Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

and The Flute by Mary Oleskiewicz

To celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of C.P.E. Bach—the son of J.S., particularly
noted for his many contributions to the flute repertory—we offer an overview of his
music for this instrument.

CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH (1714–1788)

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 tinuo, W. 144, opens with a slow chromatic fugue; the E-minor

D
uring 2014, as musicians observe the 300th anniver-
sary of the birth of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the
emphasis for many is on his keyboard compositions
for harpsichord, clavichord, and fortepiano; for others, it is the
recently rediscovered sacred vocal works. Flute players, however,
have long recognized C.P.E. Bach as one of the first and greatest
writers of significant music for their instrument. His sonata for
unaccompanied flute—the first such work ever written (perhaps
inspired by his father’s partita for flute in the same key)—and his
solo, trio, and quartet sonatas, not to mention his concertos, are
familiar to many players. In his 300th year, it is worthwhile to re-
examine these and less familiar pieces within the context of his
entire output and his long career.
sonata for flute and basso continuo, W. 124, composed at
Frankfurt in 1737, opens with an expressive Adagio that
almost quotes from his father’s B-minor sonata.
Yet other influences are equally evident in these works.
One senses Telemann (Emanuel’s godfather) in passages
from both solo and trio sonatas. Emanuel certainly knew the
Opus 2 flute sonatas by the Italian violinist Locatelli, who
had played for the queen of Prussia in 1728 in nearby Berlin.
Emanuel wrote a set of keyboard variations on a theme from
Locatelli’s op. 2, no. 10, and several of his early flute sonatas
seem to be modeled on that work, which like them ends
with a minuet and variations.

Fertile Environment
During four years in Frankfurt, Emanuel Bach composed
at least eight large vocal works. At least one of these, prais-
Born in Weimar, Germany, in 1714, C.P.E. Bach was the sec- ing the young crown prince of Prussia—the future Frederick
ond surviving son of Johann Sebastian and Maria Barbara the Great—may well have included flute parts.
Bach. He went with the family in 1717 to Cöthen and in 1723 Unfortunately, the music for these vocal works is complete-
to Leipzig, where by 1731 he had already composed his first ly lost. But less than five months after the performance of
flute music: five trio sonatas for flute, violin, and basso con- that work, Frederick auditioned a “son of Bach.”2 It may be
tinuo (W. 143–47).1 Actually we cannot be sure whether these no coincidence that within four years Frederick, having
were his first flute works. (See “Uncertain Chronology.”) ascended to the throne, would include Emanuel Bach
Nevertheless, it is clear that the flute was of great impor- among his chamber musicians. (For more about both
tance for Emanuel Bach from his early days right to the end of Frederick and Quantz, see the prior article by this author in
his long career. He grew up in a university town with close the fall 2012 issue of The Flutist Quarterly.)
connections to Dresden, one of Europe’s great musical centers. Frederick became king in 1740, and years later Emanuel
While he was a teenager in Leipzig, Quantz in Dresden was proudly reported that “…his majesty graciously had me
inventing a new and improved version of the transverse flute, accompany, quite alone at the keyboard, in Charlottenburg,
capable of playing virtuoso music in all keys and able to rival
anything played on the violin. Naturally, having J.S. Bach as a
father did not hurt the development of a growing musician—
and during the 1720s and 1730s, Sebastian made great use of
the flute, not only in chamber music but also in his sacred and
secular cantatas.
Although Emanuel later admitted to studying only key-
board instruments, he clearly grew up in an environment
where sophisticated flute players were routinely tackling chal-
lenging music. His older brother Wilhelm Friedemann would
also compose flute music (notably the six duos for two flutes).
But even in his youth Emanuel probably exceeded his brother
in his ability to absorb musical influences and to work colle-
gially with fellow musicians.
Emanuel seems to have been a lively and valued collaborator
with other musicians, apparently serving as his father’s assistant
in performances by the Leipzig Collegium Musicum—whose
repertory included Sebastian’s cantatas, suites, and probably
other works with significant flute parts. Emanuel left Leipzig in
1734 for university studies in Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, where he
directed his own collegium. Its repertory included Sebastian’s
FREDERICK PORTRAIT OF 1738 BY ANTOINE PESNE

trio sonata in G for two flutes and no doubt also the flute music
that Emanuel himself continued to compose.

