Flute Sonatas (Bach)

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A total of seven chamber music works for flute have been preserved under Johann Sebastian Bach's name: one work for flute solo and three works each for flute with continuo and flute with harpsichord . In all cases the solo instrument is a transverse flute ; Bach did not use recorders in his chamber music (as far as it has survived). Since Bach intensively revised his chamber music compositions, original versions are accepted in some cases, in some cases for other ensembles as well.

Bach maintained good contacts with the Dresden court, where the flautist Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin worked; at least some of the compositions are likely to have been written for him. In Leipzig, Bach will have performed some of the compositions as part of his concerts in the “ Zimmermannisches Caffee-Hauß ”.

Works for flute solo

A single suite for flute solo has been preserved; it is possible that several such works have existed (see Sonata in C major, below ).

Suite for flute solo in A minor, BWV 1013

  • Allemande, 4/4 time
  • Corrente, 3/4
  • Sarabande, 3/4
  • Bourrée anglaise, 2/4

All movements are in the basic key of A minor.

The four-movement work corresponds in structure and style to Bach's Suites for Cello Solo and uses similar techniques to generate virtual polyphony. It is one of the few examples of a Baroque composition for flute solo - the C major sonata BWV 1033 (see below ) may have been a counterpart. Only one copy of the score has survived.

The first movement consists of uninterrupted sixteenth-note chains in the manner of a keyboard instrument-allemande and therefore presents the interpreter's breathing technique with a number of challenges.

Sonatas for flute and continuo

Sonata I in C major, BWV 1033

  • Andante - Presto,, 4/4 timeC major
  • Allegro, 3/4, C major
  • Adagio,, 4/4 timeA minor
  • Menuetto I - II - I, C major

Since the basso continuo is not involved in the motif and is performed somewhat clumsily in some places, it has been assumed that Bach composed the work as a composition for flute solo and gave a student the task of writing a bass for it. In the meantime, however, the piece as a whole is viewed as spurious; it was not included in the New Bach Edition .

Sonata II in E minor, BWV 1034

  • Adagio ma non tanto,, 4/4 timeE minor
  • Allegro,, 4/4 timeE minor
  • Andante, 3/4, G major
  • Allegro, 3/4, E minor

This sonata is generally dated to Bach's time in Leipzig.

Sonata III in E major, BWV 1035

  • Adagio ma non tanto,, 4/4 timeE major
  • Allegro, 2/4, E major
  • Siciliano, 6/8, C sharp minor
  • Allegro assai, 3/4, E major

According to a note on the score, the work is dedicated to Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf , a chamberlain for Friedrich II in Berlin, probably in 1741. It is not certain whether this means that it was also commissioned by him.

Sonatas for flute and harpsichord obbligato

Sonata I in B minor, BWV 1030

  • Andante,, 4/4 timeB minor
  • Largo e dolce, 6/8, D major
  • Presto,, alla breveB minor
  • Allegro, 12/16, B minor

A short fragment of a version in G minor has been preserved; here a recorder should be the solo instrument. This is probably also based on a first version for two instruments and continuo.

The autograph fair copy of the sonata, one of the most beautiful from Bach's pen, dates from the late 1730s. The first movement contains rhythms and ornaments that are typical of the so-called " gallant style " and that only appear in Bach's work from 1729 onwards. This was also the year in which he took over the management of the Leipzig Collegium musicum , where there is evidence that chamber music for flute was played.

Bach borrowed the head motif of the first movement of the B minor sonata from a G minor orchestral suite by his cousin Johann Bernhard ; there it forms the fugue theme of the overture. The second movement, a flute solo with rich chordal accompaniment, imitates a siciliano , an aria and melody type from the opera seria . The third movement begins as a three-part fugue and ends with a highly virtuoso, two-part giga .

Sonata II in E flat major, BWV 1031

  • Allegro moderato,, 4/4 timeE flat major
  • Siciliano, 6/8, G minor
  • Allegro, 3/8, E flat major

It has often been assumed that this composition is a work by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach or that it is a joint work with his father (Carl Philipp Emanuel's list of his bequests from 1790 names compositions that he wrote together with his father). In the meantime, however, Johann Sebastian Bach's authorship is certain; the copy was made by Johann Nathanael Bammler, Bach's private secretary, and provided with the composer's name.

The best-known movement is the Siciliano , which has also been arranged for piano solo and often played as an encore.

Sonata III in A major, BWV 1032

  • Vivace,, 4/4 timeA major
  • Largo e dolce, 6/8, A minor
  • Allegro, 3/8, A major

The first movement of this sonata has only survived in fragments - the second part is missing. Here, too, the first version is assumed to be a sonata for two instruments and continuo.

Further chamber music works with flute

Sonata in G minor for flute and harpsichord obbligato, BWV 1020

The solo instrument is originally called the "violin"; only because of the small range and the lack of violin-specific effects, the work has been confiscated for flute since Friedrich Spitta . According to the current state of research, Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel is the author.

Trio Sonata from the Musical Offering

For flute, violin and continuo - see the article Musical sacrifice .

Sonata in G major for two flutes and continuo, BWV 1039

This is an early form of the first viol sonata .

  1. adagio
  2. Allegro ma non presto
  3. Adagio e piano
  4. Presto

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Foreword to: Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata in C major for flute and basso continuo BWV 1033. Sonatas in E flat major, G minor for flute and obbligato harpsichord BWV 1031, 1020. Passed on as works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Edited by Alfred Dürr. Bärenreiter, Kassel etc. 1975.
  2. ^ Christoph Wolff : Johann Sebastian Bach. 2nd edition 2007. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, ISBN 978-3-596-16739-5 .
  3. ↑ JS Bach, Flute Sonata in B minor, BWV 1030 in: Chamber Music Guide
  4. ↑ Peter Wollny: New Bach Finds. In: Bach Yearbook 1997, p. 36ff.

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