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CPE Bach in Berlin

Piers Adams celebrates CPE Bach's 300th anniversary year with a visit to Berlin's Charlottenburg Palace, where the composer spent 28 years at the court of Frederick the Great.

Piers Adams continues to celebrate CPE Bach's 300th anniversary year with a visit to Berlin's Charlottenburg Palace, where Emanuel Bach arrived as an optimistic 26 year old to join the court of Prussia's flute-playing King Frederick the Great.

In a guided tour though the palace we hear how Emanuel Bach's adventurous musical style was not to the King's conservative tastes, and so he spent much of the next 28 years trying to leave the court - but not before he had established himself as Europe's most famous keyboard player and teacher. Emanuel also found a valuable friend in Frederick's sister Anna Amalia, herself an accomplished musician and also something of a court outcast, having secretly married and become pregnant against the King's wishes. We hear movements from CPE Bach's String Symphonies and from his Prussian Sonatas, from new recordings issued to celebrate the anniversary.

1 hour

Music Played

  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Symphony in G major Wq.173

    Conductor: Hartmut Haenchen. Performer: Kammerorchester Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
    • BRILLIANT CLASSICS.
    • 94640.
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Sonata in A minor Wq.132 for flute solo

    Performer: Musica ad Rhenum.
    • BRILLIANT CLASSICS.
    • 94640.
  • Christoph Huntgeburgh, Natalie Pfeiffer & Ensemble Sans Souci, Berlin

    Sinfonia no. 1 in G major for string orchestra

    • STUDIOS BERLIN.
    • SC 100 329.
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Fantasia in E flat major Wq.58`6 for keyboard

    Performer: Natalie Pfeiffer.
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Sonata in C minor Wq.48`4 (Prussian no.4) for keyboard

    Performer: Natalie Pfeiffer.
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    C.P.E. BACH: Poco Allegro in E minor (from 'Sonatas with Varied Repeats')

    Performer: Natalie Pfeiffer.
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Sonatina in E flat major Wq.108 for harpsichord, 2 flutes and strings

    Performer: Stefano Bagliano. Performer: Collegium Pro Musica.
    • BRILLIANT CLASSICS.
    • 94640.
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Sonata in A minor Wq.70`4 for organ

    Performer: Beata Kruppke.
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    C.P.E. BACH: Adagio for Organ (for Princess Anna Amalia)

    Performer: Beata Kruppke.
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Magnificat in D major Wq.215

    Conductor: Franzjosef Maier. Performer: Collegium Aureum. Performer: Tolz Boys' Choir.
    • DEUTSCHE HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • 88843 021622.

Broadcast

  • Sun 6 Jul 2014 14:00

Podcast