The designation "trios" on the cover of this French release may be puzzling to average listeners, inasmuch as only two players are listed, and only one of the works actually involves a trio. The flexibility of instrumentation during this period is a subject under debate, and it is possible that musicians of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's time might have arranged multiple, single-line parts for a single keyboard, as the players do here. That produces a rather odd texture in which the keyboard, usually in an accompanimental role ...
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The designation "trios" on the cover of this French release may be puzzling to average listeners, inasmuch as only two players are listed, and only one of the works actually involves a trio. The flexibility of instrumentation during this period is a subject under debate, and it is possible that musicians of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's time might have arranged multiple, single-line parts for a single keyboard, as the players do here. That produces a rather odd texture in which the keyboard, usually in an accompanimental role in a trio sonata, emerges as a melody instrument. This said, there are some intriguing works here, none more so than the final Sonata in C minor, titled Gespräch zwischen einem Sanguineus und Melancholicus, Wq. 161/1. The title means "Conversation Between a Hopeful Person and a Melancholic One," and the structure of the opening movement reflects that quite ingeniously. The other two composers represented, Johann Gottlieb Graun and (probably) Ludwig Christian Hesse, who never signed...
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