Bach and Chamber Music
Works from J.S. Bach’s library
J.M. Bach – Buxtehude – J.S. Bach – Telemann – Goldberg
Finnish Baroque Orchestra
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s (1714–1788) catalogue of his father Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685–1750) musical estate lists Sebastian’s own compositions, instruments, books, and portraits. However, it does not include works by other composers that Bach himself owned. In this concert, we nevertheless step into Bach’s musical library, guided by close and important colleagues whose music he performed or heard during his lifetime.
Johann Michael Bach (1648–1694) was Sebastian’s father’s cousin and also the father of his first wife, the singer Maria Barbara Bach. His miniature cantata Ach, wie sehnlich breathes a longing for heaven and is performed here in an instrumental version. The work’s style recalls that of the famous contemporary Dietrich Buxtehude (1637–1707), whom the young Sebastian travelled to Lübeck to meet—staying four times longer than the leave he had been granted from Arnstadt.
From Carl Philipp Emanuel’s godfather Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), we hear two movements from the Orchestral Suite in E minor. Telemann helped popularize the French-style orchestral suite in Germany.
The Dresden-based keyboard virtuoso Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (1727–1756) gave his name to one of Sebastian’s most famous works. His own sonata combines both galant and late Baroque styles. The Flute Sonata in G major, similarly galant in spirit, has been attributed to both Sebastian and Emanuel Bach.
At the age of 62, Sebastian visited the court of Frederick the Great in Potsdam in 1747. The king’s captivating theme lingered in Bach’s mind, inspiring the intricate and enigmatic collection Das Musikalische Opfer (The Musical Offering). Its six-voice ricercar astonishes with its complexity of thematic treatment.
Duration: 1 h (no intermission)
Tickets 30 € (normal), 20 € (discount groups): Ticketmaster's points of purchase and ticketmaster.fi
Ticket inquiries: lippu (at) fibo.fi