Influences
A few of these early works clearly reflect the influence of J.S.
Bach. The G-major trio sonata for flute, violin, and basso con-
Left: Fig. 1. The celebrated portrait of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, attributed to A.F.
Oeser but probably by J.F. Reifenstein, is in pastel on paper and inscribed beneath in
a contemporary hand. Framed and glazed, 27 x 30 cm [c. 1754] © Sotheby’s Fig. 2. Young Frederick as Crown Prince

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Fig. 3. Black double-manual harpsichord with decorative “japanning” by 18th-century court keyboard maker Michael Mietke, Charlottenburg Palace.

Fig. 4. The Flute Concert in Sanssouci by Adolph Menzel, 1850–1852. C.P.E. Bach is depicted at the fortepiano.

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the first flute solo that he played as
king.”3 This statement is interesting for
two reasons: first, Emanuel Bach was
already the preferred accompanist in
the king’s employ (there were others);
and second, that Bach played “quite
alone” indicates that no cello participat-
ed. At court, the term “solo” referred
unambiguously to a work for flute and
basso continuo. Had Bach accompanied
a work in which the keyboardist takes
one of the solo parts in his right hand
(referred to today as a sonata with
obbligato keyboard), Bach would have
instead used the term “trio,” not “solo.”4
Sadly, the original music room in
Charlottenburg palace no longer sur-
vives, but two harpsichords do; they are
documented as being kept in that palace
since the early 18th century. Built by
Michael Mietke, the court keyboard
maker, the black double-manual instru-
ment complete with decorative “japan-
ning” was probably the one kept in the
king’s music room (fig. 3).
chief composer was Carl Heinrich
Graun—who, with his brother Johann
Gottlieb, worked for the king and, proba-
bly not coincidentally, also wrote trio
sonatas for flute. These works and over-
tures and arias from Graun’s operas pro-
vided stylistic models for several further
solo and trio sonatas with flute that
Emanuel composed during his first two
decades at Berlin. Among these is the
famous and notoriously difficult trio
sonata in E major for two flutes—later
arranged as a work for flute and obbliga-
to keyboard (ex. 1).6
Yet this work, like the two flute con-
certos that Emanuel is known to have
composed during these years, goes
well beyond its models. The recently
identified D major concerto of 1744
(W. 13) is still close in style to works
by Graun and Quantz. But the famous
concerto in D minor (W. 22) from just
three years later is a dramatic work
equal in intensity and audacity to sev-
eral keyboard concertos from the same
period. It may have been inspired by
Quantz’s equally dramatic but earlier
concerto (QV 5:81) in the same key, a
work that Frederick performed. 7
Emanuel later arranged both the D
major and D minor concertos as key-
board concertos.
On the other hand, three later flute
concertos (W. 166 in A minor, W. 167 in
B-flat, and W. 167 in A) were originally
for cello, and a fourth (W. 169 in G) was
originally for organ. These concertos
were performed at Berlin using the inti-
mate chamber ensemble preferred by the
king, with just two violins, viola, basso
continuo, and no contrabass.8 This type
of ensemble was accurately depicted by
Menzel in his famous painting, The Flute
Concert in Sanssouci. Emanuel Bach is
shown accompanying a flute concerto at
the fortepiano (fig. 4).

