Johann Sebastian Bach was a prolific composer, who wrote hundreds of works, probably many more than have survived to this day. During the years when he wrote these sonatas, however, he was particularly busy. Bach had just begun a new job in Leipzig, and his time was consumed with writing choral music for four major churches in town. These sonatas for violin and harpsichord are among the few chamber music pieces that survive from this time period. They are particularly notable, though, because in them Bach lay the groundwork for a new kind of chamber music. With these sonatas, Bach elevated the role of the harpsichord from accompaniment to musical partner, a trend that would continue and develop throughout the Romantic era, more than a hundred years later.

Recorded live in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is pleased to share this concert under a Creative Commons Music Sharing License. For details see www.gardnermuseum.org.

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews