After a few years in Frankfurt (Oder) as keyboard teacher active in the town's public concerts, Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788) became in 1738 harpsichordist in the Musical Chapel of Crown Prince Frederick in Rheinsberg in the county of Ruppin where the great future king held 'a court of muses.'(1) Frederick ascended the throne in 1740 as Frederick II of Prussia and would go down in history as Frederick the Great. He took up residence in Berlin and in the summer lived in Potsdam. His musicians followed.
Meanwhile, Frederick the Great is involved in the Silesian Wars mainly waged against Austria and succeeds in uniting some of his disconnected lands. Domestically he becomes an enlightened absolutist, abolishing torture, defending religious tolerance, and supporting culture and music at his court. (3)
C.P.E. Bach is extremely productive during this period and shows commercial savvy by constantly revising earlier compositions and selling only the latest version and by self-publishing some of his works. (2) C.P.E. Bach's keyboard concertos, most of them composed in Berlin in the 1740s, constitute a body of work that probably went unequaled until Mozart started composing his piano concertos.
The keyboard concertos Wq. 4 - 6 were the first concertos Bach composed in his new position either for Frederick himself or for other members of the royal family. Wq. 6 may have been composed at the time of or shortly after Frederick's accession. These concertos were performed in semi-public or public concerts and circulated widely until the end of the century. In them we hear the influence from J.S. Bach's seven concertos (BWV 1052-1058) which survive in manuscript in Berlin, from other composers of Crown Prince Frederick's circle, and from the opere serie that were produced at the court. The keyboard joins as accompanist in the tutti passages; harmony and texture become more transparent; melody and dramatic exchange between soloist and orchestra become more important. (1)(2) Let's take a listen.
I. Allegro from Keyboard Concerto in G major (1738), H. 406/Wq. 4. Listen to the Adagio and the Allegro finale here and here.
Keyboard Concerto in C minor (1739), H. 407/Wq. 5. This concerto was extensively 'erneuert' (renewed) in a 1762 revision in Hamburg.
Harpsichord Concerto in G minor, H. 409/Wq. 6.
The Keyboard Concerto in A major (1741), H. 411./Wq. 8 and the Keyboard Concerto in G major (1742), H. 412/Wq. 9 are two more examples.
Bach would compose five more solo keyboard concertos through 1744, the year he married Johanna Maria Dannemann and started a family. (4) Of these five, two were published during Bach's lifetime.
Keyboard Concerto in B flat major (1742), H. 413/Wq. 10. Beautiful in all its movement, the Largo starting at 7:35 is especially engaging.
I. Allegro di Molto of the Keyboard Concerto in D major (1743, published 1745 by Balthasar Schmid), H. 414/Wq. 11. We hear the concerto with probably spurious parts for two trumpets and timpani that were added to the copy of the Schmid edition in Brussels. (5)
Keyboard Concerto in F major (1744), H. 415/Wq. 12. During this period C.P.E. Bach oftentimes uses the same motifs in different works, and the beginning of this concerto resembles that of the Keyboard Sonata in F minor of the same year, H. 40/Wq. 62/6. Listen to it here.
The Keyboard Concerto in D major (1744), H. 416/Wq. 13 exists in both a keyboard and flute version under the same catalog number. The flute version probably came first. (3)
Keyboard Concerto in E major (1744, published in 1760 by Georg Ludwig Winter), H. 417/Wq. 14. C.P.E. Bach only published three keyboard concertos in Berlin, probably at the request of the publishers themselves: lack of time, a preference for selling manuscript copies for private concerts, and the higher expense of printing concertos compared with sonatas all played a role. As printed music was usually sold to amateurs, and this is the only concerto in the rather difficult key of E major, Winter must have had a special reason to publish it.