The King’s Court

Emanuel would remain in the king’s
employment until 1767, playing key-
board instruments—both harpsichord
and fortepiano—in the king’s famous
private concerts at Berlin and nearby
Potsdam. The king was an accom-
plished flute player and composer. The
old notion that he disliked Emanuel
and underpaid him has been set aside,
and the possibility that some of
Emanuel’s flute music was written for
the king can no longer be discounted.5
Nevertheless, it is clear enough that
once Quantz joined the new king’s court,
in 1741, Quantz would be the leading
flute composer in town. Quantz’s music
did not circulate, since it was for the
king’s exclusive use. But as royal accom-
panist, during 30 years at court, Emanuel
must eventually have played in virtually
all of Quantz’s 200 flute sonatas and 300
concertos—thus gaining an unparalleled
acquaintance with the instrument and its
capabilities, not to mention Quantz’s
broad range of styles.
Of course there were other favorite
styles at court as well. In addition to
the private music of the court con-
certs, there was the opera, open to the Example 1: Sonata in E major for flute and obbligato keyboard, W. 84. Autograph score, Berlin, Staatsbibliothek,
Mus. Ms. Bach P 357. Bach’s title originally stated “for two flutes,“ and he altered it to read “for keyboard and
public, which Frederick established in flute.” The work was originally composed as the Trio Sonata in E for two flutes and basso continuo, W. 162, at
one of the first acts of his reign. Its Potsdam in 1749, but the present revised autograph score was written at Hamburg around 1785 or later.”

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Fig. 5. Music room in Sanssouci Palace, with original fortepiano by Gottfried Silbermann, 1746. One of the king’s original ebony and ivory flutes, made by Quantz, is in the glass case.

Prolific Period
The year 1747 was a particularly good one for Emanuel’s flute
music. In addition to the D-minor concerto, he also composed Uncertain Chronology
Dates and titles for vir-
two new trio sonatas (W. 150 and 151), his second-to-last
tually all of C.P.E.
sonata for flute and continuo (W. 131 in D), and the unac-
Bach’s surviving music
companied sonata in A minor. The same year also saw him

are recorded in a cata-

revising the five Leipzig trio sonatas.

log that Bach prepared

Unfortunately, we have no idea what lay behind this burst of

before his death in

writing for the flute. The first two Silesian wars—which had

1788.22 Yet, it is not

kept King Frederick constantly away at battle—were ended by

possible to confirm
treaty on December 25, 1745. But even before the peace had

with certainty if the

been concluded, plans were under way for the construction of

trio sonatas W. 143-47

a brand new leisure palace, where the king could pursue music
and philosophy undisturbed. The completion of Sanssouci in
1747, with its lavishly decorated music room (fig. 5), coincid- were in fact Bach’s
ed with a vigorous resumption of the king’s nightly concerts first flute works. One
flute sonata (W. 134 in G) appears in this list
and created a need for large amounts of new flute music. And
without a date, although it does not appear to be
it may be no coincidence that 1747 also saw the famous visit
a particularly early work.
of J. S. Bach to Potsdam that led to the composition of the

More problematical is the fact that Bach

Musical Offering—which of course contains not only a superb

rewrote nearly all of his early music that sur-

trio sonata but additional music with flute.

vives, changing themes, forms, even instru-

Emanuel’s revisions of his early works, which he carried out

mentation. Rarely do we have the original ver-

during this period, brought them into conformity with cur-

sions of this music—and therefore we have no

rent stylistic standards at Berlin. Yet works newly composed

way of knowing whether his five early trio

during these years in general go far beyond the revised ones in

sonatas for flute, violin, and basso continuo

expressive audacity and demands on the players.
The one work that may survive in both original and revised
versions, the D-minor trio sonata W. 145, is a serious, expres- originally involved the flute.23 —M.O
sive, but perhaps slightly over-extended example of the dis-
cursive, conversational chamber music that seems to have

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been favored during this period.9 On the
other hand, the C-major trio sonata of
1745 (W. 149) involves the flute in a
lively and engaging duet with the violin.
In this brilliant work, we also begin to
sense some of the humor that would Example 2: Sonata in A minor for unaccompanied flute, W. 132, first movement, mm. 89 to the end.

increasingly become an important ele-

ment of Bach’s style, alongside his more
famous expressivity.

