Bach Generations

Music-making often runs in families—yet one musical dynasty towers above the rest. The Bach surname was a byword for music in the 1600s, and in 1685 the family welcomed to the world one of the greatest-ever musical all-rounders. Johann Sebastian Bach studied with his violin-playing father and taught his sons in turn, four of whom also excelled as composers. Bach Generations, the latest in a series of portrait albums curated by Albrecht Mayer, trains the spotlight on the remarkable Bach family legacy. The German oboist’s choice of works, spanning more than a century of music history, reflects the creative individuality of three generations of Bachs, from Johann Christoph to Johann Sebastian and his sons Carl Philipp Emanuel and Johann Christoph Friedrich. “I thought that Johann Sebastian’s sons would have shown more of their father’s influence in their work,” Mayer tells Apple Music Classical. “But they all chose to follow completely different paths in music. Bach Generations is just a little glimpse out of the window to see those paths and recognise that the huge Bach family of musicians is much greater than we will ever know.” Bach Generations opens with Johann Sebastian’s Concerto for Oboe d’amore, Strings and Basso continuo. Although best known today as the Harpsichord Concerto No. 4 in A Major, BWV 1055, its first and third movements were probably conceived for oboe d’amore. Mayer cites strong circumstantial evidence to support the theory. “The oboe d’amore was invented in Germany around 1720. The Leipzig maker J.H. Eichentopf introduced it to Bach. You can imagine him saying, ‘Let me show you my new instrument—it sounds very different to the oboe.’ Bach loved it, so why wouldn’t he write a concerto for oboe d’amore?” Mayer is joined by the Berliner Barock Solisten, an ensemble of his fellow members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and violinist and Baroque music specialist Gottfried von der Goltz. “I’ve known and performed with Golle and his cellist sister, who also plays on the album, for well over 40 years,” the oboist recalls. “They know everything you need to know to perform this music in period style. Let’s not forget, though, that I’m playing on the modern oboe, oboe d’amore and cor anglais. I’m a big, big fan of period instruments. But still I prefer to do this music using my ‘normal’ voice.” Alongside transcriptions of concertos by Emanuel and Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, Mayer includes Johann Sebastian’s “Badinerie” and evergreen “Air”, respectively from his Second and Third Orchestral Suites, and Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel’s Bist du bei mir, a Bach family favourite. “I have to sell these two beautiful concertos by Bach’s sons. So I’ve added three little golden apples to make the programme more charming. And the now-lost original of the ‘Badinerie’ was probably written for oboe, so this is the early version, not an arrangement.” Bach Generations closes with a transcription for cor anglais, solo violin, strings and continuo of the haunting Ach, dass ich Wassers g’nug hätte by Johann Christoph Bach, a first cousin of J.S. Bach’s father. The composition, preserved in the Bach family archive, sounds strong pre-echoes of Johann Sebastian’s musical language. “Its expressive writing is an early step towards his music,” concludes Mayer. “All these generations of Bachs deserve our appreciation.”