C. P. E.

Bach's Sonatas for Solo Flute

Author(s): Leta E. Miller
Reviewed work(s):
Source: The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Spring, 1993), pp. 203-249
Published by: University of California Press
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C.P.E. Bach's Sonatas

for Solo Flute
LETA E. MILLER

Considering the singular importance of the flute

at the court of Frederick the Great (the King himself was an accomplished flutist who employed Quantz as his instructor) and C. P. E.
Bach's position as Frederick's accompanist for over a quarter century,
it seems at first quite surprising that Bach composed only eighteen
sonatas for the instrument.' Explanations, however, have been readily
proffered: the King's conservative musical taste, his unbridled admiration for Graun and Quantz, his less than enthusiastic reception of
Emanuel Bach's experimental style. Bach's disdain for the King's musical talents-particularly Frederick's erratic rhythm-is no less legendary. Perhaps, then, the appropriate query is precisely the opposite: given Frederick's indifference to Bach's music and Bach's
deprecation of the King's performance, what prompted the composition of so many flute sonatas?
Why, too, are these works not concentrated exclusively in Bach's
early years at the court, in the first bloom of a potentially harmonious
relationship with one of Europe's most powerful monarchs? For
indeed, Bach's Berlin flute sonatas span nearly his entire residency
at Frederick's court (1738-68). Additional sonatas for the instrument pre-date his association with Frederick, and Bach's final work in
this genre was composed in 1786, long after he had left Berlin for
Hamburg.
Although in numbers Emanuel Bach's flute sonatas are dwarfed
his
hundreds of keyboard sonatas and vast output of concerti, the
by
excellence of the compositions themselves places them among his
Volume XI * Number 2 * Spring 1993
The Journal of Musicology ? 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
There are also four flute concerti (discussed below) and a few minor works. The
concerti are listed in E. Eugene Helm, ThematicCatalogue of the Worksof Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1989), nos. 431, 435,
438, and 445.

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OF MUSICOLOGY

most distinctive and remarkable works, and ranks them in the forefront of the flute literature of the time. Indeed, his eighteen sonatas
are among the most deftly crafted compositions for the instrument
during the eighteenth century.
Therefore, a study of the flute sonatas chronicles not only the
evolution of public fashion and Bach's personal style over half a century, but also bears on the role and status of the instrument during
this crucial period in its technical development. The present study
supplements recent work on Bach's compositions for keyboard, orchestra, and voice,2 with particular emphasis on the following areas:
1. Dating. Although Bach kept a careful record of his compositions, reflected in an estate catalog prepared by his widow, Johanna
Maria, and published two years after his death (the Nachlassverzeichnis,
hereafter NV),3 dates are lacking for several works listed therein.
Hypotheses on the dating of one of the flute/continuo sonatas also
shed light on the development of Bach's style and on the organizational principles of his catalog.
2. Attributionof questionableworks.The instrumental portions of the
NV have proven to be exceptionally accurate and complete.4 Therefore the reliability of attributions to Emanuel Bach for instrumental
works not listed in the NV must be seriously questioned. Nevertheless,
strong claims for C. P. E. Bach's authorship have been advanced with
regard to several sonatas not listed among his compositions in the NV,
including two flute/continuo sonatas attributed to "Bach and Schaffrath" and several sonatas previously attributed to J. S. Bach-the
sonata for flute and continuo in C major, BWV 1033, and two sonatas
with obbligato keyboard, BWV 1031 in E-flat and o10~0 in G minor,
none of which is included in the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. Robert Marshall has convincingly argued that the E-flat-major sonata and at least
the flute part of the C-major sonata were composed by Sebastian
(manuscripts of both sonatas were in C. P. E. Bach's possession and
are recorded in his estate catalog under category of works composed
by his father).5 It is superfluous to repeat all of Marshall's arguments
2 Most notably, works by Rachel Wade on the
keyboard concerti, Darrell Berg on
the keyboard sonatas, and Stephen Clark on the choral works. For a bibliography of
secondary literature on C. P. E. Bach, see Stephen L. Clark, "C. P. E. Bach in Literature: A Bibliography," in C. P. E. Bach Studies, ed. Stephen L. Clark (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), pp. 315-35.
3 See Rachel W. Wade, ed., The
Catalog of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Estate: A
Facsimile of the Edition by Schniebes,Hamburg, 1790 (New York and London: Garland,
1981).
4 More questions arise regarding the vocal compositions. For example, a number
of works partially composed by Bach may have been added to the catalog by Johanna
Maria. See Helm, ThematicCatalogue, p. xxi.
5 Robert Marshall, "J. S. Bach's Compositions for Solo Flute, Journal of the American MusicologicalSocietyXXXII/3 (Fall 1979). The NV listings for BWVio31 and 1033,

C. P. E.

BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

here; suffice it to note that study of C. P. E. Bach's flute sonatas supports his hypothesis. There remains, then, the G-minor sonata, BWV
which even Marshall postulates to have been composed by
1020,
Emanuel Bach. Nevertheless, serious questions about the authorship
of this work persist, and the possibility that the sonata was composed
by J. S. Bach cannot be wholly discounted. Questions have also been
raised about the sonata's intended instrumentation, hypotheses about
which will be advanced below.
3. The historicalrelationshipbetweenthe continuosonata, the triosonata,
and the obbligatosonata. The present investigation supports hypotheses
that Bach's sonatas for flute and obbligato keyboard postdate trio
sonata versions of the same works,6 a development consistent with
historical trends in the late eighteenth century that favored an increasingly prominent role for the keyboard.
4. Evolution ofBach's compositionalstyle. Study of the flute sonatas
reveals chronological changes relating to the balance of the movements within the sonata; Bach's treatment of empfindsamcompositional elements; and the evolution of such "Classical" stereotypes as
balanced phrase structures and homophonic textures. Bach's compositional process is elucidated through an examination of the manner
in which rhetorical interjections interact with the structural basis of
the composition, and through a study of his reworking of several of
the sonatas either in the same or in a different medium.

Overviewof theflute sonatas

The eighteen flute sonatas fall into two categories
as defined in the Nachlassverzeichnis:soli and trii. The soli include
eleven works for flute and continuo and one for flute alone; the trii
include six sonatas for flute and obbligato keyboard. In Table 1 below,
these eighteen sonatas are arranged chronologically and divided into
six temporal groups.
Group 1. Sonatas from the period before Bach's association with
Frederick.
Group 2. Sonatas from Bach's first years at Frederick's court.
Group 3. Sonatas from the late 1740s, composed after a hiatus of
six years.
Group 4. Sonatas from the mid 1750s.
under the category of works "von Johann Sebastian Bach," read: "Trio aus dem Es
firs obligate Clavier und die Fldte. In Partitur ...; Sonate fir die Fldte und BaB aus
C #" (see Wade, The Catalog of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Estate, pp. 67-68). In a
forthcoming article in Early Music, Jeanne Swack notes close parallels between BWV
1031 and J. J. Quantz's Sonata in E-flat major, QV 2:18.
6 See Michelle Fillion, "C. P. E. Bach and the Trio Old and New," in C. P. E. Bach
Studies, ed. Stephen L. Clark (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), pp. 83-104.

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OF MUSICOLOGY

Group 5. A sonata from the 176os.

Group 6. The final work, from Bach's Hamburg years.
One sonata, H. 548, is undated, but there are compelling reasons
(discussed below) for placing it in the period 1738-40.
Except for the Hamburg sonata, all of the soli predate the trii or
were composed in the same year as the earliest of them. The two types
of works also have different movement structures: nearly all of the trii
are in the fast-slow-fast format typical of Bach's keyboard sonatas,
while the soli (again with the exception of the Hamburg sonata) are in
a slow-fast-fast format. This difference in movement order reflects
less upon chronological factors than upon stylistic features associated
with the solo and trio genres in mid-century Germany. Scheibe, for
example, describes the solo as follows:

206

In general a solo begins with a slow movement. Here a pure and

concise melody must dominate. At the same time the movement
must be light and flowing.... It must, so to speak, sing itself....
This movement is followed by a fast one, which may well be something fugal or designed with free imitation.... In the most skillful
compositions the primary theme will be a singing, new, clear, and
pleasant motive. This theme will hereafter progress through many
variationsand through strong and drawn-out phrases; yet the first
theme must stand out very clearly.... The solo ends with a fast or
minuet-typemovement, or even with a minuet itself, which is varied
several times. .... Difficultand digressing passagesmust, as much as
possible, be avoided.... If it is a minuet with variations, the bass
notes must remain unchanged through all of the variationsin the
melody. The variationsthus involve only the upper part and must
alwaysdemonstrate the strength of the instrument ....7
7 Johann Adolph Scheibe, Critischermusikus(Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1745), PP. 68182: "Ein Solo fingt insgemein mit einem langsamen Satze an. In diesem muB eine reine

und btindige Melodie herrschen. Diese muB zugleich leicht und flieBend seyn.... Er
muB gleichsam selbst singen .... Hierauf folget ein geschwinder Satz. Dieser kann nun
wohl etwas fugenmiBig, oder nach der freyen Nachahmung eingerichtet werden....
Ein singender, neuer, deutlicher und angenehmer Satz wird also am geschicktesten zur
Haupterfindung seyn. Dieser wird hernach durch mancherley Verinderungen und
durch starke und weitliuftige Saitze fortgefiihret, doch muB die Haupterfindung tiberDen SchluB machet endlich ein geschwinder,
all auf das deutlichste hervorragen....
oder auf Menuettenart eingerichteter Satz, oder auch selbst eine Menuet, die hernach
verschiedenemale verindert wird.... Schwere und ausschweifende Gedanken miisWenn es eine Menuet mit Verinderungen ist: so
sen, so viel mtglich, gemieden....
mtissen die BaBnoten bey allen Ver~inderungen der Melodie durchaus unverrindert
bleiben. Die Verinderungen betreffen also nur die Oberstimme, und miissen allemal
die Starke des Instrumentes ... beweisen." Quantz also describes the solo as three
movements, slow-fast-fast, with the two fast movements contrasting in nature. See his
Versucheiner Anweisung die Flte traversierezu spielen (Berlin: Johann Friedrich Voss,
1752; reprint of the 1789 edition, Kassel and Basel: Bairenreiter, 1953), ch. 18, sections
46-50.

