Of Johann Sebastian Bach's twenty children, three outstanding musicians in their own right. Of these three - Wilhelm Friedmann, Johann Christian and Carl Philipp Emanuel - the last was the most influential as a composer, creating a bridge between the sxuberant Baroque style of his fater and the Classical style of Haydn and Mozart. While always acknowledging a great debt ot his father (his ony teacher), he eventually came to reject the omplesity of polyphonic music, preferring a much more subjective and dramatic approch, full of unexpected and odd shifts in harmony, and with an emphasis on melody - a style known as empfindsamerstil (expressive style).
- The Rough Guide to Classical Music(Joe Staines & Duncan Clark), p.16
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Anner Bylsma is the doyen of Baroque cellists, and this disc shows him at his best, with performances of great sensitiveity especially in the slow movements, which he draws out with great tenderness.
& Penguine K***
From the explosive opening rush of the Sonata in G minor, Hikhil Pletnev utilizes the piano's dynamic and tonal range to emphasize the music's modernity and idiosyncray. The playing is often angular and stylized, but always to great effect.
Penguine KR****