Keith Jarrett – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Wurttemberg Sonatas – Vinyl LP

Keith Jarrett’s account of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Württemberg Sonatas is a revelation. “I’d heard the sonatas played by harpsichordists, and felt there was a space left for a piano version,” says Jarrett today. This outstanding recording, made in 1994 and previously unreleased, finds the pianist attuned to the expressive implications of the sonatas in every moment. The younger Bach’s idiosyncrasies: the gentle playfulness of the music, the fondness for subtle and sudden tempo shifts, the extraordinary, rippling invention…all of this is wonderfully delivered. The fluidity of the whole performance has a quality that perhaps could be conveyed only by an artist of great improvisational skills. In Jarrett’s hands, CPE’s exploration of new compositional forms retains the freshness of discovery. Recorded at Keith Jarrett’s Cavelight Studio in May 1994, the album includes liner notes by Paul Griffiths.

Disc: 1
1 Sonata I in a minor, Moderato
2 Andante
3 Allegro assai
4 Sonata II in A-flat major, Un poco allegro
5 Adagio
6 Allegro
7 Sonata III in e minor, Allegro
8 Adagio
9 Vivace

Disc: 2
1 Sonata IV in B-flat major , Un poco allegro
2 Andante
3 Allegro
4 Sonata V in E-flat major, Allegro
5 Adagio
6 Allegro assai
7 Sonata VI in b minor, Moderato
8 Adagio non molto
9 Allegro