C. P. E. BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

On the other hand, Scheibe describes the trio as comprised normally

notes that the opening
of four movements-slow-fast-slow-fast-but
movement is frequently omitted, "especially when the sonata is composed in concerto style."8
All but the latest of the six obbligato sonatas survive in alternative
trio sonata versions as well.9 Variants between the obbligato and trio
sonata versions of the same work are minimal: the keyboardist assumes one of the melodic lines of the trio sonata in the right hand to
create the obbligato version; in so doing, she/he omits most of the
figured bass realization, although some of the obbligato sonata manuscripts have added notes filling out the harmonies in either the right
or left hand.
Frequently overlooked by commentators on Bach's obbligato sonatas is the B-flat major sonata, H.578; though published as a trio
sonata for flute, violin, and continuo (along with a programmatic trio
for two violins and bass),1o its title page specifies multiple performance options for both works.
ZWEY TRIO,
das erste fir
zwo VIOLINEN und BASS,
das zweyte fir
1 QUERFLOTE, 1 VIOLINE und BASS;
bey welchen beyden aber die eine von den
Oberstimmen auch auf dem Fligel
gespielet werden kan [sic]....
Two eighteenth-century manuscripts preserve the flute/keyboard version of the sonata."
8 Scheibe, Critischermusikus, pp. 676-77: "Zuerst erscheint ein langsamer Satz,
hierauf ein geschwinder oder lebhafter Satz; diesem folget ein langsamer, und zuletzt
beschlieBt ein geschwinder und munterer Satz. Wiewohl man kann dann und wann den
ersten langsamen Satz weglassen, und so fort mit dem lebhaften Satze anfangen. Dieses
letztere pflegt man insonderheit zu thun, wenn man die Sonaten auf Concertenart
ausarbeitet."
9 The alternative performance options are derived from the title page of the
original print or from descriptions in the NV. Although H. 505 is designated in the NV
only in its trio sonata version, Johann Jakob Heinrich Westphal, an associate of Bach
during the 178os, added the words "oder Clavier" after the word "Violine" in his copy
of the NV and the obbligato version survives in an authoritative manuscript copy in
Brussels (Bc 6354).
1o Published in Nuremberg in 1751 by the widow of Balthasar Schmid.
SStaatsbibliothek Preussicher Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Musikabteilung, St 260 and
St 572. The NV designates this sonata as follows: "Fldte, Violine und BaB. Ist das 2te
der durch Schmidt in Niirnberg gedruckten Trii"; the supplementary instructions on
the title page suggesting the possibility of obbligato performance are not reported. It is
typical, however, that NV listings of published works are highly abbreviated (incipits,
for instance, are omitted), apparently on the assumption was that the print was readily
available.

207

t0

TABLE

C. P. E. Bach's Sonatas for Solo Flute

Scoring

fl/cont

fl/cont

fl/cont
fl alone

Sonata

Date

Key

Mvt.
Alternate
Order Versions

Mvt. 1

Mvt.

Group 1 (soli, 1735-37, Frankfurt):

H. 550 (W. 123) '735
G maj. SFF
H. 551 (W. 124) 1737
e min. SFF

Andante
Adagio

Allegro (
Allegro*

Group2 (soli, 1738-40, Berlin):

H. 552 (W. 125) 1738
maj
B,
H. 553 (W. 126) 1738
D maj
H. 554 (W. 127) 1739
G maj
H. 555 (W. 128) 1740
a min
H. 556 (W. 129) 1740
D maj
?H. 548 (W. 134) undated G maj

SFF
SFF
SFF
SFF
SFF
SFF

Adagio
Largo
Adagio
Andante
Adagio
Adagio

Allegro
Allegro
Allegro
Allegro
Allegro
Allegro

Group3A (soli, 1746-47, Berlin):

H. 560 (W. 130)
1746
maj SFF
B,
H. 561 (W. 131)
D maj SFF
1747
H. 562 (W. 132)
a min
SFF
1747

Largo
Andante
Poco adagio

Allegro (
Allegretto
Allegro (

fl/vn/cont
(H. 575)
fl/vn/bc
vn/keybd
2 fl/bc
(H. 580)

Allegro un
poco*
Allegro
(binary)
Allegretto*

Largo

Group3B (trii, 1747-49, Potsdam):

D maj
1747
fl/keybd H. 505 (W. 83)
H. 578 (W. 161/2) 1748
H. 506 (W. 84)

1749

B,

FSF

maj FSF

E maj

FSF

(
(
(
(
(
(

Adagio m
troppo
Adagio d

TABLE
Scoring

Sonata

Date

Key

Group 4 (trii, 1754-55, Berlin):

G maj
fl/keybd H. 5o8 (W. 85)
1754

1 (cont.)

Mvt.
Alternate
Order Versions

Mvt. 1

FSF

Allegretto
(binary)

Andantin

fl/vln/bc
(H. 581)
2 vln/bc

Mvt.

(H. 583)
H. 509 (W. 86)

G maj

SFF

fl/vln/bc
(H. 586)

Andante

Allegretto

Group5 (trio, 1766, Berlin):

C maj
fl/keybd H. 515 (W. 87)
1766

FSF

Allegretto
(binary)

Andantin

Group 6 (solo, 1786, Hamburg):

H. 564 (W. 133)
G maj
1786

FSF

Allegretto
(binary)

[unlabelle
recitative

fl/bc

1755

*These movements are through-composed; the opening material recurs periodically in closel
modulating sections. In H5o5 and 506, the opening theme is treated imitatively at all recurre

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OF MUSICOLOGY

Table 1 reveals a striking trend among the soli: the final movements increase in speed from minuets in the two earliest works to
vivace in the sonatas of group 2, to allegro in those of group 3A. That
vivace represented to C. P. E. Bach a slower tempo than allegro is verified by several contemporaneous theoretical sources (e.g., Leopold
Mozart),12 as well as by strong internal evidence: the vivace movements are most often minuets (or in one case, a gavotte)l's and most
contain extensive passages of short notes. With rare exceptions, these
finales also become lengthier over time (thus assuming greater weight
in the sonata cycle), as well as increasingly virtuosic.
The obbligato sonatas show the reverse trend. The earliest works
(group 3B) are the longest and most difficult of Bach's sonatas in this
genre. The opening movements are particularly lengthy and feature
complex counterpoint and expansive Fortspinnung. In contrast, the
two sonatas from the 175os (group 4) are set in the flute's brightest
and most comfortable key and are notably less demanding (though no
less attractive) than the sonatas from the 1740s.
Thus in terms of technical brilliance, length, and seriousness of
expression, Bach's Frankfurt and Berlin sonatas form a type of arch,
reaching an apex in the late 174os with the last soli and the first
12

Mozart lists the fast tempi in the following order: Prestissimo (or Presto assai),
Presto (or Allegro assai), Molto Allegro, Allegro, Allegro ma non tanto (or allegro non
troppo, or allegro moderato), Allegretto, Vivace. He defines vivace as follows: "Vivace
heil3t lebhaft, und Spiritoso will sagen, dab man mit Verstand und Geist spielen solle,
und Animoso ist fast eben dieB. Alle drey Gattungen sind das Mittel zwischen dem
Geschwinden und Langsamen, welches uns das musikalische Stick, bey dem diese
Wirter stehen, selbst mehrers zeigen mu3." (Leopold Mozart, Versucheiner griindlichen
Violinschule[Vienna: Carl Stephenson, 1756], pp. 48-49). Alexander Malcolm lists the
tempi in ascending order as grave, adagio, largo, vivace, allegro, presto, prestissimo:
"Because the Italian Compositions are the Standard and Model of the better Kind of
modern Musick, I shall explain the Words by which they mark their Movements, and
which are generally used by all others in Imitation of them: They have 6 common
Distinctions of Time,expressed by these Words, grave, adagio, largo, vivace, allegro,presto,
and sometimes prestissimo.The first expresses the slowest Movement, and the rest gradually quicker; but indeed they leave it altogether to Practice to determine the precise
Quantity." Alexander Malcolm, A Treatiseof Musick (Edinburgh, 1721; reprint, New
York: Da Capo Press, 1970), p. 402. According to Rousseau, vivace defines the character of the work rather than its tempo (Rousseau, Dictionnairede musique,s. v. "Mouvement": "Chacun de ces degrds [largo, adagio, andante, allegro, presto] se subdivise et
se modifie encore en d'autres, dans lesquels il faut distinguer ceux qui n'indiquent que
le degrd de vitesse ou de lenteur, comme larghetto, andantino, allegretto, prestissimo;
et ceux qui marquent de plus le caractare et I'expression de l'air, comme agitato, vivace,
gustoso, con brio, etc."). The reader should be cautious about applying statements
by a particular writer to the music of a later period or of another geographical region,
as the use of a term such as vivace could vary from composer to composer. See,
for example, Charles Cudworth, "The Meaning of 'Vivace' in Eighteenth-Century
England" and Barry S. Brook, "Le Tempo dans l'ex6cution de la musique instrumentale Ala fin du XVIIIe sibcle: Les Contributions de C. Mason et William Crotch," Fontes
Artis Musicae XII (1965), 194-o201.
13 Minuet-type movements include H. 552, 553, and 554; the gavotte is H. 555.

C. P. E. BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

obbligato works. Bach's interest in contrapuntal intricacy and virtuosity in the late 1740s may have been prompted not only by the tastes
of his royal employer, but also by the visit of his father to Potsdam and
Berlin in 1747, a visit that inspired the Musical Offering, whose trio
sonata is one of the most challenging works written for the baroque
flute.
It is likely that the earliest flute/continuo sonatas (group 1), along
with six trio sonatas for flute/violin/continuo that Bach composed in
1731 and 1735 (H. 567-72), encouraged Frederick to issue his initial
invitation for Emanuel to join the court in 1738. The increase in the
number of flute/continuo sonatas in the period immediately following
(group 2) is hardly surprising in view of this new position. Similarly,
the lacuna in the number of flute sonatas between 1740 and 1746 is
easily explainable by the less than ideal musical relationship that subsequently developed between the composer and the King, and the gap
between 1755 and 1766 is equally understandable in view of Frederick's military involvement in the Seven Years' War (1756-63).
More curious, however, is the reawakening of Bach's interest in
the flute in the late 1740s and early 1750s, during which time he not
only composed the three additional flute soli shown in group 3A, but
also revised his six early trio sonatas for flute, violin, and continuo;
wrote seven more trio sonatas using flute, five of which survive in
flute/obbligato keyboard versions (groups 3B and 4); '4 and composed
four flute concerti (1750-55), which also survive in versions for cello
and keyboard.'s5
One might argue that the rewriting of the six trio sonatas from
the 1730s was part of a systematic process of revision that Bach undertook during the mid 1740s. According to the NV (where the listings of many early works provide not only the dates of original composition but also the dates at which they were "erneuert") clavier soli
from 1731-38

were revised in 1743-44,

revised in 1743-45,16

concerti from 1733-37

were

and two sonatas for clavier and violin were

'4 The other two are: Trio in C major for "flute or clavier, violin, bass" (H. 504
and 573; 1745); and Trio in G major for flute/violin/bass (H. 574; 1747).
15 It is not possible to ascertain definitely the priority of the three alternative
versions of the concerti, but in some cases evidence suggests that the flute version may
be the earliest. In the A-major concerto, H. 437/438/439, for example, added measures
and ornamentation in the cello and keyboard versions suggest that the flute version
pre-dated them. Jane Stevens reaches the same conclusion in her forthcoming edition
of H. 437. On the other hand, for H. 444/445, the keyboard version appears to be the
earliest. Helm, Thematic Catalog, also lists a doubtful arrangement for flute of the
cembalo concerto H. 425 (H. 484.1).
'6 Two later concerti were revised after the 1740s: NV no. 5 in C minor was
written in 1739 and revised in 1762; and no. 22 in A minor was written in 1747 and
revised in Hamburg in 1775.

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revised in 1746-47.17 The revision of the trio sonatas in 1747 is a

logical extension of this apparently systematic "house-cleaning." (We
will see below that both continuo sonatas from this period are also
based in part on earlier works.) Yet at the same time, why should Bach
have undertaken revisions of these works without the motivation of a
new performance? Nor does this theory account for the new compositions for flute from the late 1740s.
It is certainly possible that the flute works of this period were not
written for Frederick at all. There were, of course, other flutists in
Berlin, including several at the court.'s On the other hand, a later
remark attributed to Bach suggests that H. 562, the unaccompanied
sonata of 1747, was indeed written for Frederick, but that the King
had more than a little trouble with it. Some thirty-six years later, in
1783, the thirteen-year-old blind flutist, Friedrich Ludwig Dillon, met
Emanuel Bach in Hamburg. The young man performed "for the
elder Bach a solo of [Bach's] own composition." According to Dillon's
own report in his autobiography, upon completion of his performance Bach remarked, "Isn't it strange: the one for whom I wrote this
piece could not play it; the one for whom I did not write it, can."'s
While Dilon does not specify which of Bach's soli he performed,
the unaccompanied sonata is the only logical candidate. Of the twelve
flute soli, this work is the only one published in Bach's lifetime.2o It is
highly improbable that an obscure thirteen-year-old flutist from Stendal would have had access to manuscripts of Bach's continuo sonatas
written some forty years earlier. The unaccompanied sonata, however, would have been readily available to him.
'7 The sonatas for clavier and violin are listed in the NV, 36, and in Helm,
ThematicCatalog, nos. 502 and 503. These two sonatas are Bach's only works for a solo
instrument with obbligato keyboard before 1745. Their revision in the late 1740s, when
Bach also undertook revisions of six early trio sonatas and began to explore the obbligato sonata format, coupled with the fact that the majority of Bach's obbligato sonatas
survive in trio sonata versions, makes one wonder whether these sonatas may have been
originally composed as trio sonatas and assumed their obbligato format during the
revision process.
i8 See E. Eugene Helm, Music at the Court of Frederickthe Great (Norman, OK:
University of Oklahoma Press, 196o), pp. 1o7-09 and Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg,
Historisch-KritischeBeytriigezur Aufnahme der Musik, I (Berlin, 1754), PP. 76ff.
'9 "Ich spielte dem Vater Bach ein Solo von seiner eignen Composition vor, und
als ich es geendigt hatte, sagte er: es ist doch seltsam; der, fir den ich es machte, konnt'
es nicht spielen; der, fir den ich es nicht machte, kann es." Diilons des blinden Fl1tenspielersLebenund Meynungenvon ihmselbstbearbeitet(Zirich: Heinrich Gerlner, 1807-08),
I, p. 152.
2o It appeared in 1763 in an edition by G. L. Winter and in the anthology Musikalisches Mancherley, where the work is the forty-sixth piece of the fourth quarter, although the last part of the third movement is erroneously labelled no. 47. A facsimile
of the latter source is included in the edition by Hermien Teske (Amadeus, 1978).

C. P. E.

BACH

S FLUTE

SONATAS

Nor does Dilon elaborate on Bach's remark, assuming that his

readers in 1807-when the autobiography was published-would
surely know "the one" for whom Bach had written the sonata. The
most likely candidate, of course, is Frederick himself. Indeed, Bach's
disparaging remark is in keeping with similar comments he is said to
have made concerning Frederick's musical capabilities.
Assuming that the works of the late 174os were written for Frederick, it is tempting to speculate that the climate for Bach's music at
the court may have temporarily taken a more favorable turn at that
time, possibly even in connection with J. S. Bach's visit to the court in
1747. It also suggests a demand for serious and difficult flute sonatas
in this period.
In addition to the works in Table 1, several other sonatas may
have been performed in versions for solo flute during the eighteenth
century. Among the continuo sonatas, H. 558 (C major) was actually
designated

for flute in the NV, as shown in Plate 1 (p. 50, no. 11), a

reproduction of the soli section from the copy of the catalog owned by
Johann Jakob Heinrich Westphal, a correspondent and avid admirer
of Bach who acquired a vast library of his music.21 Westphal has
altered the word "Fldte" to read "Viol di Gambe," probably in response to a letter he received from Bach's widow in December 1i791;
Johanna Maria Bach notes: "Das Solo No. 11 ist nicht fir die Flkte,
sondern for die Gambe gesetzt."'2 Surviving manuscripts of this sonata preserve only the gamba version, which, though notated in treble
clef, is unplayable on the flute because of its range and multiple stops.
There is no record of any flute version. As shown below, the apparent
error in the NV may have arisen from the close similarities between
this work and the flute sonata H. 561, for which it seems to have
served as a model.
Surviving manuscripts also suggest that other trii may have been
performed by flute and keyboard. H. 504 (1745), designated in the
NV for "Flate oder Clavier, Violine und Baf," is found in versions for
flute with keyboard and flute or violin with keyboard; and the trio
21
On Westphal, see Miriam Terry, "C. P. E. Bach and J. J. H. Westphal-a Clarification," Journal of the American Musicological Society XXII (1969), 106-15. See also
Helm, ThematicCatalogue, pp. xix-xx. Westphal's copy of the catalogue is in the Bibliothbque Royale Albert Ier in Brussels. Letters within each listing indicate the place of
composition: Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, etc.
22
See Manfred Hermann Schmid, "Das Geschift mit dem NachlaI von C. Ph. E.
Bach. Neue Dokumente zur Westphal-Sammlung des Conservatoire Royal de Musique
und der Bibliothbque Royale de Belgique in Brtissel," in Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und
die europtische Musikkulturdes Mittleren 18. Jahrhunderts,ed. Hans Joachim Marx (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990o), pp. 496-97 (letter #8). Westphal's catalog of
his collection of C. P. E. Bach manuscripts also designates this work for gamba.

213

THE

PLATE

JOURNAL

OF

MUSICOLOGY

1. C.P.E. Bach's Nachlassverzeichis, pp. 48-51.

? Bibliotheque royale Albert Ier, R6serve pricieuse: F6tis S217
A LP, pp. 48-51. Brussels. Reproduced by permission.

in.. Ur. f~ t764. (!atikr1

2 .~fflt,

1 3t6.

2 ~jolinen,
ten1,
'Prarfc~unb'Zag.

!5~.4

~. 737,
rf3S

5.
~O . 139,

bit
~i ~ll
aW it ~(.te

~5o.12. (p. 1764. ~Eoatict,2 S)Smer,i '3I6.

ten,i ?I3ioline,~rt3rLOt
unb~4~
- ?Io.6.4.

'? 738, Fairbie ~(&e.

7.
5.

3? 739' r~rbkr~l6re.

111
eonotinen
juiarburt,, I itt wib
~Lonbitten
abe na4berto
gangPertbub
me(gbrbucfr,
-

Soil

214

anbere4nllrumtnte
f~W
afl bas~lfnkr.
~o. t, fiWtbit ~f~Qof.r

~a 8. ~9. 1740, fih'bi' aI6~e.

rn..9
SIn.. 2, firwbie aIate.

sonata H. 587-89 for two violins/continuo, viola/bass recorder/continuo, or bassoon/bass recorder/continuo survives in obbligato versions for violin or flute with keyboard (H. 543). In addition, H. 503
for "Clavier und Violine" is also found in an alternative trio sonata
version for flute/violin/bass (H. 596).23 Although the sources of these
arrangements are unknown, they confirm the commonplace practice
of arranging trio sonatas as obbligato works with a variety of instrumentation.24
23 H. 504: D-brd B, St 24o01 and St 240II. (This sonata has been recorded by the
author in the flute/obbligato keyboard version on a compact disc: C. P. E. Bach, Four
Sonatasfor Flute and Keyboard,Musical Heritage Society 513 258L) H. 543: D brd B, St.
244 and St. 253; US Wc M3x12.A2Bx3. H. 596: US Wc, M422.A2Bx3.
24 Other works surviving as both trio sonatas and obbligato sonatas include H.
507/585 (violin/keyboard or 2 violins/bass); and H. 542/570 (violin/keyboard or flute/
violin/bass).

C. P. E. BACH'S

9. 5.

-o.

SONATAS

1. (continued)

PLATE

FLUTE

3740,

fTirbit

y. ~ 15?12? 747, if! boB9cbrubft3f6ftu.

eozo orn ~~

,316te.

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ru bitr.4rfe.~2l~im

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'. 172. rGIbic1Z..l

'jsk.
215

lo.

14. 5Z.1747,

f?r bt

ite..

The Composition of the Hamburg Sonata

In 1768, Bach moved to Hamburg, replacing Telemann as Kantor of the Johanneum and musical director of the city's
five main churches. The Hamburg flute sonata (1786; Table 1, group
6) is the only other solo sonata he composed after leaving Berlin.25 It
is hardly surprising that Bach ceased to compose flute sonatas when
he left Frederick's court. The question is, rather, what prompted him
to write this last work two years before his death?
Ernst Schmid suggests that the sonata was intended for Dillon,
who visited Hamburg during a tour of northern Europe "in those
years,"26--but an examination of Dillon's autobiography suggests that
25 Bach's
only other chamber music with flute during his Hamburg years includes
three quartets for clavier, flute, viola, and bass (written in 1788, the year of his death),
and six septets for 2 horns, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, and bassoon. Helm, ThematicCatalog,
nos. 537-539 and 629-634.
26 Ernst Fritz Schmid, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und seine Kammermusik(Kassel:
Birenreiter, 1931), P- 91.

