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C.P.E. Bach's Sonatas For Solo Flute: Considering
C.P.E. Bach's Sonatas For Solo Flute: Considering
Bach's Sonatas
for Solo Flute
LETA E. MILLER
There are also four flute concerti (discussed below) and a few minor works. The
concerti are listed in E. Eugene Helm, ThematicCatalogue of the Worksof Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1989), nos. 431, 435,
438, and 445.
THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
most distinctive and remarkable works, and ranks them in the fore-
front of the flute literature of the time. Indeed, his eighteen sonatas
are among the most deftly crafted compositions for the instrument
during the eighteenth century.
Therefore, a study of the flute sonatas chronicles not only the
evolution of public fashion and Bach's personal style over half a cen-
tury, but also bears on the role and status of the instrument during
this crucial period in its technical development. The present study
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.
THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
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*
*These movements are through-composed; the opening material recurs periodically in closel
modulating sections. In H5o5 and 506, the opening theme is treated imitatively at all recurre
O
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
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, Versucheiner 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 Treatiseof 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 Ala 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.
C. P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS
'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.
THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
'7 The sonatas for clavier and violin are listed in the NV, 36, and in Helm,
ThematicCatalog, 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 Frederickthe Great (Norman, OK:
University of Oklahoma Press, 196o), pp. 1o7-09 and Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg,
Historisch-KritischeBeytriigezur 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).
C. P. E. BACH S FLUTE SONATAS
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, ThematicCatalogue, 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.
THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
~Lonbitten 111
eonotinen juiarburt,, I itt wib
abe na4berto
me(gbrbucfr, gangPertbub
- d 7.
5. 3? 739' r~rbkr~l6re.
Soil
214 f~W afl bas~lfnkr.
anbere4nllrumtnte - ~a 8. ~9. 1740, fih'bi' aI6~e.
~o. t, fiWtbit ~f~Qof.r
rn..9
SIn.. 2, firwbie aIate.
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
Sonatasfor 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.
PLATE 1. (continued)
-
-o.
9. •5. 3740, fTirbit y. ~ 15?12? 747, if! boB9cbrubft3f6ftu.
,316te. eozo orn ~~
?• - .T----
- !fo. 19. !3 1786, fur bit jI~c.
.,. •o. 12. •3. 1746, f,',rbit •3ioIbi !•amW.
S-.a
- %uartetn
f-6r-1un~
!aiir,-rt
~~o.rr.
'. 172. rGIbic1Z..l 'jsk.
215
-
lo. 14. 5Z.1747, f?r bt•
ite..
been able to substantiate statements in several sources that he returned to Paris in the
1790s.
31On 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
GottlobImmanuelBreitkopfund Johann Nikolaus Forkel (Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1985),
p. 191.
THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
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
218 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 bibliothlquedu ConservatoireRoyal de
Musique de Bruxelles (Brussels: Coosemans, 1902), II: 249.
36There 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, ThematicCatalogue,p. xx, and Rachel Wade, The KeyboardConcertosof 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).
C. P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS
65 r 1. 112.
-I II2
SFl. i
.l
3 p
70
'II I .'
.
7 65 Das Rondo
6 fdilltein
219
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 the earliest 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
hi .
Largo
f f
220 6
Po
6 1 Presto
c Lr
-w~
Fl.
cont.
a 6 5e I 6 '6 '1 •
'• '• ,i 6
C. P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS
Fl.
55
52 5
r Fr
" C C f 'r ' , pl 221
7
44
ten.
54
-
S,,-567
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
THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
f
P
p P " j
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.
C. P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS
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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
je) P
P,
226
159
F F
LFl0 -: •' - ',i -- i •
.-
(.
Keybd.
163
i E-
C. P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS
48 See Rachel Wade, The Catalog of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Estate, p. vii; and
Darrell Berg, "Towards a Catalogue of the Keyboard Sonatas of C. P. E. Bach," Journal
of the AmericanMusicological SocietyXXXII (1979), 276-303.
49 The exception, H. 552, differs from the others in having no developmental
section.
C. P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS
Allegro fr
Fl.
7 7 6 7
229
_ 67 77 6 66
7 6__ 6 765
Allegro • . •
•j •_
Fl.
Cont.
5 5
Attributionof QuestionableWorks
In addition to the twelve flute soli in Table 1, two
additional flute/continuo sonatas have been attributed, at least in part,
to Emanuel Bach. These sonatas, listed in a 1924 auction catalog, but
cited as lost by Ernst Schmid in his 1931 study of Bach's chamber
music, were recently discovered by Rachel Wade in a curious manu-
230 script in the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin.5'
The title page, written in a strange mixture of languages ("2 Solo pour
Fletraversier col Basso" [sic!]),52 attributes the sonatas to "Bach and
Schaffrath." Presumably the "Bach" intended is Emanuel, since he
and Christoph Schaffrath were colleagues at the Berlin court for over
a quarter century.53
Neither sonata is listed in the NV. This fact alone sheds doubt on
the attribution to Bach. In addition, however, the music itself raises
questions about the extent of his participation in the collaboration.
The sonatas are pleasant, but rudimentary, relying heavily on sequen-
tial techniques; motivic development is frequently awkward and the
with full cadences, as in J. S. Bach's E-minor flute/continuo sonata. The fast movements
of H. 548 also resemble those of the other sonatas in group 2 in several details, includ-
ing an abbreviated recapitulation in movement 2, and an extended development fol-
lowed by a shortened recapitulation in movement 3.
5' See G. Kinsky, Musik-Sammlungaus dem NachlasseDr. Erich Prieger-Bonn, nebst
einigen Beitrigen aus anderemBesitz. III. Teil. Musikerbriefe,Handschriften,Musikalien (Co-
logne: Lempertz, 1924); Schmid, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und seine Kammermusik,pp.
go and 176; and Rachel Wade, "Newly Found Works of C. P. E. Bach," Early Music
XVI/4 (1988), 523-32.
52 The "e" in place of "6" in "Fletraversier" may derive from the orthographic
practice of notating the umlaut as a small "e" above the letter it affects.
5s Schaffrath, who was five years older than Bach, entered Frederick's service in
1735, and later served as cembalist to the King's sister, Princess Amalia. He died in
1763. See Ernst Stilz, Die BerlinerKlaviersonatazur Zeit Friedrichsdes Grossen(Saarbrticher
Druckerei, 1930), pp. 23ff., and Christoph Schaffrath, Concertoin B-flatfor Cembaloand
Strings, ed. Karyl Louwenaar (Madison, WI: A-R Editions, 1977), preface.
C. P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS
EXAMPLE 4. J. S. or C. P. E. Bach,
Sonata in G minor for violin and
obbligato keyboard, BWV o1020, mvt. 1, mm. 42-50.
Transcribed from AWgm, XI 36271.
42
Vin.
45
232
48
ir1
ii
fry
in the Breitkopf catalog may not be as significant as first meets the eye,
for Bach himself noted that Breitkopf at times attributed works to
him erroneously.58
The possibility that the sonata is an early work59 overlooked later
by Emanuel when preparing the catalog is difficult to support in light
of the published attribution to him in 1763. In fact, Bach lists in the
NV several sonatas stemming from his earliest years, suggesting that
his habit of careful record-keeping dated back to his youth. Further-
Andante
Fl.
rI i I II I
-7
6 * 6 6-- 6 4
5 4+
5
b.X
235
3 3
6 6 7 6 7 8 X7
Z
Fl. Y i-
FI.
6 6 4_
236 5 5
66 Leta E.
Miller, "Structural Ornamentation in C. P. E. Bach's Sonatas for Flute
and Continuo," Studies in the Historyof Music, vol. 3: The Creative Process (New York:
Broude, 1992), pp. 59-80.
67 C. P. E. Bach, Versuchiiber die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen (vol. 1, Berlin:
Henning 1753; vol. 2, Berlin: Winter, 1762), part 2, ch. 41, pp. 327-29.
68 Ibid., p. 341 (at #3).
C. P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS
Adagio
Fl.
3
_ _
. . ,r irn,'' 5
2..-Jb •7
S6 7 4 237
6 6 6 6 57
6+46
4 4 6
7
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1
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6 6
6 77 8 6 78
6 5
7$ $ 6
86
238
5 7 6 5 5 2 1
I? I 5I I iI 4 6 7
92
66 56 16
6 7 6 5 4 5
"6 5
3
48
3
Fl.f
.. ' 3
•o ';;3 "'3 •
7 6
7 6+
1 7 7 1
239
Example 8a). Although it cannot be summarily extracted from the
composition as in the examples cited above, this motive nevertheless
functions as a parenthetical aside characterized by an abrupt change
of tempo and rests which invite prolongation, as Bach suggests in his
Versuch.69Later in the movement this diversion is integrated into the
main theme by the continuous motion in the bass (Example 8b), ex-
panded (Example 8c), and used as a counterpoint to a sequential
passage of running sixteenths (Example 8d). Its original diversionary
function returns in a magnified form in the center of the develop-
ment, where the two-note sigh, now rising, is answered-but with
intervening rests in all parts (Example 8d, mm. 71-74).
That such stylistic changes resulted from Bach's conscious re-
evaluation of his previous style is suggested by the enormous number
of revisions he made to his older compositions. While such revi-
sions appear throughout Bach's lifetime, the 1740s were the most
intensive years of rewriting-a time when Bach clearly chose system-
atically to update his youthful works. It is not surprising, therefore,
to find that both flute/continuo sonatas from this period draw in
part from earlier works: H. 560 (1746) from H. 552 (1738) and H.
