Bach – Little Books
Bach: French Suite No.4; Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E-flat Major, Capriccio on the Departure of a Beloved Brother
Works by Kuhnau, Hasse, Böhm, Couperin, Telemann
Francesco Corti (harpsichord) (Arcana)
(scroll down for English review)
聽完Francesco Corti的巴哈古鍵琴協奏曲全集後，回頭聽他去年推出的巴哈獨奏專輯，其實只有一半是巴哈作品，但其他作品都是巴哈認識的。因為碟名Little Books，一方面可解作全碟曲目大多數是多樂章，但規模不大的作品，真正的解釋是曲目都是出自兩套和巴哈有密切關係的曲集。
第一套曲集叫Andreas Bach Book，裏面除了收錄巴哈一些早期鍵盤作品，也有其他作曲家的作品，可謂巴哈家族裏使用的音樂教科書。另一套曲集則是著名的《安娜瑪德蓮娜曲集》，由他第二任妻子抄下，供她或兒女所學習之用。其中開碟的《第四法國組曲》（軌一至七）有初版收在《安娜瑪德蓮娜曲集》之中。
但此碟重點還是Andreas Bach Book收錄的作品，因為Corti故意把當中一些作品和巴哈後來的作品並置，以展示巴哈所受的影響。所以我特別想介紹的，就是兩首非巴哈作品。首先是Kuhnau《第四聖經奏鳴曲》（軌八至十），它寫的是一個人患病然後康復的經過，但感情收藏在法式舞曲曲式之中，既有情也有形式，對照的巴哈作品是近年開始多人彈奏的 BWV992《兄弟離別隨想曲》（軌23至28），不過我覺得Kuhnau那首寫得較為實在。
另一首泰利曼《降E大調序曲》（軌17至22），所謂序曲即是組曲，就像巴哈後來那四首《管弦組曲》那樣。原曲是管弦樂曲，而樂曲介紹作者覺得改編成古鍵琴的人很可能是巴哈本人，用來學習這套風格之用。除了直接影響《管弦組曲》，其實也見到巴哈後來不少鍵盤組曲，甚至無伴奏小提琴或無伴奏大提琴組曲的影子。但對我來說，這個改編最有趣的是大量的法式裝飾音。假如真的是巴哈改編的話，那麼他真的很掌握到法國古鍵琴風格。
After listening to Francesco Corti’s Bach harpsichord concerti, I went back for this solo Bach recital issued last year on Arcana. Only half of the works are by Bach, but Bach knew about the other half as well. The “Little Books” actually refer to two musical collections related to Bach. There is the Andreas Bach Book which collects numerous early Bach keyboard works. Apart from these Bach pieces there are works by other composers as well. This Andreas Bach Book was some sort of a music textbook in Bach’s family and we could trace the influences of other composers on the young Bach.
The other musical book is the well-known Anna Magdalena Notebook. The disc opener, Fourth French Suite (tracks 1-7) has an earlier version in that notebook.
But the focus is after all the Andreas Bach Book. Corti’s programme coupled works found in that collection with Bach’s original compositions. I’d like to focus on just two non-Bach pieces. The first one is Kuhnau’s Fourth Biblical Sonata (tracks 8-10) which depicts a person’s illness and recovery, but the musical form is well-anchored on dance forms. The Bach work referenced in the Capriccio on the Departure of a Beloved Brother (tracks 23-28) which are played quite frequently these days. The Bach capriccio should be played more often but my preference is with the Kuhnau.
Then there’s Telemann’s Overture in E-flat Major (tracks 17-22). “Overture” is actually the same kind of suite as in Bach’s Orchestral Suites. The booklet writer suggested this harpsichord arrangement was possibly done by Bach himself, as an exercise to absorb this musical form. Apart from influencing the Orchestral Suites, you’d recognize the elements of Bach’s subsequent keyboard suites, and solo violin or cello suites as well. Furthermore, the ornaments of this arrangement show a thorough understanding of the French harpsichord style.