Bach – Telemann – Bach: The Metamorphosis of Flute Music

Flutist Paulius Gefenas traces the flute’s journey from stylised Baroque dances to the eighteenth-century instrumental sonata through the music of three composers linked by art and family ties: Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

In Badinerie, the finale of J. S. Bach’s Second Orchestral Suite, the dialogue between flute and orchestra shows how dance forms took on a musical life of their own. It also offers a way into his solo partita. Telemann’s twelve flute fantasias range from French overture to Polish dance, and from fugue to improvisatory recitative. C. P. E. Bach was given his second name in honour of his godfather, Telemann. Known as the Berlin Bach, he was an important predecessor for Mozart and took the musical language of the Baroque in a bolder, more expressive direction.

Gefenas will perform J. S. Bach’s Partita in A minor (BWV 1013), Telemann’s Fantasia in A major (TWV 40:2) and C. P. E. Bach’s Sonata in A minor (Wq. 132). The recordings will include J. S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2, Telemann’s concerto for two flutes and overture-suite, and C. P. E. Bach’s Flute Concerto in D minor. The programme is subject to change.