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ANA-MARIJA MARKOVINA
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Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach has been at the center of my artistic work for ten years now. The
inspiration I draw from his music allows me to gain understanding of ALL music. Whether it is
Mozart or Beethoven, Schumann or Schubert, Chopin or Liszt, or even “Pictures at an Exhibition” – my ability to understand music has improved after having studied the works of Carl
Philipp Emanuel Bach.
In the following programs I would like to examine the significance of this epoch-making composer – who has previously escaped wide notice – from a new perspective.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a genius. He could do everything. Whether it was the strict, extended sonata form, the multifaceted variation, the short form of the minuets, rondos, and
solfeggios, or works completely removed from all convention and formal constraints such as his
fantasies in which for pages he did not draw a single bar line.
Whether in his dramatic Sturm und Drang style, the strict variation, or the pre-classic “easy”
sonata – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach is a cosmos whose inspiration radiates far beyond his own
time.
In the following programs I juxtapose important works from the piano literature with works by
C.P.E. Bach displaying both musical as well as formal relationships which transcend the epochs
separating them.
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ANA-MARIJA MARKOVINA
CPE + Ludwig van Beethoven: Form and perseverance
C. P. E. Bach: Sonata E minor aus Wq 59
L. v. Beethoven: Sonata E minor op.90
C. P. E. Bach: Sonata F major Wq 49,1
L. v. Beethoven: Sonata D minor op.31 Nr. 2
C. P. E. Bach: Sonata C major aus Wq 62
L. V. Beethoven: Waldstein Sonata op.53
Coming, as he did, from a generations-long family tradition, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach diverged
from the listening habits of his time and of his father. He is the architect of improvisation while
having perfect command of traditional form. It is only in perfectly rendered improvisation that
innovation becomes dramatically visible. This was also stated by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in
his famous instructional Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments. Beethoven is
his brilliant descendant; perfect form is neglected for the sake of expression. The shared features of the pieces mentioned above are their two-movement form (sonatas in E minor), an inserted recitative (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in F major and Beethoven’s ‘Storm’ Sonata) and
substantial rhythmic and harmonic aspects (the C minor sonatas).
CPE + Modest Mussorgski: Radical individuality founded in its historical context
C. P. E. Bach: Clavier-Sonatas for Kenner und Liebhaber: Wq 59
M. Mussorgski: Pictures of an exhibitiom
The great rococo composer has no apparent connection with the main representative of the
“Mighty Five” (or “Mighty Handful”). Russian folk art and its concertante sublimation lie 3,000
km, worlds and eras away from Potsdam and Hamburg. But there is still a fascinating commonality: Both composers were at home in the musical repertoire of their respective historical period, had complete command of the art and were competent concert performers. Their most
striking similarity is their expressive force, unrestricted by conventionality. Their expressive
worlds are different. On the one hand the court and the Protestant Church, on the other Russian
mysticism, fairy-tales and melodies. But it is a matter of artistic individuality which is often overlaid by conventions: The way Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Modest Mussorgsky singlemindedly asserted their views against the prevailing currents of their day makes them brothers
across the ages.
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CPE + Franz Liszt: Virtuosity and success
C. P. E. Bach: Fantasy E flat major Wq 59, Sonata G minor Wq 65 F. Liszt: Aprés une lecture de Dante-Sonata quasi Fantasia
C. P. E. Bach: Sonata D minor Wq 65
F. Liszt: La Leggierezza
C. P. E. Bach: Variations over "Folie d'Espagne"
F. Liszt: Rigoletto paraphrasis
The music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s time made high demands on the musical self-image,
training and ability of virtuoso musicians and composers. Appointment to high-ranking positions
in the civil service or the church required these qualifications without exception. In Liszt’s time it
was not sovereigns or bishops who determined success but the public (or one or more sponsors). This new virtuoso needed something more than the ruler’s blessings: He needed to gain
the favor of the public. Those who were serving civil and ecclesiastical powers also yearned for
pure individuality. This explains those works composed “for oneself” which are not part of official
duties and were not intended for publication (as with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Sonata in G
minor included here).
The Fantasy in E-flat major and the G minor Sonata still bear traces of the sonata, but are free
in form and radical in expression. Like Liszt’s Dante Sonata. What easiness means is shown by
an “easy” sonata by C.P.E. Bach and the “Leggierezza,” and how to paraphrase is made clear
not only with Liszt but also in C.P.E. Bach’s Variations.
CPE + Robert Schumann: Dark depths of the soul
C. P. E. Bach: Fantasy F sharp minor Wq 67
R. Schumann: Kreisleriana op.16
C. P. E. Bach: Charakterbilder Wq 117
R. Schumann: Papillons op.2
C. P. E. Bach: Sonata G Minor Wq 65
R. Schumann: Fantasiestücke op.111
What happens if you “lose” the security of the Sunday cantata which your father still had
through his official offices?
