Luogo e data di registrazione		Doopsgezinde Kerk, Amsterdam (Holland) - Febbraio 1975
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Recording Supervisor		Wolf Erichson
	Recording Engineer		Dieter Thomsen
	Prima Edizione LP		Seon (Philips) | 6775 022 | 2 LP - durata 46' 11" - 50' 55" | (p) 1976 | ANA Seon (RCA Red Seal) | RL 30426 | 2 LPs - durata 46' 11" - 50' 55" | (p) 1980 | ANA
	Edizione CD		Sony | SB2K 60718 | 2 CDs - durata 46' 11 - 50' 55"" | (c) 1999 | ADD
	Original Cover		First page of the Sonata in B Minor, in Bach's hand.
	Note		-

Facts This recording comprises all the works for soloflute, with obbligato harpsichord or with basso continuo, by Johann Sebastian Bach included in the “Neue Bach-Ausgabe”. (See “Critical Remarks” on the “N.B.A.”, Series VI., Vol. 3, 1963, by Hans-Peter Schmitz.) Opinions For their imagination, daring and liveliness of expression we are keeping to Hans Eppstein and his “Studien über J. S. Bachs Sonaten für ein Melodieinstrument und obligates Cembalo” (1966) and “Über J. S. Bachs Flötensonaten mit Generalbass” (1972, Bach Year Book 58). His partial, even at times total, disregard of the peculiarities of the contemporary flute might be open to criticism, nevertheless, unblinded by idolatry for his subject, he succeeds in conveying a clear message: Nearly every one of J. S. Bach’s flute sonates contains some unusual feature. The comments which follow are intended to substantiate, elaborate and, where necessary, correct Eppstein’s views. Sonate in B minor. Autograph. The first movement is the longest sonata movement that Bach ever composed and one for which it is difficult to find a parallel in the rest of his Work. As Well as a performance of the complete work as it stands in the autograph, on Side 4 there is an attempt at a reconstruction of, or perhaps one ought to say an “unveiling” of, the Andante, in a form in which it might possibly have appeared at some earlier stage in its existence. Numerous indications that an earlier version did in fact exist can be found in the music itself. My task, as I saw it, in solving this cryptogram, was diametrically opposed to the task of those so bent on completing the Art of Fugue. It was as follows: to halt the ceaseless turning of the wheel, to make a 3-part composition into a 5-part, a sonata into a concerto, a piece for flute into a piece for strings. Only through a sketchy concerto for strings (there is no fully developed solo part) could - or so it seemed to me - Bach’s brilliant paraphrase of himself be explained. The basic musical elements must have continued so to occupy him that he decided to assemble them into a grand dialogue between harpsichord and flute, a simple devise as in the aria “Geduld, Geduld!” from the Matthew Passion or “Herr, so du willst” from Cantata No. 73, which must have hammered through his head with that same disagreeable combination of violent outburst and emotional control. Of course, the result of this “unveiling” still leaves much to be desired, though it is not without interest. This concerto movement really cannot be completed from the material available. (A matter about which our harpsichordist and I had several exchanges. “Shall I finish it for you?” he enquired earnestly, his trained hand poised to cross out a parallel fifth.) I feel, however, that it should stay as it is. I detect a slight hint of the Sixth Brandenburg Concerto, and this work, thank goodness, is finished. Sonata in E major. Various copies, one of them “after the autograph of the composer, his being at Potsdam at the time, o. 17.., for Geh. Kämmerir Fredersdorf.” Bach was twice at Potsdam: in 1741 and in 1747. In matters concerning the flute Fredersdorf acted as a go-between for Frederick the Great and his flute-maker and teacher Quantz. (Frederick the Great was particularly fond of playing his flute while away from court on campaigns.) This Sonata in E major was Bach’s polite way of meeting the persistent demands of Prussia’s flute-mad monarch. Of the two possible dates of composition, 1741 is the more likely. By the time of the 1747 visit, Bach seems to have been less inclined to pander to royal taste, dedicating to him his “Musical Offering”. Sonate in A major. Autograph (lost between the years 1940-45), of which a part of the first movement was erroneously excluded by the bookbinder. In my opinion the whole of this sonata could be the composer’s own arrangement of an earlier concertante trio sonata for organ. The first movement would be considerably tightened up thematically and structurally by the use of 8, 4 and 2 foot registration, and the concerto-like unison passage in the last movement would have more point (cf. the sixth organ trio sonata). It is worth comparing, too, the chromatic subject of this last movement with those of the E major harpsichord concerto and the sinfonia of Cantata No. 49. Sonata in E minor. Various copies. We have played this sonata at many concerts and in the meantime have come to the conclusion that it is not by Johann Sebastian Bach. There are several un-Bach-like features: in the first movement the total length in relation to the kind of figures used, in the second movement the lighthearted treatment of the theme, in the third a couple of very weak bars (bars 36 and 37). Only the fourth movement stands up to frequent critical observation and proves worthy of the great master himself. At the moment we feel the work could be ascribed to one of his extremely talented young pupils, his von Wilhelm Friedemann being the most obrious choice. Partita in A minor. Copy done by two copyists. Heading: “Solo pour la Flute traversière par J. S. Bach”. Again there are doubts as to the authenticity of the instrumentation. An expert on questions of technique no matter what instrument, would Bach have written for flute an allemande and a courante in which initially every natural pause for breath is ignored and later a host of string-like, rapid arpeggio figures is introduced? No. We have, consequently, also included here (on Side 4) additional experiments with the instrumentation, using various players for the individual movements. The listener may judge for himself. Frans Brüggen English translation by Avril Watts