THE JOURNAL

216

OF MUSICOLOGY

this hypothesis is unfounded. Dillon vividly recounts his visit to Hamburg in 1783 (three years before the sonata was written), which he
considered one of the turning points in his career. He not only met
Bach and performed for him but also studied composition with him.
The autobiography is filled with encomia to Bach's genius, kindness,
and honesty.
Dillon describes in excruciating detail his day-to-day activities in
the critical year 1786; he visited Amsterdam, Leiden, Harlem, Rotterdam, and London, and then returned to Germany, but not to
Hamburg. In fact, the Hamburg sonata is not mentioned, a curious
omission if Bach had composed the sonata for him, particularly in
view of Dillon's admiration for Bach and the detail and pride with
which he relates his tours.
The Staats- und GelehrteZeitung des HamburgischenUnpartheyischen
Correspondenten(HUC) for 1786 discloses the name of only one flutist
who visited Hamburg in that year-a Christian Carl Hartmann from
Paris, who appeared in two concerts on Saturday, 17 June and Tuesday, 29 June. Originally from Altenburg,27 Hartmann lived in Paris
during the 1780s, during which time he apparently distinguished
himself as a brilliant artist. The HUC and the Hamburgisch-AddreJ3Comtoir-Nachrichten
introduced Hartmann to the Hamburg public as a
"famous virtuoso" and "a member of the Royal French Academy of
Music in Paris,"28 a statement echoed in the biographical sketches of
Gerber, Choron/Fayolle, and F6tis, but more recently challenged by
R.-Aloys Mooser in his study of music and musicians in eighteenthcentury Russia.29 Hartmann was apparently enthusiastically received,
since the HUC and the AddrefJ-Comtoir
announced on 28 and 29 June
that the subscription list for his second concert was full.so
27 See Ernst Gerber, Neues
Lexikonder Tonkiinstler(Leipzig:
Historisch-Biographisches
A. Kuhnel, 1812-14; reprint, ed. Othmar Wessely, Graz: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstelt, 1966); and the Mercurede France, 21 Feb. 1784, p. 143, and 22 May 1784,
p. 192.
28 HUC Wednesday 14 June 1786;
Addref3-Comtoir12 June 1786, p. 358. The
notice in the Addref3-Comtoir
is datelined to June and merely informs readers that
Hartmann had arrived in Hamburg. The HUC article announces and describes Hartmann's concert of 17 June.
29 Ernst Ludwig Gerber, Historisch-Biographisches
Lexikonder Tonkiinstler(Leipzig:
Breitkopf, 1790o-92; reprint, Graz: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt, 1977); Etienne Choron and Frangois Joseph Fayolle, Dictionnaire historiquedes musiciens (Paris:
Valade & Lenormant, 1810; reprint, Hildesheim and New York: Georg Olms, 1971);
Frangois-Joseph Fitis, Biographieuniverselledes musiciens(Paris, 1878-80; reprint, Brussels: Culture et civilisation, 1963); and R.-Aloys Mooser, Annales de la musique et des
musiciensen Russie au XVIIImesitcle (Geneva: Mont-Blanc, [1948-51]), II, 444After leaving Hamburg, Hartmann went to Russia, returning to Germany in
30
1788-90, at which time he had a rather unpleasant brush with the law (Musikalische
Real-Zeitung, 17 March 1790 and MusikalischeKorrespondenz,28 July 1790). I have not

C. P. E. BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

Although direct evidence that C. P. E. Bach knew Hartmann has

yet to come to light and the possibility that the Hamburg flute sonata
was composed for his June visit to the city still rests on circumstantial
evidence, two obscure references suggest a possible connection between the two men. The first is a notation in the NV's listing of Bach's
collection of paintings. Among the portraits in his collection was a
silhouette of an unidentified "Herr Hartmand" (NV, 127)-either the
flutist Hartmann or the tenor, "Herr Hartmann," who performed in
Bach's Matthiiuspassionin 1769 and 1773.3' The second reference is a
notation in a Hamburg pay record dating from 1789 referring to "the
late C. P. E. Bach" and specifically citing an instrumentalist named
Hartmann.32
Whether the sonata were written for Hartmann, Dillon, or some
as yet unidentified flutist, there is no question that it was intended
for a virtuoso solo performer. Although it is set in the flute's most
convenient key, both fast movements require formidable technical
control.
There are more than superficial similarities between this sonata
and the keyboard sonata H. 209 (W. 60), composed in 1766 but published by Breitkopf in 1785, only one year before the flute sonata was
written. Both works open with Classical allegrettos, characterized by
galant opening motives accompanied by a drum bass. Furthermore, in
both works, the central slow movement is almost completely suppressed (in H. 564 it is replaced by a seven-measure quasi-recitative)
and connects without break to a delightful rondo (see Examples l a
and ib). In a letter to Breitkopf on 23 September 1785 Bach described the keyboard sonata as "totally new, light, short, and almost
without an Adagio, because this [type of movement] is no longer
fashionable."3ss The chain of suspensions in the keyboard sonata's
largo (Example ib, mm. 6-7) resembles a similar passage in the rondo
of the flute sonata (Example ic) and the broken chord figuration in

been able to substantiate statements in several sources that he returned to Paris in the
1790s.
31On the tenor Hartmann, see Heinrich Miesner, Philipp Emanuel Bach in Hamburg (Leipzig: Dr. Martin Sidig, 1929; reprint, Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Hirtel, 1969),
p. 19. Bach also possessed a portrait of Dillon, painted by Carstens (NV, 101: "Dillon
(Friedlieb [sic] Lud) ein blinder Fl6tenist. Gezeichnet von Karstens. 8. In schwarzen
Rahmen, unter Glas").
32 Miesner, ibid., pp. 121-22.
as"Sie ist ganz neu, leicht, kurz und beynahe ohne Adagio, weil dies Ding nicht
mehr Mode ist." See Ernst Suchalla, Briefe von Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach an Johann
GottlobImmanuelBreitkopfund Johann Nikolaus Forkel (Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1985),
p. 191.

217

THE

JOURNAL

OF

MUSICOLOGY

the recapitulation of the first movement of H. 564 (Example id) is

reminiscent of the second key area of H. 209 (Example
le).34
It would not be unreasonable to conclude that the form
of the
flute
sonata
was
modelled
on
of
that
the
sonata
Hamburg
keyboard
H. 209, which Bach had just prepared for publication a year earlier.
As he himself noted, his aim in H. 209 was to present to the public a
composition easily understood, readily accessible, and immediately
appealing. The Hamburg flute sonata, with the elegance of its first
movement, the virtual lack of a slow movement, and the flashy display
of its finale, fulfills a similar role.

The Sources

218

The only flute sonatas published in Bach's lifetime

were the A-minor unaccompanied sonata (H. 562) and the B-flatmajor obbligato sonata/trio sonata (H. 578). The eleven flute/continuo
sonatas survive in unique manuscript copies in Brussels, ten of them
in a single source (Bc 5517)35 in the same unidentified hand, which,
though inelegant, proves extremely reliable.36 Curiously, the single
sonata omitted from Bc 5517 is not the late Hamburg sonata, but one
of the early Berlin works, H. 552 in B-flat major, which survives in a
separate manuscript (Bc 5518) in the hand of Bach's most prolific
Hamburg copyist, Michel. Bc 5517 and 5518 originally belonged to
Westphal, who, through an extensive correspondence with Bach,
compiled a vast collection of copies of his music. Westphal carefully
recorded his holdings in a manuscript catalog;37 his collection, which
provides unique or supplementary source material not only for the
flute/continuo sonatas but also for a great deal of Bach's music in

34 The opening melody of the Hamburg sonata also resembles the beginning of
the undated flute/continuo sonata, H. 548, although the harmonic rhythm has been
slowed considerably. Unless otherwise noted, all musical examples are transcribed by
the author using the Brussels copies for the flute/continuo sonatas and the autographs
(where one survives) or the most authoritative copy for the obbligato sonatas.
35 See Alfred Wotquenne, Catalogue de la bibliothlquedu ConservatoireRoyal de
Musique de Bruxelles (Brussels:

Coosemans,

1902), II: 249.

There are similarities between this hand and that of An. 305, but enough
variants to preclude positive identification. I am grateful to Peter Wollny for pointing
out the possible relationship to An 30o5.
37 "Catalogue thimatique des oeuvres de Ch. Ph. Emm. Bach" (Bibliothbque
Royal Albert Ier, Manuscript Fitis 52r18). The title was probably written by Fdtis. See
Helm, ThematicCatalogue,p. xx, and Rachel Wade, The KeyboardConcertosof Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach (Ann Arbor: UMI, 1981), pp. 9-12. Wotquenne's catalog is clearly based
on Westphal's. Wade describes all catalogs of Bach's music preceding the Helm catalog,
with their interrelationships shown in a clear diagram (Wade, ibid., ch. 2 and especially
p. io).
36

C. P. E.

BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

EXAMPLE 1 a. "Hamburg sonata" (H. 564, 1786), end ofmvt. 1, linking "recitative" and beginning of rondo. Transcribed
from Bc 5517.
65

1.

112.

-I

II2

SFl.

.l

Cont.
6
4

..

l
675

*
2

]5

6 5
43

6_.....

Rondo

Presto

70

70

'II
7 65
6

.'

Das Rondo
fdilltein

219

other genres, was eventually purchased by F6tis for the Brussels Conservatory Library.
The ten sonatas in Bc 5517-all prepared by the same copyistapparently comprised a single unit in Westphal's collection;38 the inclusion of the Hamburg sonata among them dates these copies from
after 1786. That is, the nine pre-Hamburg sonatas in this manuscript
were apparently copied many years after they were written, possibly
even after Bach's death, as Westphal continued to acquire manuscripts from Bach's widow.
Why the B-flat major sonata H. 552-one of, but not the earliest of
the continuo sonatas-was copied in a different hand remains a mystery. One possibility, of course, is that the sonata was copied prior to
the others for a Hamburg performance (the copyist, Michel, was a
tenor in Bach's Hamburg choir). Yet if Bach were to have selected one
of his early flute sonatas for a Hamburg concert, H. 552 would certainly have been a curious choice. Not only is the work is one of the
38 The eleven flute/continuo sonatas appear in Westphal's catalog on f. 6v with
incipits on the facing page, each listing giving title, number of pages, and a code
possibly designating a cataloging system. The ten sonatas of Bc 5517 all bear the code
"hr"; H. 552 bears the code "d."

THE JOURNAL
lb.

EXAMPLE

OF MUSICOLOGY

Keyboard

sonata H. o209 (1766; publ. 1785), end of

mvt. 1, 8-measure largo, and beginning of rondo.