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(1)"Frederick II, the “Arcadia of the Mark Brandenburg” in Rheinsberg, and the musicians of his court orchestra." About C.P.E. Bach, People and Places, cpebach.de, 2014 Anniversary Year. (http://www.cpebach.de/en/about-bach/people-and-places/court-orchestra (07/10/2014))
(2) David Schulenberg, "Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, The Complete Works, III/9.2: Keyboard Concertos from Manuscript Sources II." Introduction, cpebach.org website. (http://www.cpebach.org/toc/toc-III-9-2.html (07/12/2014)) Johann Joachim Quantz, Carl Heinrich Graun and Franz Benda were among the other musicians at Frederick's court. Meanwhile, Frederick the Great is involved in the Silesian Wars mainly waged against Austria and succeeds in uniting some of his disconnected lands. Domestically he becomes an enlightened absolutist, abolishing torture, defending religious tolerance, and supporting culture and music at his court. (3)
C.P.E. Bach is extremely productive during this period and shows commercial savvy by constantly revising earlier compositions and selling only the latest version and by self-publishing some of his works. (2) C.P.E. Bach's keyboard concertos, most of them composed in Berlin in the 1740s, constitute a body of work that probably went unequaled until Mozart started composing his piano concertos.
I. Allegro from Keyboard Concerto in G major (1738), H. 406/Wq. 4. Listen to the Adagio and the Allegro finale here and here.
Keyboard Concerto in C minor (1739), H. 407/Wq. 5. This concerto was extensively 'erneuert' (renewed) in a 1762 revision in Hamburg.
Harpsichord Concerto in G minor, H. 409/Wq. 6.
The Keyboard Concerto in A major (1741), H. 411./Wq. 8 and the Keyboard Concerto in G major (1742), H. 412/Wq. 9 are two more examples.
Bach would compose five more solo keyboard concertos through 1744, the year he married Johanna Maria Dannemann and started a family. (4) Of these five, two were published during Bach's lifetime.
Keyboard Concerto in B flat major (1742), H. 413/Wq. 10. Beautiful in all its movement, the Largo starting at 7:35 is especially engaging.
I. Allegro di Molto of the Keyboard Concerto in D major (1743, published 1745 by Balthasar Schmid), H. 414/Wq. 11. We hear the concerto with probably spurious parts for two trumpets and timpani that were added to the copy of the Schmid edition in Brussels. (5)
Keyboard Concerto in F major (1744), H. 415/Wq. 12. During this period C.P.E. Bach oftentimes uses the same motifs in different works, and the beginning of this concerto resembles that of the Keyboard Sonata in F minor of the same year, H. 40/Wq. 62/6. Listen to it here.
The Keyboard Concerto in D major (1744), H. 416/Wq. 13 exists in both a keyboard and flute version under the same catalog number. The flute version probably came first. (3)
Keyboard Concerto in E major (1744, published in 1760 by Georg Ludwig Winter), H. 417/Wq. 14. C.P.E. Bach only published three keyboard concertos in Berlin, probably at the request of the publishers themselves: lack of time, a preference for selling manuscript copies for private concerts, and the higher expense of printing concertos compared with sonatas all played a role. As printed music was usually sold to amateurs, and this is the only concerto in the rather difficult key of E major, Winter must have had a special reason to publish it.
___________________________________________________________________
(1)"Frederick II, the “Arcadia of the Mark Brandenburg” in Rheinsberg, and the musicians of his court orchestra." About C.P.E. Bach, People and Places, cpebach.de, 2014 Anniversary Year. (http://www.cpebach.de/en/about-bach/people-and-places/court-orchestra (07/10/2014))
(3) David Schulenberg, "Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, The Complete Works, III/9.4: Keyboard Concertos from Manuscript Sources IV." Introduction, cpebach.org website. (http://www.cpebach.org/toc/toc-III-9-4.html (07/12/2014))
(4) Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, "Letters of Distinguished Musicians: Gluck, Haydn, P. E. Bach, Weber, Mendelssohn." [Edited by L. Nohl.] Translated from the German by Lady Wallace. London, Longmans & Company, 1867, p. 54.
(5) Elias N. Kulukundis, "Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, The Complete Works, III/7: Keyboard Concertos from Prints." Introduction, cpebach.org website. (http://www.cpebach.org/toc/toc-III-7.html (07/12/2014))