C.P.E. Bach: The Solo Keyboard Music, Vol. 33 Miklós Spányi

• Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788):
• 1 Rondo in E Major, Wq. 57/1 09:02
• 2 Keyboard Sonata in A Minor, Wq. 57/2: I. Allegro 03:56
• 3 Keyboard Sonata in A Minor, Wq. 57/2: II. Andante 02:10
• 4 Keyboard Sonata in A Minor, Wq. 57/2: III. Allegro di molto 04:52
• 5 Rondo in G Major, Wq. 57/3 05:55
• 6 Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, Wq. 57/4: I. Allegro moderato 07:37
• 7 Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, Wq. 57/4: II. Cantabile e mesto 03:47
• 8 Keyboard Sonata in D Minor, Wq. 57/4: III. Allegro 02:46
• 9 Rondo in F Major, Wq. 57/5 06:03
• 10 Keyboard Sonata in F Minor, Wq. 57/6: I. Allegro assai 05:34
• 11 Keyboard Sonata in F Minor, Wq. 57/6: II. Andante 04:44
• 12 Keyboard Sonata in F Minor, Wq. 57/6: III. Andantino grazioso 05:58
• 13 Canzonetta with 6 Variations in F Major, Wq. 118/8 05:56
• Total Runtime 01:08:20

Info for C.P.E. Bach: The Solo Keyboard Music, Vol. 33

Issued between 1779 and 1787, the six collections of sonatas, rondos, and fantasias “für Kenner und Liebhaber” constitute Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s largest-scale publishing venture. Aimed at ‘Connaisseurs and Amateurs’, the first collection was a retrospective selection of six sonatas but when this became a commercial success Bach expanded and varied the scheme, adding rondos (a recently popular form) for the second and third collection and, in the final three collections, samples of his free fantasies.

On the previous two discs in his acclaimed series, Miklós Spányi combined pieces from Collection 1 and 2, performing them on the clavichord (Volume 31) and the tangent piano (Volume 32). For the present disc, Spányi has chosen to remain with the tangent piano, an early form of the piano with strings that are struck by small wooden slips (‘tangents’). The basic sound of the instrument is reminiscent of the harpsichord, but this can be modified in a number of ways through the use of various devices.

Miklós Spányi, tangent piano

Miklós Spányi
was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied organ and harpsichord at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in his native city with Ferenc Gergely and János Sebestyén. He continued his studies at the Royal Flemish Conservatory (Koninklijk Vlaams Muziekconservatorium) in Antwerp with Jos van Immerseel and at the Hochschule für Music in Munich with Hedwig Bilgram.

Spányi has won first prize at international harpsichord competitions in Nantes (1984) and Paris (1987). He has given concerts in most European countries as a soloist on five historical keyboard instruments (organ, harpsichord, fortepiano, clavichord, tangent piano) as well as playing continuo with various chamber music groups and orchestras. He has been artistic director of the Hungarian baroque orchestra Concerto Armonico Budapest since its foundation in 1983. He has recorded an extensive discography for different labels as a soloist and with orchestra. Between 2006-9 Miklós Spányi was artistic director of the Finnish early music group Ensemble OpusX.

For some years Miklós Spányi's work as a performer and researcher has been focused on the oeuvre of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Today he is one of the world’s most acknowledged C.P.E.Bach scholars and performers. For the Swedish label BIS he has been recording C.P.E.Bach’s Complete Keyboard Concertos as well as his Complete Solo Keyboard Music, of both series numerous cd's have already been issued. Hungaroton Records has launched the series Tangent Piano Collection with Miklós Spányi, mostly featuring chamber music with tangent piano. For Könemann Music Budapest Miklós Spányi has editied some volumes of C.P.E.Bach’s solo keyboard works. He has also worked intensively to revive C.P.E. Bach's favourite keyboard instrument, the clavichord. Miklós Spányi was teaching at the Oulu Conservatoire and the Sibelius Academy in Finland between 1990-2012. Currently he is associated as teacher with the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim, Germany, with the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary and with the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He has given masterclasses in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Hungary and Finland.

Booklet for C.P.E. Bach: The Solo Keyboard Music, Vol. 33