Transcribed from print of 1785 (Una Sonata per il
cembalosolo, Leipzig & Dresden: Breitkopf); facsimile
in Darrell Berg, ed. The CollectedWorksfor Solo Keyboard by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, 1714-1788 (New
York: Garland, 1985), vol. 6.
80

hi

Largo

220

Po

Presto

Lr

-w~

EXAMPLE

1 c. "Hamburg sonata" (H. 564, 1786), mvt. 3, mm. 89-96.

Fl.
P
cont.

a
'

5e

I
'

'6

,i

'1

C. P. E.

EXAMPLE

id.

"Hamburg

sonata"

BACH'S

FLUTE

(H.

1786),

564,

SONATAS

mvt.

1, mm.

48-55.

Fl.

Cont.

55

52 5

r Fr
"
7

C C f

'r

, pl

'

44
ten.

54
-

7
S,,-567

least successful of the flute soli, but its last movement was also extensively revised in 1746 for use as the finale of H. 560.
A more likely explanation lies in this very revision process. Bach
often made emendations to his compositions by writing on empty
staves or by pasting pieces of paper over earlier versions. If the revisions to H. 552 were inserted on his only copy of this sonata, reconstruction of the earlier version might have been a complex task best

221

THE JOURNAL
EXAMPLE

le.

OF MUSICOLOGY
Keyboard sonata H. 209 (1766), mvt. 1, mm. 23-28.

26

222

" j

entrusted to an experienced copyist who had worked closely with

Bach-a copyist like Michel.s9
It is curious that Westphal's manuscripts are the only surviving
sources for the continuo sonatas, since Bach's widow announced in
the NV that she could fill requests for copies of the works listed
therein (and therefore presumably had manuscripts of the sonatas in
her possession at the time of her husband's death). Indeed, it appears
that a second set of manuscripts may at one time have been held at the
library of the Berlin Singakademie, the bulk of whose holdings were
lost after World War II.40 In a 1966 essay surveying the library's
former holdings, Friedrich Welter (a librarian who worked at the
Singakademie

between

1928 and 1932) refers to "11 Conc. flauto

traverso solo e Basso."41 In spite of the word "Conc.," Rachel Wade

has suggested that this manuscript may have actually contained the
eleven flute/continuo sonatas.42 The reference to "flauto traverso solo
e Basso," the listing of only four flute concerti in the NV, and the

39 A copying error in the flute part of H. 552 (mm. 6-7) may have stemmed in
part from Michel inadvertently substituting the reading from the same measures in H.
560.
4o See Elias N. Kulukundis, "C. P. E. Bach in the Library of the Singakademie zu
Berlin," in C. P. E. Bach Studies,ed. Stephen L. Clark (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988),
pp. 164-65.
41 Friedrich Welter, "Die Musikbibliothek der Sing-Akademie zu Berlin," in SingAkademiezu Berlin, ed. Werner Bollert (Berlin: Rembrandt Verlag, 1966). See Kulukundis, "C. P. E. Bach in the Library of the Singakademie," p. 160.
42 Kulukundis, ibid., pp. 164-65.

C. P. E.

BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

coincidence between the number of works in this manuscript and the

number of continuo sonatas, suggest that she is correct, in spite of the
fact that Ernst Schmid (who examined the Singakademie manuscripts
for his 1931 monograph on Bach's chamber music) cites the Brussels
copies as the only source for the continuo sonatas. (Schmid may have
neglected to examine the contents of this source, assuming the works
were not chamber music.)
Unlike the flute/continuo sonatas, there are multiple eighteenthcentury sources for each of the obbligato sonatas. Of the five unpublished sonatas, three-H. 505, 506, and 508-survive in autograph
manuscripts.43 The autograph of H. 508 presents a trio sonata for two
violins/bass, but includes instructions for adapting the first violin part
to the flute. As shown in Plate 2, Bach instructs the performer that
"wenn die Iste Violin mit der Flote soll gespielt werden, so mtissen die
Noten, woriber ein langer Bogen stehet, ein Octav hdher gesetzt
werden." Indeed, whenever the range of the first violin part descends
below d', an octave transposition of the entire phrase is indicated by
a long slur above the notes in question.44 Although there is no autograph of the flute/keyboard version of this sonata, this arrangement is
authorized in the NV: "2 Violinen und Bal; ist auch fir die F16te und
Clavier, imgleichen ftir die F16te, Violine und BaB gesetzt," and the
obbligato version survives in a copy by Michel with a title page by
Bach.45

43 In D-brd B, P357. In addition, Westphal's manuscripts of Bach's unpublished

trio and obbligato sonatas (with independent manuscripts for each version) have been
transmitted through Fitis to the Brussels Conservatory library. These manuscripts are
in separate parts, mostly in Michel's hand, rather than in the score format of the
autographs. The eleven trio sonatas from his collection survive intact. Of the fifteen

obbligato sonatas for flute or violin, Helm lists five in B-Bc 6354 (H. 504, 505, 509, 511,
and 515), six as missing from the same manuscript (H. 502, 503, 512, 513, 535, and

536), and one (H. 508) at the Bibliotheque Royale; three are not listed in Brussels
manuscripts

(H. 506, 507,

and 514). At the time Helm compiled

his catalog

several

sonatas were clearly missing from Bc 6354. At the present time, however, all except H.
508 are there. For additional manuscript sources of the obbligato sonatas see Helm,
ThematicCatalog.
44 Cecil Hill, editor of the Musica Rara edition of the flute/violin/bass version of
this sonata (1985), suggests that the flute and violin change parts where the first violin
line dips below the flute's range. Hill was clearly unaware of the existence of the
autograph and other manuscript copies. (The editor also omitted the figures from the
bass line, surmising that they were not Bach's, and has distinguished between a dot and
a vertical dash above a note, postulating that the latter is a "stress mark." Bach, however, explicitly equates the two markings: "Die Noten, welche gestossen werden sollen,
werden sowohl durch daruiber gesetzte Strichelgen als auch durch Punckte bezeichnet
Tab. VI Fig. 1. Wir haben dismahl die letztere Art gewahlet, weil bey der erstern leicht
eine Zweydeutigkeit wegen der Ziffern hitte vorgehen konnen." Versuch, part 1, p.
125.)

45

A Wgm, XI 36262. See Helm, ThematicCatalog, no.5o8.

223

THE

OF

JOURNAL

Bach, Sonata for 2 violins/continuo,

2. C.P.E.

PLATE

MUSICOLOGY

flute/violin/

continuo, or flute/obbligato keyboard in G major (H. 583,

581, and 508), MS D-brd B, P 357 (autograph), beginning.
Reproduced by permission of Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin.
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C. P. E.

FLUTE

BACH'S

SONATAS

PLATE 3. C. P. E. Bach, Sonata for 2 flutes/continuo or flute/

obbligato keyboard in E major (H. 506 and 580), MS
D-brd B, P 357 (autograph), beginning. Reproduced by
permission of Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
Berlin.

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:1.:::i:: '.:. : : : ::;-i:--i:::
-: :i-ll

V e

:-i
A
r

I-~-~:i:i-ii-:
iii
~1~9

'
::E -:::::
: i
:::
..a....

THE JOURNAL
EXAMPLE

OF MUSICOLOGY

2a. Trio sonata in E major for 2 flutes and bass, H. 580

(1749), mvt. 3, ending. Transcribed from the autograph.

159

6?
F1.2

163

je)

P,

226

EXAMPLE

2b. Sonata in E major for flute and obbligato keyboard,

H. 506 (1749), mvt. 3, ending. Transcribed from the
autograph.

159

F
LFl0 -: '
Keybd.

163

E-

',i

--

.-

(.

C. P. E. BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

H. 505's autograph preserves the trio sonata version for flute/

violin/bass (H. 575) only. However, like H. 5o8, the obbligato version
survives in a manuscript in Michel's hand with a title page by Bach.46
For H. 5o6, the autograph transmits the trio sonata for two flutes
with notated alterations to create the obbligato version, probably with
a view to preparing the manuscript for a copyist (see Plate 3). In the
original title, "Trio fir 2 Flaten, oder firs Clavier und eine Flite," the
words "for 2 Floten oder" have been deleted, leaving "Trio firs Clavier und eine Flite." The manuscript contains additional notes in the
left hand of the keyboard which fill out the harmonies in the obbligato
version (see, for instance, system 3).
For the obbligato version of this sonata Bach assigned the second
flute part to the soloist and the first flute part to the keyboard, thus
dividing the keyboardist's right and left hands by the intervening flute
line (see Plate 3). This peculiar distribution of parts suggests that assigning the lower line to the soloist was a late decision. (Since both
melody lines are designed for flute, the two could just as easily have
been reversed in the original score.) The reason for Bach's decision
becomes perfectly clear at the end of the last movement (Example 2a),
where, in a precursor to Haydn's "Farewell Symphony," the performers drop out one by one, leaving the second flutist to finish alone. In
the obbligato version, the effect is most natural when the flute, rather
than the right hand of the keyboard, has the last word (Example ab).
Evidence from this manuscript, then suggests that the trio sonatas
pre-date their obbligato counterparts. The arrangement of the score,
altered title, and added notes in the left hand are apparently instructions for a copyist preparing a manuscript of the obbligato version
from the autograph of the trio sonata.47
B Bc, 6354. See Helm, ibid., no. 505.
The copying history of this manuscript is very complex. Midway through the
second movement the handwriting changes from Bach's later wavering hand to his
earlier steady script. It thus appears that some time after he wrote the trio sonata
version of the work, he recopied the first movement and part of the second. At some
point, he inserted additional notes for the keyboard, appended the instrument designations for the obbligato version, and altered the title. Manuscript A Wgm XI 36267,
a copy of the duo version but with the wrapper marked by Bach "a 2 Flauti Traversi e
Basso," preserves the obbligato sonata with the added notes from the autograph. (This
manuscript also contains additional notes for the keyboardist in Bach's hand in the last
movement of the sonata. See Michelle Fillion, "C. P. E. Bach and the Trio Old and
New," in C. P. E. Bach Studies, ed. Stephen L. Clark [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988],
pp. 83-104.) Furthermore, it seems that Bach may have erased figured bass numerals
in those places where the keyboardist's right hand would perform the flute line in the
obbligato version; the autograph contains figuration only where flute 1 is silent and
shows evidence of erasures. Westphal's copy of the trio sonata version of this work
(B-Bc 6363) was apparently prepared from the autograph after the alterations were
made, as the bass part is only figured where the first flute is silent.
46

