Harpsichord· William Dowd, Paris, 1984, after·M. Mietke (?), c. 1715, Berlin. A 415 (at the moment in 2016 owned by Pierre Hantaï).
Released 1985 by Philips 416141-1
Recorded in the city of Haarlem, The Netherlands, December 1984
Photo cover: Dirk Buwalda

Side· Seite . Face 1:
Suite in E minor, BWV 996
00:00 1 .Praeludio 2’07
02:09 2. Allemande 3’19
05:28 3. Courante 2’23
07:51 4. Sarabande 2’58
10:50 5. Bouree 0’57
11:47 6. Gigue 2’25
Fantasia and Fugue in A minor, BWV 904
14:18 Allegro 2’47
17:04 Fuga (Allegro moderato) 4’35
Toccata in E minor, BWV 914
21:41 (-)
22:33 Un poco allegro 2’04
23:46 Adagio 1’56
25:42 Fuga (Allegro) 3’02

Side· Seite . Face 2:
Capriccio in B flat, BWV 992 »sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo«
28:45 1. Arioso (Adagio) 2’23 »’Ist eine Schmeichelung der Freunde, urn denselben von seiner Reise abzuhalten«
31:10 2 (-) 1′:55 »ist eine Vorstellung unterschiedlicher Casuum, die ihm in der Fremde k6nnten vorfallen«
33:06 3. Adagissimo 2’52 »ist ein allgemeines Lamento der Freunde«
35:58 4. (-)1’00 »Allhier kommen die Freunde (weil sie doch sehen, dass es anders nicht sein kann) und nehmen Abschied«
36:59 5. Aria di postiglione (Allegro poco) 1’51
38″:51 6. Fuga all’imitazione della cornetta di postiglione 2’26
Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro in E flat, BWV 998
41:20 1. Prelude 3’10
44:31 2. Fuga 5”46
50:17 3. Allegro 2”51

If one arranges the works played on this recording in
a roughly chronological order, the “Capriccio on the
Departure of a Beloved Brother,” BWY 992, is
verifiably the earliest. Bach wrote the six-movement
piece in Arnstadt in 1704, when his brother, J ohann
lacob, was preparing to travel to Sweden to join
King Karl XII’s Guards as an oboist. Clearly
influenced, to some extent, by the programmatic
“Biblical” Sonatas of 10hann Kuhnau, which had
been published four years earlier, the young Bach
devised a series of genre pieces of amazing vividness,
to which he gave descriptive titles . In the first,
friends plead with the aspiring traveller, in smooth
consecutive sixths, trying to wheedle him into giving
up the journey. In the second, they point out, in
sorrowfully falling modulations, the many perils he
may encounter in a foreign land. In the third, they
raise a general Lamento with many sighing motives.
The fourth piece is devoted to the departure; everyone
seems to be treading on everyone else’s heels as
chords and entries pile up after each other. The Aria
of the postilion, with a realistic crack of the whip, is
followed finally by a lively, swinging fugue on the
posthorn fanfare, accompanied by two obbligato
contrapuntal parts .
The E minor Toccata, BWY 914, was written
around 1710, during Bach’s “Sturm und Drang”
period – the “storm and stress” years of duty in
Weimar. The impetuous, sometimes free and rhapsodical
form has the air of a long-breathed improvisation.
As in all keyboard toccatas, Bach
begins with solo runs and ends with a broad fugue.
Opening and close are linked by a figure which
descends diatonically within the compass of a fifth.
This also anticipates the cerebral, contemplative
double fugato. An Adagio follows, in which it
becomes clear that Bach is aiming at motivistic
relationship and inner connexion of the movements
within the work.
Probably around 1720, Bach came into close contact
with the Dresden court lutenist, Silvius Leopold
Weiss. It is clear that we owe to his encouragement a
series of lute compositions, among them the Suite in
E minor, BWV 996 and the Prelude, Allegro, and
Fugue in E flat, BWY 998. Since compositions for
the lute and for the c1avie~had for many years been
interchangeable, these pieces were equally suited to
interpretation on the harpsichord. In the E minor
Suite, the five stylised dances (Allemande, Courante,
Sarabande, Bourree, and virtuosically fugal
Gigue) are preceded by a highly original prelude – a
free, harmonically piquant, toccata-like opening,
headed Passaggio, followed by a strict, fugal Presto.
The hand of the mature master is again evident in the
three-movement E flat major work, which Bach
seems to have conceived originally for harpsichord.
The prelude has much in common with the opening
– movements of the “French” Suites. The sizable da
capo fugue – a rarity from Bach – has a playful
middle section, dominated by a fresh, repeatedly
extended motive. The work, which is intensified
from one movement to the next, culminates in a
precipitate, richly figured Allegro.
The Fantasy and Fugue in A minor, BWY 904 may
have been written in Ciithen, or perhaps later, in
Leipzig. It is a clavier work which closely approaches
the mature organ style. The Fantasy is constructed in
concertante style as a ritornello piece, with clear
distinctions between tutti and solo sections.
Lothar Hoffmann-Erbrecht, translation: Miriam Verhey-Lewis

#WilliamDowd #GustavLeonhardt