Bach: Violin Sonatas / L. Kogan, K. Richter

Leonid Kogan - Violin, Karl Richter - Harpsichord

When Johann Sebastian Bach left Weimar in 1717 "with reported ungracious dismissal" to become Kapellmeister and director of chamber music at the court of the young Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (a decision which had first provoked the annoyance of the Weimar Duke Wilhelm Ernst and the aforementioned ungracious dismissal), a new and - as soon became apparent - equally stimulating and versatile field of activity opened up for him. Although Bach had to forego the organ and organ playing, choir and church composition at the Reformed court in Köthen, which was therefore averse to church music, the court orchestra and chamber music enthusiasm of the prince, who in his opinion "both loved and knew music", offered him other tasks and no less appealing opportunities for creative experimentation. As sparse as the surviving news about Bach's life in Köthen is, this life is reflected in his creative work of those years. The relaxed atmosphere, determined by the artistic appreciation of the prince, produced a veritable flood of piano, chamber music and orchestral compositions. At that time, i.e. between 1717 and 1723, Bach composed, among other things, violin concertos including the Double Concerto in D minor, the six so-called "Brandenburg Concertos", the two- and three-part inventions, the first part of the "Well-Tempered Clavier", the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue as well as three sonatas and partitas for violin solo, six suites for violoncello solo and the present six sonatas for C. Each of these compositions has long been regarded as a pinnacle work that has become a model, a standard, for generations of musicians right up to the present day. This historical significance is exemplified by the sonatas for harpsichord and violin.

Price: $27.98