In case you thought that the music of the most original, most misunderstood, and, above all, the greatest of Bach's sons need sound charmlessly emaciated and absurdly hard-driven, listen to this from 1967. Rarely has Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's sounded with greater enlightenment - and Enlightenment. The concerto emerges as both good fun and a substantial work to be reckoned with: just the right balance for the forces, here deployed to excellent effect. Raymond Leppard conducts the English Chamber Orchestra. The four harpsichordists are the sorely underrated - at least today - George Malcolm, Simon Preston, Geoffrey Parsons, and Valda Aveling. For more on music at the court of Frederick the Great, please click here.
Here below are a few recommended recordings of CPE Bach's music, vocal, instrumental, and orchestral. There is more to explore, but I hope that these will offer a taste:
