JOHANN GOTTLIEB GRAUN:
Sonata in F major for viola and obbligato harpsichord, GraunWV C:XV:83 Wendt 107:
Adagio non molto
Allegro
Allegro non tanto

WILHELM FRIEDEMANN BACH & JOHANN GOTTLIEB GRAUN:
Sonata in C minor for viola and harpsichord:
Adagio e Mesto
Allegro non troppo
Allegro Scherzando

CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH:
Sonata in G minor for viola and obbligato harpsichord, Wq. 88:
Allegro Moderato
Larghetto
Allegro Assai

From tradition to transition Marking our first project as a duo, was a collaboration on J.S. Bach’s three sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord BWV 1027-1029, later published as our debut album. It seemed therefore a logical continuation for us to take a step further into music history, discovering the viola sonatas by Bach’s sons as well as J.G. Graun, another central personality in 18th century Europe, whom Bach sufficiently respected to entrust as a mentor to his talented firstborn son Wilhelm Friedemann. The bonds between father and sons, the Bach family’s friendship with Graun, along with C.P.E. Bach and Graun’s common years at the court of Frederick the Great in Berlin, attest to the deeply interwoven lives of these composers, both personally and musically. The sonatas on this album are strongly rooted in the tradition and craftsmanship of J.S. Bach, yet they represent a significant step taken by the younger generation towards new musical horizons. The transitional period during which Bach’s sons and Graun composed their works, was a melting pot for numerous new impulses, igniting artistic and idealistic sparks. In this music, one senses a foretaste of classicism as well as the turbulent Sturm und Drang, with its extreme unpredictability and wide emotional range – reactions against the rococo decorum, in favour of unbridled emotions. Another significant artistic movement in which both C.P.E. and W.F. Bach were leading figures was the Empfindsamkeit, or sensitive style, which stood in contrast to the fixed doctrine of affects characteristic of the Baroque period. These sonatas also provide insight into an important chapter of the viola’s history. It is remarkable that just a few decades after J.S. Bach’s sonatas for viola da gamba, his eldest sons and J.G. Graun, at the forefront of many composers from the Berlin School, began composing exquisite sonatas for the viola, drawing attention to this underestimated instrument by granting it a distinct and independent voice. It is a genuine pleasure, and an important aspect of our mission, to shed light on these rather overlooked milestones in the repertoire of the early viola.