47

227

THE JOURNAL

OF MUSICOLOGY

Dating of the Undated Continuo Sonata

228

While the NV supplies reliable dates of composition for most of the works listed therein (the catalog is clearly based on
records kept by Bach himself, judging from remarks contained
therein and from correlations between its numbering system and that
on many of Bach's manuscripts),48 two sonatas in the soli section of the
catalog are undated: an oboe sonata and the flute/continuo sonata H.
548, both of which are listed at the beginning of the section (see Plate
1 above). The position of the undated works in the NV led Helm to
conclude that H. 548 predates the other flute solos and that it therefore "probably [stems from] 1735 or earlier." Helm's hypothesis is
certainly the most obvious interpretation of the NV. At the same time,
however, there are compelling reasons to assign H. 548 to the period
1738-40 (as in Table 1 above) because of a number of striking similarities with other sonatas of this period, including the following:
1. The tempo of the third movement. The fact that all of the last
movements from the group 2 sonatas are labelled vivace, while the two
earlier works end with minuets and the later three Berlin soli conclude
with allegros is too much of a coincidence to be dismissed as accidental. It appears to reflect, instead, a conscious alteration in Bach's conception of the nature of the last movement and its relationship to the
sonata cycle as a whole.
2. The amount of contrapuntal interplay betweenflute and bass in the
second movement. The sonatas of group 2 (particularly the allegro
movements) contain far more imitative interplay between flute and
bass than those of either the earlier or the later continuo sonatas. The
strong emphasis on counterpoint in the middle movement of H. 548
(Example 3a) links it especially strongly to H. 553 (1738; Example 3b)
and to H. 554, a fugue.
3. Theform of the third movement.Whereas the finales from Bach's
two early flute/continuo sonatas are both in theme and variation form
(see Table 1), H. 548 reflects the tendency toward binary form that
first appears in the works from 1738-40. Harmonically, the last
movement of H. 548 is far more sophisticated than those of the preBerlin flute solos.
4. Theform of the opening slow movement.The first movement of H.
548 exhibits the same structure as four of the other five sonatas from
1738-40:49 three sections, the first modulating to a closely related key
48 See Rachel Wade, The Catalog of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Estate, p. vii; and
Darrell Berg, "Towards a Catalogue of the Keyboard Sonatas of C. P. E. Bach," Journal
of the AmericanMusicological SocietyXXXII (1979), 276-303.
49 The exception, H. 552, differs from the others in having no developmental
section.

C. P. E. BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

EXAMPLE3a. Sonata for flute/continuo in G major, H. 548 (undated), mvt. 2, beginning. Transcribed from Bc 5517.
Allegro

fr

Fl.

Cont.

4 3

55

229

6__

67

77

765

66

EXAMPLE3b. Sonata for flute/continuo in D major, H. 553 (1738),

mvt. 2, beginning. Transcribed from Bc 5517.
Allegro

Fl.

Cont.

and culminating in a full cadence; the second, a development leading

to a half cadence in the tonic; and the third, an altered, abbreviated
recapitulation.5so
50 In the pre-Berlin slow movements, the recapitulations expand, rather than
condense the opening material, and the opening and developmental sections both close

THE JOURNAL

OF MUSICOLOGY

If H. 548 does, in fact, date from the period 1738-40, why is it

listed at the beginning of the section of soli? Faced with undated
works, the compiler of the catalog (be it Bach himself or his widow or
his publisher) had two choices: listing them at the beginning of each
section or at the end. If she/he suspected that H. 548 was an early
work but was unable to determine an exact date, is it not as logical to
place the work at the beginning of the section as at the end? Unless
additional manuscripts of H. 548 surface, it is unlikely that we will
ever be able to affix a precise date to its composition. At the same
time, however, I would cautiously suggest that it was composed in the
early years of Bach's residency at Frederick's court.

Attributionof QuestionableWorks

230

In addition to the twelve flute soli in Table 1, two

additional flute/continuo sonatas have been attributed, at least in part,
to Emanuel Bach. These sonatas, listed in a 1924 auction catalog, but
cited as lost by Ernst Schmid in his 1931 study of Bach's chamber
music, were recently discovered by Rachel Wade in a curious manuscript in the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin.5'
The title page, written in a strange mixture of languages ("2 Solo pour
Fletraversier col Basso" [sic!]),52 attributes the sonatas to "Bach and
Schaffrath." Presumably the "Bach" intended is Emanuel, since he
and Christoph Schaffrath were colleagues at the Berlin court for over
a quarter century.53
Neither sonata is listed in the NV. This fact alone sheds doubt on
the attribution to Bach. In addition, however, the music itself raises
questions about the extent of his participation in the collaboration.
The sonatas are pleasant, but rudimentary, relying heavily on sequential techniques; motivic development is frequently awkward and the

with full cadences, as in J. S. Bach's E-minor flute/continuo sonata. The fast movements
of H. 548 also resemble those of the other sonatas in group 2 in several details, including an abbreviated recapitulation in movement 2, and an extended development followed by a shortened recapitulation in movement 3.
5' See G. Kinsky, Musik-Sammlungaus dem NachlasseDr. Erich Prieger-Bonn, nebst
einigen Beitrigen aus anderemBesitz. III. Teil. Musikerbriefe,Handschriften,Musikalien (Cologne: Lempertz, 1924); Schmid, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und seine Kammermusik,pp.
go and 176; and Rachel Wade, "Newly Found Works of C. P. E. Bach," Early Music
XVI/4 (1988), 523-32.
52 The "e" in place of "6" in "Fletraversier" may derive from the orthographic
practice of notating the umlaut as a small "e" above the letter it affects.
5s Schaffrath, who was five years older than Bach, entered Frederick's service in
1735, and later served as cembalist to the King's sister, Princess Amalia. He died in
1763. See Ernst Stilz, Die BerlinerKlaviersonatazur Zeit Friedrichsdes Grossen(Saarbrticher
Druckerei, 1930), pp. 23ff., and Christoph Schaffrath, Concertoin B-flatfor Cembaloand
Strings, ed. Karyl Louwenaar (Madison, WI: A-R Editions, 1977), preface.

C. P. E. BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

thematic material is decidedly banal. Needless to say, empfindsamelements are totally lacking.
The rudimentary nature of the two sonatas implies that they are
early works, if indeed Bach took any part at all in their composition.
On the other hand, the implication of joint authorship with Schaffrath might suggest some type of composition game, possibly like the
"Sinfonie mit dem Fiirsten von Lobkowitz, einen Takt um den
andern, aus dem Stegreif verfertigt."s4 That Bach was not above such
light-hearted musical recreation is shown by his "Einfall, einen doppelten Contrapunct in der Octave von 6 Tacten zu machen, ohne die
Regeln davon zu wissen."ss
While the movement structure of the first sonata resembles that
of Emanuel Bach's two early flute/continuo works (three movements-slow-fast-minuet), the four-movement form of the second sonata (Largo-Allegro-Adagio-Presto) is found only rarely in C. P. E.
Bach's oeuvre.56Curiously, the opening Largo of this second sonata is
in B minor, while the other three movements are in D major, suggesting that the two slow movements may have accidentally been interchanged.
Among the three sonatas variously attributed to J. S. or C. P. E.
Bach, BWV 1o2o in G minor is the most troublesome. The three surviving manuscripts of this work-a mid-eighteenth-century copy attributed to "Sige Bach," a late eighteenth-century copy attributed to
C. P. E. Bach, and a nineteenth-century copy ascribed to J. S. Bachleave no doubt about the instrumentation: all specify violin. The sonata's attribution to the flute in numerous modern editions is based
on its range, which never descends below d'. It is, in fact, very curious
that a violin sonata in G minor should so assiduously avoid the use of
the G string. It is tempting to speculate that the surviving manuscripts
reflect a flute transcription of the work even though the original title
was preserved. A passage such as that in Example 4 supports such a
hypothesis. Here the sequential progression in the violin established
in measures 42-43 would logically continue in measure 44 with the
soloist's last note an octave lower-a note below the range of the flute.
Is it possible that the phrase in brackets originally read an octave
lower and was at some point raised to accommodate the flute in the
same way that Bach indicated octave transpositions for the flutist in H.
508 (Plate 2 above)?

54 NV, 65. See Wade, "Newly Found Works of C. P. E. Bach," p. 527.

55 Translation and commentary in E. Eugene Helm, "Six Random Measures of
C. P. E. Bach," Journal of Music TheoryX (1966), 19-51.
56 One example, however, is the sonata for violin and cembalo, H. 502, composed
in 1731.

231

THE JOURNAL
EXAMPLE 4.

OF MUSICOLOGY

J. S. or C. P. E. Bach,

Sonata in G minor for violin and

BWV
obbligato keyboard,
o1020, mvt. 1, mm. 42-50.
Transcribed from AWgm, XI 36271.

42
Vin.

Keybd.

45

232

48

ii

ir1
fry

As for the composer of the work, much of the surviving data

support C. P. E. Bach's authorship: the late eighteenth-century manuscript attributing the sonata to him appears to be in Michel's hand,
and the Breitkopf catalog of 1763 ascribes the work to him.57 At the
same time, however, the contradictory evidence is equally compelling:
why, for example, is the work not listed in the NV, a thorough and
meticulous catalog of Emanuel Bach's works, prepared from an inventory apparently kept by the composer himself? Even the reference
57 See Barry S. Brook, ed. The BreitkopfThematicCatalogue:The Six Parts and Sixteen
Supplements,1762-1787 (New York: Dover, 1966), part 4, P. 12.

