Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (1727-1756)
Trio Sonata in C (Dür G 13)
Trio Sonata in A minor (DürG 11)
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784)
Trio Sonata in B flat (F 50 / WFB B 16) (1st version)
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg
Trio Sonata in G minor (DürG 12)
Trio Sonata in B flat (DürG 10)
Ensemble Diderot
rec. 2022, Euregio Kulturzentrum Grand Hotel (Gustav-Mahler-Hall), Toblach, Italy
Audax ADX11203 [61]

The Ensemble Diderot likes to leave the trodden paths and explore little-known repertoire. The disc to be reviewed here is an exception, as both composers are rather well-known. That is not to say that the trio sonatas in the programme are that often performed – and that certainly goes for the one by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.

The trio sonata was one of the most popular genres of instrumental music from the last decades of the 17th century until the mid-18th century. At that time, it developed into the classical trio for keyboard, violin and cello. The trio sonata was mostly intended for the growing number of amateurs. This explains that they were technically not too challenging; the composers generally avoided typical violin techniques such as double stopping. Originally conceived for two violins and basso continuo, in time, composers often offered alternatives, such as flutes or a combination of violin and a wind instrument. This made them attractive to a wider number of players, especially as in the course of the 18th century the flute became one of the favourite instruments of amateurs. The trio sonata was also a way to show a composer’s skills in the field of counterpoint. It is not by chance that quite a number of composers started their activities with publishing a set of trio sonatas.

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was the eldest son of Johann Sebastian, who paid much attention to his musical education, for instance by writing six trio sonatas for organ. Wilhelm Friedemann was also the teacher of Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who has given his name to the Goldberg variations. He is said to have played them for his patron, Count Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk, the Russian ambassador to Dresden from 1733 to 1745. Although there is no firm evidence of this, it seems quite likely, as by all accounts he was a real keyboard virtuoso from a young age. His own compositions confirm his musical talents; unfortunately his oeuvre is small due to his early death, at the age of only 29.

Goldberg’s instrumental works may well confirm that Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was his teacher, as he seems to move between the various stylistic fashions of his time, just like Bach’s eldest son. The Trio Sonata in C is very reminiscent of the old Bach, and it is understandable that it was included in the Schmieder catalogue, even though several manuscripts bear the name of Goldberg as its composer. The second movement is a fugue, and its opening theme – CHBA – could be, as Johannes Pramsohler suggests in his liner-notes, an anagram of the name Bach.

According to the track-list the second sonata in the programme is also in C major. That is an error, as it is in fact the Sonata in A minor. It is a perfect example of a work that pays tribute to the different fashions of the time. The opening movement is written in the galant idiom, whereas the second movement is a three-part fugue. The last movement is a specimen of the Sturm und Drang and includes some notable harmonic progressions.

The Sonata in G minor is in three movements in the order that was fashionable in Berlin in the mid-18th century: adagio, allegro, tempo di menuetto. Pramsohler states that it is the most modern of Goldberg’s four trio sonatas. The opening movement includes sighing figures, but also chromaticism, which Goldberg seems to have liked a lot. The minuet has more weight than was common at the time that this dance was especially popular among representatives of the galant idiom.

The Sonata in B flat is especially notable for Goldberg’s treatment of harmony. That is particularly the case in the ciacona which closes the work. Evgeny Sviridov and Davit Melkonyan, in their liner-notes to the recording of Goldberg’s complete chamber music by Ludus Instrumentalis (Ricercar, 2021), state that it is harmonically very unsettling, “to the point that the listener can lose his sense of key”. Pramsohler writes: “Constructed in clear symmetrical form, the nineteen eight-bar phases allow three sections to be recognized in the center of which Goldberg set an upper voice canon at the unison above the ostinato bass.”

It makes sense that he and his colleagues decided to add a trio sonata by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Although some of his chamber music is rather well-known and is available in several recordings, it would be an exaggeration to say that it is part of the standard repertoire. Like Goldberg’s Sonata in G minor, Wilhelm Friedemann’s Sonata in B flat is in three movements in the ‘Berlin order’. It opens with a largo, followed by an allegro ma non troppo and a vivace. The latter two movements include some dramatic traits. It has been preserved in two versions: here we get the first; a later version is for transverse flute and violin.

As I have already mentioned, the ensemble Ludus Instrumentalis released a recording of the complete chamber music by Goldberg. However, the Sonata in G minor was performed in a version for obbligato keyboard and violin, whereas here the original scoring has been recorded. It is one of the reasons that this disc is complementary rather than a competitor. Even if the latter were the case, this disc is welcome, because it includes a trio sonata by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, whose chamber music is not that often performed. Another reason is the sheer brilliance of the Ensemble Diderot. I liked the Ludus Instrumentalis disc a lot, and I like this particular disc too. I just don’t want to choose, and am happy to have both of them.

Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen

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