Only looking inward can guide you away from this loss. That was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s
fate. Expression of the soul becomes complex; in Schumann’s case it became borderline. We
can see the borderline. The motif here is Schumann’s inspiration (also literary) taken from those
treading the boundaries of the soul (ETA Hoffmann and Jean Paul) and no longer praising God.
Gloom, disjointedness, and apparently completely disconnected harmonies placed alongside
one another describe Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Fantasy in F-sharp minor and of course the
Kreisleriana too.
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CPE + Franz Schubert: Wanderings
C. P. E. Bach: 6 Sonatas for Kenner und Liebhaber Wq 57
F. Schubert: 4 Impromptus op.90
The late 18th-century composer C.P.E. Bach’s journey led him to positions in the service of the
court and then of the Church. Established institutions continued to form a solid basis. Schubert
no longer experienced this and may have sorely missed having it. His work, like that of his literary contemporaries (Tieck, Novalis), is suffused with the idea and the metaphor of wandering
full of yearning. The wandering has one goal: God’s loving care. But now there is no institution
any more, and the responsibility lies with the artist alone. The soul’s resources must endure this
loneliness.
CPE+ Frédéric Chopin: From meditative austerity to brilliance
C. P. E. Bach: Fantasy F sharp minor Wq 67, Polonaise G minor, Sonata A major Wq 65,32, Sonata C minor Wq 65,31
F. Chopin: Ballade G minor op.23, Nocturne C sharp minor, Polonaise-Fantasy op.61, Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante E flat major op.22
The development of piano-building reflects the aesthetic preferences of each historical period.
The path moves from the inward and quiet sound of the harpsichord through the fortepiano to
the large concert grand piano of today. Specific psychological expressive characteristics are
related to these stages of development. These can already be noted in the outward conditions
of concert life. The harpsichord is suitable for the small recital hall and basso continuo. The
larger concert hall and larger audience later encountered the fortepiano. Compared to the harpsichord, its sound is still intimate, though more voluminous and more expressive due to its
changed mechanical action. Completely new musical statements become possible in the salon
setting, also and as a direct result of the connection with a new concept of virtuosity. Still today,
this virtuoso principle then reaches its ultimate development up until the present day in the invention of the steel frame, which makes possible instruments which can fill halls with powerful
resonance. The expressive possibilities of the modern-day concert grand piano continue the
tradition of the fortepiano although transcending it in the direction of orchestral sound.
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CPE + Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The beauty of fantasy
C. P. E. Bach: Fantasies E flat majorund A major Wq 58, Sonata C minor Wq 65,32, 12 Variations over „Folie d'Espagne“
W. A. Mozart: Fantasy D minor und C minor, Variationes over a Menuet from Duport, Sonata F major KV 332
The son of the musical titan is the revolutionary of soulful sensibilities. Form loses its dominance and the expression of feeling takes its place. This occupied Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
as a writer and as a composer. Through it he brings a new wholeness to European music, without which the compositions of ensuing generations would be unimaginable. Virtuoso mastery of
form still goes without saying, but in the service of authentic feelings. Two generations later this
new completeness is represented most prominently by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This completeness is so well-established that there is no longer any need to justify it through its authentic
background, when the expression of feelings and the sound are so unified, as in for example
Don Giovanni. In the piano literature, the level of experimentation demonstrated by Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach is to be found in the work of Mozart in many places. Particularly noteworthy are
his Fantasies in D minor and C minor. Here too there are contrasting elements, as in the case of
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, although they appear in a sequence that, inexplicably, seems to go
without saying.
CPE + die Bachs: Familial ties
C. P. E. Bach: Concerto per il cembalo solo in C major Wq 112/1
J.S. Bach: Italian concert
C. P. E. Bach: Sonata C major wq55/1
J. Ch. Bach: Sonata op.17 Nr.3
C. P. E. Bach: Fantasiy A major
W. F. Bach: Fantasy E minor
C. P. E. Bach: 2 Polonaise
W. F. Bach: Polonaise G minor
C. P. E. Bach: Suite E minor Wq 62
J.S. Bach: French Suite G major
In all arts and in literature the phenomenon of “family dynasties” occurs. It has some of the
characteristics of family traditions in other areas: There are business families and traditions in
certain occupations from medicine to theology, law to the trades. The fascinating part is the unchanging psychological dynamics. The founder establishes an enterprise, sets standards – often in an absolute and triumphant way – and the sons or daughters grow up in this atmosphere,
feel the expectations and privileges, and experience pressure that is difficult to cope with being
exerted on their own, quite possibly different ideas. But if they want to remain in that discipline,
they have to go their own unmistakable way. Direct imitation would be laughable and would also
not stand up to further development in the respective field. Resistance, flight or even imitation
are important elements of self-assertion. The Bach family provides particularly impressive evi-
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dence of this dynamic in the first two generations. The sons had to satisfy different demands:
Friedemann was supposed to be the legitimate heir; Christian inspired the high classical genre
with his elegant aesthetic. But Carl Philipp especially, even though apparently very similar to his
father in his attitudes, was the real revolutionary in form and content, the renewer of musical
language and the trailblazer for Haydn and Beethoven.