C. P. E.

BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

in the Breitkopf catalog may not be as significant as first meets the eye,
for Bach himself noted that Breitkopf at times attributed works to
him erroneously.58
The possibility that the sonata is an early work59 overlooked later
by Emanuel when preparing the catalog is difficult to support in light
of the published attribution to him in 1763. In fact, Bach lists in the
NV several sonatas stemming from his earliest years, suggesting that
his habit of careful record-keeping dated back to his youth. Furthermore, the style of this sonata is very different from that of Emanuel
Bach's early works.
Nor can we seriously entertain the possibility that Emanuel deliberately wished to disown this sonata. While scholars have at times
faulted portions of the work for compositional weaknesses and while
it might not reach the heights of J.S. Bach's most monumental
sonatas, the G-minor sonata is nevertheless an elegant and wellconstructed composition, resembling in many respects the E-flatmajor sonata, BWV 1031, that Robert Marshall has convincingly argued was composed by Sebastian.6o
Ernst Schmid, who until recently had studied Emanuel Bach's
chamber music more thoroughly than any other scholar, questions
the attribution of the G-minor sonata to C. P. E. Bach on purely stylistic grounds.6' While such hypotheses must clearly be treated with
extreme caution (as Marshall notes, "style criticism is a notoriously
unreliable tool for the resolution of authenticity questions"),62 the
views of a scholar as meticulous and cautious as Schmid certainly
deserve our attention.
Furthermore, the difficulty of drawing positive distinctions
among the similar hands of contemporaneous copyists63 suggests the
58 "Die geschriebenen Sachen, die Breitkopf von mir verkauft, sind theils nicht
von mir, wenigstens sind sie alt und falsch geschrieben." Letter from Bach to Forkel, 26
August 1774. See Suchalla, Briefe von Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach an Johann GottlobImmanuelBreitkopfundJohann Nikolaus Forkel,p. 240. Also quoted in Carl Hermann Bitter,
Carl Philipp Emanuel und Wilhelm FriedemannBach und deren Briider (Berlin: Wilhelm
Miller, 1868; reprint, Leipzig and Kassel: Birenreiter, 1973), part 1, pp. 337-38.
Breitkopf also attributed to J. S. Bach a concerto by C. P. E. Bach; see Wade, Keyboard
Concertos,pp. 35-36.
59 Robert Marshall, "J. S. Bach's Compositions for Solo Flute," p. 473.
6o The similarities between the E-flat-major and G-minor sonatas have been noted
by a number of Bach scholars; see, for example, Hans Eppstein, Studien iiberJ. S. Bachs
Sonatenfiir ein Melodieinstrumentund obligatesCembalo(Stockholm: Almquist & Wiksells,
1966), pp. 176ff.
61 Schmid, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und seine Kammermusik,pp. 120-21.
62 Robert L. Marshall, The Music of Johann SebastianBach: The Sources,the Style,the
Significance (New York: Schirmer Books, 1989), p. 5763 Douglas Lee, for example, recently argued that a manuscript he originally
thought to be an autograph of Nichelmann is in fact an autograph of Emanuel Bach
(Lee, "C. P. E. Bach and the Free Fantasia for Keyboard: Deutsche Staatsbibliothek
Mus. Ms. Nichelmann IN," in C. P. E. Bach Studies, ed. Stephen L. Clark, pp. 177-84).

233

THE JOURNAL

OF MUSICOLOGY

possibility that the manuscript ascribing the work to C. P. E. Bach

might not have been prepared by Michel, but by a copyist whose hand
closely resembled his.
In a recent letter, Robert Marshall suggested the possibility that
might have been composed by C. P. E. Bach under his
BWVlo2o
father's tutelage.64 This hypothesis is intriguing as it would explain
the attribution of the work to Emanuel by Breitkopf but the lack of its
inclusion in the NV; the stylistic differences between this work and
Emanuel Bach's other early sonatas; and the composition of an obbligato sonata during the composer's early years.
Stylistic Developments in the Flute Sonatas

234

Since the chronological distance between the earliest and latest of Bach's flute sonatas is greater than half a century, it
is hardly surprising to find evidence of major stylistic changes among
them. One of the most revealing developments, however, is the alteration in Bach's treatment of the harmonic, rhythmic, melodic, and
textural surprises so characteristic of his empfindsamerStil. In the early
works, his typical parenthetical asides shock and even, at times, disrupt the coherence of the work, as in H. 550 (the earliest dated sonata), where a short excursion to the minor dominant (Example
5a,
mm. 5ff.) is broken by a startling half-diminished seventh chord (m.
6, at X). In a parallel passage at the end of the movement (Example
5b), the half-diminished chord (at Y) is intensified by octave displacement (Z), an increasingly common device in Bach's works, and then
expanded by repetitions of the following triplet figuration. The halfdiminished chord in the flute's high octave is so startling that a later
hand softened the effect by adding a flat in the manuscript to the
flute's high e (at Z), an unjustified emendation in view of the bass line,
the harmonic parallelism with measure 6, and the notational practices
of this manuscript.65
Much more successful are the works from 1737-40, such as H.
554, where parenthetical asides in all three movements serve as interpolations within an otherwise logical structure. In the first movement, for example, Bach interrupts a galant opening gesture by a
Private correspondence 1/15/92.
The placement of the natural sign in m. 18, beat 4 is ambiguous in the manuscript. At first glance it appears to affect the f', thus implying the retention of the e"-flat
introduced on beat 1. However, comparison with the parallel passage in m. 6, where
there is an explicit natural but no upper auxiliary, suggests that it should affect the e".
No accidental accompanies the high-octave trill in m. 19. The modern edition of the
work (ed. K. Walther, Hortus Musicus, vol. 71, Kassel: Btirenreiter, 1968) further
obfuscates this passage by suggesting an E-flat/F-natural trill at Y, but E-natural/Fsharp at Z!
64
65

C. P. E.

FLUTE

BACH'S

EXAMPLE 5. Sonata for flute/continuo

SONATAS

in G major, H. 550 (1735).

Transcribed from Bc 5517.

a. Mvt. 1, mm. 1-7.
Andante
Fl.

Cont.
6

6
5

9
2

'-3

rI

-7
6

6--

I
6
5

II

4
4+

b.X
3

X7

half-diminished chord accompanied by a chromatic ascent in the bass

(Example 6 at X), intensifies the diversion by a deceptive cadence to
the lowered sixth degree of the dominant (m. 6 at Y) followed by
doleful sighs in the flute (mm. 6-7) and an anguished augmented
sixth chord (Z), but then reintroduces a diminished-seventh chord on
G-sharp. The two bracketed measures could actually be bypassed entirely merely by raising the seven bass notes over the dotted bracket
one octave (and retaining the flute's F-sharp), thereby effectively excising the most dramatic moment in the opening section.

235

THE JOURNAL

OF MUSICOLOGY

b. Mvt. 1, mm. 18-2o. The placement of the natural

sign in the manuscript in m. 18, beat 4, is ambiguous. It
could refer either to the trill's auxiliary (f') or its main
note (e").
Z
i-

Fl.
FI.

236

6
6)

6
5

77

6
5

4_

Indeed, the underlying structure of this and similar passages in

Bach's works suggests that his compositional process may have relied
in part on the deliberate distortion of balanced phrase structures by
the interpolation of emotionally charged parentheses, a process I
have referred to elsewhere as "structural ornamentation."66 There is,
in fact, support for such a theory in the final chapter of Bach's Versuch, where he explicitly describes a process of inserting chromatic
steps into a diatonic bass line.67 The sample fantasia with its structural
framework that Bach presents at the end of this chapter contains a
harmonic diversion very similar to that in H. 554: a seventh chord is
re-established after a temporary digression.68
A pair of similar diversions appear in quick succession at the end
of H. 554's second movement fugue (Example 7a); both the brief
excursion to the minor mode (mm. 78-79) and the longer parenthesis
in mm. 88-93 could be lifted out of the movement in their entirety.
66 Leta E.
Miller, "Structural Ornamentation in C. P. E. Bach's Sonatas for Flute
and Continuo," Studies in the Historyof Music, vol. 3: The Creative Process (New York:
Broude, 1992), pp. 59-80.
67 C. P. E. Bach, Versuchiiber die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen (vol. 1, Berlin:
Henning 1753; vol. 2, Berlin: Winter, 1762), part 2, ch. 41, pp. 327-29.
68 Ibid., p. 341 (at #3).

C. P. E. BACH'S

6. Sonata of flute/continuo

EXAMPLE

FLUTE

SONATAS

in G major, H. 554 (1739),

mvt. 1, beginning. Transcribed from Bc 5517.

Adagio
Fl.

6~

. . ,r

S6

irn,''

4 3

2..-Jb

6
6+46
4

"

,,,,,,;,,,,,,,,,-

6
4

57
6

4 11

In the finale (clearly a minuet, though not designated as such) the

principle is extended still further by the presence of a parenthesis
within a parenthesis (Example 7b). The motives in mm. 51-52 and
55, the first ushered in by a deceptive cadence and the second by a
dramatic diminished seventh chord, are both repeated at the lower
octave in parenthetical statements that could be completely extracted
with a minor octave adjustments. At the same time, however, the
entire phrase from measures 51-57 is itself an interpolation which
could be bypassed by raising the flute's e' in measure 58 one octave.

237

THE JOURNAL
EXAMPLE

OF MUSICOLOGY

7. Sonata for flute/continuo in G major, H. 554 (1739).

Transcribed from Bc 5517.
a. Mvt. 2, mm. 75ff.

75

cost
"

Cont.

'

4
2

,h

8o

77

78

7$

86

238

7
I? I

5I

iI

2
4

1
6

92

66

56

16

5
"6
3

In Bach's later sonatas, such parenthetical diversions are often

lacking completely, or, when present, serve a markedly different
function from their earlier counterparts. Rather than appearing as
eccentric excursions that can often be excised without disturbing the
harmonic logic of the work (though with a considerable loss of
drama), such parentheses now function as part of the organizing
principle of the movement. Witness, for example, the two-note sigh
figure that first appears in mm. 5-6

of H. 509, movement

2 (1755;

C. P. E.

BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

b. Mvt. 3, mm. 48-59.

48

Fl.f

..
o

'

';;3

"'3

1I

6C

6C

54

3r

f
7
1

6+
7

Example 8a). Although it cannot be summarily extracted from the

composition as in the examples cited above, this motive nevertheless
functions as a parenthetical aside characterized by an abrupt change
of tempo and rests which invite prolongation, as Bach suggests in his
Versuch.69Later in the movement this diversion is integrated into the
main theme by the continuous motion in the bass (Example 8b), expanded (Example 8c), and used as a counterpoint to a sequential
passage of running sixteenths (Example 8d). Its original diversionary
function returns in a magnified form in the center of the development, where the two-note sigh, now rising, is answered-but with
intervening rests in all parts (Example 8d, mm. 71-74).
That such stylistic changes resulted from Bach's conscious reevaluation of his previous style is suggested by the enormous number
of revisions he made to his older compositions. While such revisions appear throughout Bach's lifetime, the 1740s were the most
intensive years of rewriting-a time when Bach clearly chose systematically to update his youthful works. It is not surprising, therefore,
to find that both flute/continuo sonatas from this period draw in
part from earlier works: H. 560 (1746) from H. 552 (1738) and H.
561 (1747) from both H. 556 (1740) and from the gamba sonata
H. 558 (1745).
69

Ibid., part 2, p. 254.

239

OF MUSICOLOGY

THE JOURNAL

8. Sonata in G major for flute and obbligato keyboard, H.

509 (1755). Transcribed from Bc 6354 (Michel).
a. Mvt. 2, mm. 1-8.

EXAMPLE

Allegretto

3
lal

II

Keybd.

-I

-'
240

"

Lf

'1 ,. 'L.

