the

score,

altered

title,

and added notes

in

the left hand are

apparently

instruc-

tions

for a

copyist preparing

a

manuscript

of

the

obbligato

version

from the

autograph

of

the trio sonata.47

46

B Bc, 6354. See Helm, ibid., no.

505.

47

The

copying history

of

this

manuscript

is

very complex. Midway

through

the

second movement

the

handwriting changes

from Bach's later

wavering

hand

to

his

earlier

steady script.

It thus

appears

that

some time after he wrote the trio sonata

version of the

work,

he

recopied

the first movement and

part

of the

second.

At

some

point,

he inserted additional notes for the

keyboard, appended

the

instrument

desig-

nations for the

obbligato

version,

and altered the title.

Manuscript

A

Wgm

XI

36267,

a

copy

of

the

duo

version but with the

wrapper

marked

by

Bach "a

2

Flauti Traversi e

Basso,"

preserves

the

obbligato

sonata with

the

added notes from

the

autograph.

(This

manuscript

also

contains

additional

notes

for

the

keyboardist

in

Bach's

hand in

the last

movement of the sonata. See Michelle

Fillion,

"C. P. E. Bach and

the Trio Old

and

New,"

in

C.

P.

E.

Bach

Studies,

ed.

Stephen

L.

Clark

[Oxford:

Clarendon

Press,

1988],

pp. 83-104.) Furthermore, it seems that Bach may have erased figured bass numerals

in

those

places

where the

keyboardist's

right

hand would

perform

the

flute

line

in

the

obbligato

version;

the

autograph

contains

figuration only

where

flute

1

is

silent and

shows evidence

of

erasures.

Westphal's copy

of the trio

sonata version of this work

(B-Bc

6363)

was

apparently prepared

from

the

autograph

after the alterations were

made,

as the bass

part

is

only

figured

where the first flute is

silent.

227


27/48

THE

JOURNAL

OF

MUSICOLOGY

Dating

of

the Undated

Continuo Sonata

While the NV

supplies

reliable

dates

of

composi-

tion for most of the works listed therein (the

catalog

is

clearly

based on

records

kept by

Bach

himself,

judging

from remarks

contained

therein and

from

correlations between its

numbering system

and

that

on

m

Documents

C. P. E. Bach's Sonatas for Solo Flute