BACH, C.P.E.: Wurttemberg Sonatas – Mahan Esfahani Hyperion

WÜRTTEMBERG SONATAS, WQ49
Sonata in A minor H30 Wq49/1[11’28]
1
Moderato[4’40]
2
Andante[3’13]
3
Allegro assai[3’35]
Sonata in A flat major H31 Wq49/2[13’07]
4
Un poco allegro[5’10]
5
Adagio[3’27]
6
Allegro[4’30]
Sonata in E minor H33 Wq49/3[13’54]
7
Allegro[6’03]
8
Adagio[4’12]
9
Vivace[3’39]
Sonata in B flat major H32 Wq49/4[12’30]
10
Un poco allegro[4’19]
11
Andante[3’42]
12
Allegro[4’29]
Sonata in E flat major H34 Wq49/5[12’12]
13
Allegro[5’22]
14
Adagio[3’23]
15
Allegro assai[3’27]
Sonata in B minor H36 Wq49/6[12’54]
16
Moderato[5’00]
17
Adagio non molto[4’22]
18
Allegro[3’32]

‘This Iranian-American has carved out a niche as his instrument’s leading champion … his success is founded on remarkable artistry’ (International Piano)

‘Such virtuosity and disarming presentation suggests that Esfahani could inspire a whole new appreciation of the instrument’ (The Guardian)

Hyperion is delighted to present the debut recording of the wonderful young harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani. He was the first harpsichordist to be named a BBC New Generation Artist or to be awarded a fellowship prize by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.

Here Mahan Esfahani has recorded CPE Bach’s six ‘Württemberg’ sonatas, which were written in 1742–3 and published in 1744, and his thrillingly intense performances make the best possible case for this dramatic, beautifully written, endlessly imaginative but for some reason under-performed music. The sonatas range stylistically from initial stirrings of Sturm und Drang in keyboard music to sublime imitations of the human voice, with nods to the High Baroque and the idiom of CPE Bach’s more famous father. Mahan writes in his booklet notes that ‘Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach makes the most combative statement possible to assert his new musical language’.