561 (1747) from both H. 556 (1740) and from the gamba sonata
H. 558 (1745).
Allegretto
3
lal . II
P
i
I
-' -I I F • " •
240 Lf
17
Fl.
Keybd.
6,
21
P /
( _
C. P. E. BACH S FLUTE SONATAS
EXAMPLE8. (continued)
c. Mvt. 2, mm. 56-59.
56 _
Fl. 2
eop f p f
67 t,
Fl.
241
Keybd.
70
tr
p
i
74 74
t
THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
Of all the flute sonatas, H. 552 is most problematic for the instru-
ment. Not only is it set in a poor key-its many cross-fingered notes
lending a darker, softer quality to the sound-but its low tessitura and
long articulated passages in the low octave (particularly in the second
movement) invite balance problems with the keyboard.
Bach must have recognized the non-idiomatic character of this
work, for it was the first flute/continuo sonata he chose to revise. He
did not, however, reject the earlier work out of hand. If so, we would
70 This short movement represents the single exception to the lengthening trend
of the finales.
EXAMPLE 9. (1) Sonata for flute and continuo in D major, H. 556 (1740), mvt. 3. T
(2) Sonata for viola da gamba and continuo in C major, H. 558 (1745),
Transcribed from Bc 5634.
(3) Sonata for flute and continuo in D major, H. 561 (1747), mvt. 3.
Transcribed from Bc 5517
a. Opening material.
Fl.
S3 3
H.556
H. 558
Cont.
3 cS
Fl.
3
H. 561
I 6 6 6 4 3 6 5 6 6
4 3 5
2
t\)
IA
IA
EXAMPLE 9. (continued)
b. End of the first reprise.
14
F. - !rII l• [ - , I .
bI ' .1"
H. 556R.
T ?I ii
Gamba
,
l"
H.558
H. 558
Cont.
6
5 76 +6 6
S7 4
4_529_54
- Ii'
FI.
H. 561
H.561 I I I 3
EIfI. I I -i f" . a . m
Centt
S26 5h
4 ,
'
7-66
.
5
C. P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS
9 h
Fl 4
ww3
245
startles the entire ensemble into silence (Example 9b, H. 556, measure
16). This bold gesture is replaced by long notes functioning as a
written-out ritard in H. 558, and then transformed into an expectant
fermata in H. 561 (Example 9b).
The striking similarity between the openings of H. 558 and H.
561 (Example ga) leaves no doubt that the finale of the 1747 flute
sonata was a reworking of the gamba sonata. It also suggests a plau-
sible explanation of the NV's erroneous designation of H. 558 for
flute-a hasty glance at the manuscript of H. 558 may have led the
compiler of the NV to conclude that Bach had revised an earlier
sonata in the same medium, as was so frequently his practice.y'
As one would expect, Classical stylistic traits appear with increas-
ing frequency in the late Berlin works. In H. 515 (1766), for example,
the four-bar phrase is strongly prominent, harmonic surprises and
parenthetical insertions are lacking, and the proclivity toward parallel
thirds and sixths give rise to a decidedly galant effect (Example lo).
71 The gamba sonata was probably composed for Ludwig Christian Hesse, son of
the famous Ernst Christian. A virtuoso in his own right, L. C. Hesse entered Frederick's
service in 1741.
THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
EXAMPLE 11. "Hamburg sonata" (H. 564, 1786), mvt. 1, mm. 33-
38. Transcribed from Bc 5517.
33,,
Fl.
" i
Cont. "
" a
7 5 7 65
246
6 6 7 5
4 5
t\o
THE JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY
EXAMPLE 12. "Hamburg sonata" (H. 564, 1786), rondo, mm. 28-
39. Transcribed from Bc 5517.
28
Fl.
Pp f
5 6 16
4 35
tasto tasto
Summary
In his earliest sonatas for flute, Emanuel Bach was
at once indebted to the style of his father72 and audacious in his
harmonic syntax and structural phraseology. His Frankfurt flute com-
positions may well have provided the stimulus for his invitation to the
court of crown prince Frederick in 1738, leading to a thirty-year
association that was to bring Bach stability, but at the same time con-
fine him to a stifling environment of artistic autocracy. In his first
years at the court, Bach composed five (or possibly six) flute/continuo
sonatas, two of which served as models for later works in the same
genre.
72 There are striking similarities, for example, between his E-minor sonata of 1737
and the E-minor and B-minor sonatas of J. S. Bach.
C. P. E. BACH'S FLUTE SONATAS
Though Bach then abandoned the flute for several years, he re-
turned to composing for the instrument in 1745, seemingly with new
fervor, revising six trio sonatas from 1731-35, and composing two
more flute/continuo sonatas, the unaccompanied sonata, four con-
certi, and seven trio sonatas, five of which have alternative flute/
obbligato keyboard versions.
The compositions of the late 174os, Bach's most difficult works
for the instrument, may well reflect renewed approbation for his