, o,,rrre'
6),

b. Mvt. , mm. 17-24.

17

Fl.

Keybd.

6,

21

I f

'

C. P. E. BACH

S FLUTE

SONATAS

EXAMPLE8. (continued)
c. Mvt. 2, mm. 56-59.
56

Fl.
eop

Keybd.

d. Mvt.
67

2,

mm. 67-75.

t,

Fl.

241
Keybd.

70

tr
p

74

74
f

THE JOURNAL

242

OF MUSICOLOGY

Of all the flute sonatas, H. 552 is most problematic for the instrument. Not only is it set in a poor key-its many cross-fingered notes
lending a darker, softer quality to the sound-but its low tessitura and
long articulated passages in the low octave (particularly in the second
movement) invite balance problems with the keyboard.
Bach must have recognized the non-idiomatic character of this
work, for it was the first flute/continuo sonata he chose to revise. He
did not, however, reject the earlier work out of hand. If so, we would
presumably find in the NV only one B-flat-major sonata, designated,
as in so many similar cases, by a composition date of 1738 and a
revision date of 1746. Instead, both sonatas are listed without reference to any relationship between them. In fact, however, the last
movement of H. 560 is clearly a revision (and improvement, from the
viewpoint of the flutist) of the finale of H. 552. The melodic motives,
harmonies, and form of the finale of H. 560 are closely modelled on
H. 552, but the tessitura of the later work is decidedly higher and the
entire movement is at once more virtuosic and yet more idiomatic to
the instrument. Furthermore, Bach modified the irregular phrase
structure of H. 552 by omitting parenthetical insertions from the
exposition and recapitulation sections, while intensifying the development by inserting an elaborate extension.
In H. 561, the middle movement is clearly based on the second
movement of H. 556, although the revisions here are far more extensive than those Bach undertook for the last movement of the
B-flat-major sonata. Bach retained from the earlier work only the
opening and concluding measures of each half, rewriting the central
core. A Baroque Fortspinnungextension of the opening theme of H.
556 is replaced by a Lombard figure in H. 561, the galant affect of
which is supported by the change in tempo from allegro to allegretto.
Bach retained the earlier movement's structure, however, including a
lovely diversion to the minor dominant at the beginning of the second
theme.
The last movement of H. 561 draws on the humorous character
of the finale of H. 556,70 but is directly indebted to the gamba sonata,
H. 558, for its opening motive. The beginnings of all three finales
(Example ga) feature Bach's proverbial humor: short opening statements are punctuated by silence. The two-measure opening gesture
of H. 556 is condensed to a similar one-measure figure in H. 558
whose rhythm is then sharpened to a dotted figure in H. 561.
In H. 556, the humor of the opening motive is intensified at the
end of the first reprise by an augmented sixth chord which seemingly
70 This short movement represents the single exception to the lengthening trend
of the finales.

EXAMPLE

9. (1) Sonata for flute and continuo

in D major, H. 556 (1740), mvt. 3. T

Sonata for viola da gamba and continuo in C major, H. 558 (1745),

Transcribed from Bc 5634.
(3) Sonata for flute and continuo in D major, H. 561 (1747), mvt. 3.
Transcribed from Bc 5517
a. Opening material.
(2)

Fl.
S3

H.556

6
I

"

H. 558
Cont.

Fl.

cS

H. 561

6
4
2

5
3

6
5

t\)

IA
IA

EXAMPLE 9. (continued)

b. End of the first reprise.

14

F.

[ - ,

!rII l

'

bI

.1"

H. 556R.
Cont.

:.

Con.

Gamba
,

?I ii
"

I
J ";:

l"

H.558
H.
558
Cont.

S7

4_529_54

76

+6

- Ii'

FI.
H.
561
H.561

I
EIfI.

I
I I

-i

f"

Centt

S26

5h

4
7-66
.

'

C. P. E. BACH'S

13

SONATAS

10. Sonata in C major for flute and obbligato keyboard,

H. 515 (1766), mvt. 1, mm. 9-16. Transcribed from
Bc 6354 and A Wn 16786 (Michel).

EXAMPLE

Fl

FLUTE

ww3

245

startles the entire ensemble into silence (Example 9b, H. 556, measure
16). This bold gesture is replaced by long notes functioning as a
written-out ritard in H. 558, and then transformed into an expectant
fermata in H. 561 (Example 9b).
The striking similarity between the openings of H. 558 and H.
561 (Example ga) leaves no doubt that the finale of the 1747 flute
sonata was a reworking of the gamba sonata. It also suggests a plausible explanation of the NV's erroneous designation of H. 558 for
flute-a hasty glance at the manuscript of H. 558 may have led the
compiler of the NV to conclude that Bach had revised an earlier
sonata in the same medium, as was so frequently his practice.y'
As one would expect, Classical stylistic traits appear with increasing frequency in the late Berlin works. In H. 515 (1766), for example,
the four-bar phrase is strongly prominent, harmonic surprises and
parenthetical insertions are lacking, and the proclivity toward parallel
thirds and sixths give rise to a decidedly galant effect (Example lo).

71 The gamba sonata was probably composed for Ludwig Christian Hesse, son of
the famous Ernst Christian. A virtuoso in his own right, L. C. Hesse entered Frederick's
service in 1741.

THE JOURNAL
EXAMPLE 11.

OF MUSICOLOGY

"Hamburg

sonata" (H. 564, 1786), mvt. 1, mm. 33-

38. Transcribed from Bc 5517.

33,,
Fl.

Cont. "

" i

..
6

"

65

246

6
4

7
5

The Hamburg sonata of 1786, with its return to a figured bass

accompaniment (relegating the keyboard to a subsidiary role) is in
many ways anachronistic. At the same time, however, its texture,
movement structure, harmonic language, and phrase structure are
decidedly au courant. Its tessitura is significantly higher than any of
the previous works, a characteristic of late eighteenth-century flute
music in general; and its movement structure reflects the more "modern" fast-slow-fast format. The opening movement is Classically balanced (its recapitulation exactly matches its exposition in length), and
the harmonic climax is firmly rooted in the development, where an
acceleration to thirty-second notes builds to a potent diminishedseventh chord and a momentary suspension of the rhythmic propulsion (Example

11).

The fashionable finale, whose rondo structure is outlined in Table 2 below, reaches a structural crescendo in the center, as the intermediary sections B, C, and D become progressively longer and

TABLE
Structure
Meas.:

Sections:

1-8

9-16

A'

17-35

36-43

of the rondo of H. 564

44-64

65-72

C*

D**
(dev. w/theme
A' in C major
and E minor)

modulatory

(development)

Keys:

mod.
to D

g to B-flat to
half cad in g

No. mm.:

19

21

73-125

53

126-33

*Developmental section beginning with theme A in G minor

**Developmental section including recurrences of theme A' in C major and E minor as follows: 8 mm. new
A' (with altered ending) in C major; 18 mm. new material in C minor; 8 mm. theme A' (with altered ending)
figuration on theme A ending with a rhyme with the end of B.

t\o

THE JOURNAL
EXAMPLE

12.

OF MUSICOLOGY

sonata" (H. 564, 1786), rondo, mm. 28from Bc 5517.

Transcribed
39.

"Hamburg

28
Fl.

P
Contt

5t

33

Pp

tasto

248

16
4 35

tasto

more active harmonically. The technical display, however, builds to

the very end as passages in sixteenth notes become progressively more
continuous, culminating in an unbroken twelve measures in B'.
The brilliant display of this movement is enhanced by its delightful humor, manifest not only in the joyful opening theme (see Ex. ia,
above), but also in the written out ritards at the end of sections B, C,
and D, which leave the listener hanging on expectant half cadences
(Example 12, mm. 34-35).

Summary
In his earliest sonatas for flute, Emanuel Bach was
at once indebted to the style of his father72 and audacious in his
harmonic syntax and structural phraseology. His Frankfurt flute compositions may well have provided the stimulus for his invitation to the
court of crown prince Frederick in 1738, leading to a thirty-year
association that was to bring Bach stability, but at the same time confine him to a stifling environment of artistic autocracy. In his first
years at the court, Bach composed five (or possibly six) flute/continuo
sonatas, two of which served as models for later works in the same
genre.
72 There are striking similarities, for example, between his E-minor sonata of
and the E-minor and B-minor sonatas of J. S. Bach.

1737

C. P. E. BACH'S

FLUTE

SONATAS

Though Bach then abandoned the flute for several years, he returned to composing for the instrument in 1745, seemingly with new
fervor, revising six trio sonatas from 1731-35, and composing two
more flute/continuo sonatas, the unaccompanied sonata, four concerti, and seven trio sonatas, five of which have alternative flute/
obbligato keyboard versions.
The compositions of the late 174os, Bach's most difficult works
for the instrument, may well reflect renewed approbation for his
works at the court, and certainly suggest that technically virtuosic flute
compositions were in demand in Berlin at the time. Stylistically, the
works of the 174os and 5os reflect a trend away from the continuo
sonata to the more balanced texture of the obbligato sonata; the bold
harmonic experiments of the earlier works are moderated, the dramatic parenthetical asides more integrated into the overall texture.
The final Berlin sonata (H. 515, 1766) confirms Bach's preference for
the flute/obbligato keyboard style; it is the only work in this genre to
have no alternative trio sonata version.
After leaving Berlin, Bach composed only one other solo sonatathe flamboyant, popular Hamburg flute sonata. (Given the evidence
from Diulon's autobiography, the common assumption that Bach
wrote this sonata for the blind flutist must now be discarded.) With its
highly abbreviated slow movement, its emphasis on virtuosity, and the
bright humor of its finale, the Hamburg sonata shows close affinity to
the keyboard sonata H. 209 and was clearly designed to please the
public's palate.
Study of the eighteen sonatas for flute listed in the Nachlassverzeichnis sheds doubt upon Emanuel Bach's role in the composition of
several other works sometimes attributed to him, including two sonatas for flute and continuo by "Bach and Schaffrath" and the flute
sonatas BWV 1031 and 1033 omitted from the Neue Bach-Ausgabe.
Similar questions arise regarding BWV1o2o, which, however, may
have been composed by C. P. E. under J. S. Bach's direction.
Although Bach's empfindsam experiments become increasingly
subordinated to a concern for continuity, his predilection for the
fantasia, which at once unites the freedom of improvisation with the
coherence of structure, remains characteristic of even his most Classical compositions. His final masterpiece is clearly Haydnesque; yet its
most wonderful moments-the eloquent climax of the first movement's development, the short recitative, the humorous hesitations in
the rondo-aptly illustrate Emanuel's reputation for inspired improvisation.
Universityof California, Santa Cruz

249