Unaccompanied Sonata
For flute players, the unaccompanied
sonata is certainly the outstanding work
of this period—and not merely because
of its unprecedented scoring or techni-
cal challenges.10 Its three-movement
form, comprising slow, quick, and
moderately quick movements, respec-
tively, was modeled on that favored by
Quantz and the king. The internal
designs of the individual movements
are also broadly similar to theirs.
Another common feature, surprising
today, is the expectation of a cadenza
at the end of the initial slow move-
ment, signaled by the presence of a
fermata (ex. 2, W. 132, final cadence).
But the sheer length of the piece is
greater than that of Bach’s earlier
sonatas with continuo, which it also
exceeds in the diversity of its figura-
tion and expressive intensity.
The work is unlikely to have been
composed for the king, since in that
case Bach probably could not have pub-
lished it (as he eventually did, in 1763)
(ex. 3, first page of print). But there was
no shortage of good flute players in a
city where Quantz and his pupils held
royal appointments. We know that
flutists in Quantz’s circle studied Bach’s
music, for the manuscript known as
Quantz’s Solfeggi contains excerpts
from the concertos W. 13 in D major
and W. 22 in D minor and the trio
sonata W. 159 in B flat.11 Nor was the
king’s court the only venue for concerts
at Berlin. During Emanuel Bach’s time
there, other members of the royal fami-
ly also sponsored both public and pri-
vate concerts, as did a growing number
of musical clubs or “academies,” as they
were called.12 Few details survive for the
activities or repertory of these groups.
But we can be sure that many of the
hundreds of instrumental works by
Bach and other Berlin composers were Example 3: Sonata in A minor for unaccompanied flute, W. 132, first page of the print edition from Musikalisches
written for their concerts. Mancherley (Berlin, 1763). Originally composed at Berlin, 1747. No manuscript copies of the work survive.

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 Other Works
In addition to sonatas, Bach wrote other
types of works with significant flute
parts. Among these are works that he
called sonatinas—actually a sort of
divertimento for solo keyboard and
orchestra, the latter often including flutes
(ex. 4). Bach wrote 12 such works during
the early 1760s, a period that saw
renewed concert activity in Berlin, as the
Seven Years’ War drew to a close. Many
movements in these sonatinas are
arrangements of pieces originally written
for solo keyboard, now rescored to
include colorful flute solos, often along-
side dramatic modulations.13
The same period also saw Bach’s last
“trio” with flute—actually the sonata in
C for flute and obbligato keyboard, W.
87, the only work originally composed in
that setting rather than as a trio sonata. It
must be said, however, that this work,
composed in 1766, is something of a dis-
appointment, simple and galant, proba-
bly written for amateur performance at
home rather than in public concerts.
The same holds for two sets of little
pieces (W. 81 and 82), which, like some
earlier publications by Telemann, can
be performed in various alternative
scorings: solo keyboard, keyboard and
flute, or two flutes or violins. Like the
many little dances and other pieces that
Bach composed during this period for
keyboard, these too were clearly not
meant for advanced musicians.
Despite writing such things during
his last years at Berlin, Bach maintained
Example 4: Autograph first flute part for the Sonatina in D for solo keyboard, two horns, two flutes, and strings,
W. 96, from Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Mus. Ms. St. 506. The work was composed at Berlin 1762, probably original- his reputation as a composer of diffi-
ly for just keyboard and strings. The flute part appears to have been written at Hamburg in the 1770s. cult, challenging music. In a letter to
the poet Gleim (fig. 7), the critic and
amateur musician Krause compares
Bach to the English poet Milton, a
notoriously difficult writer.

Bach is a Milton; he needs to be

Fig. 6. Johann Joachim Quantz (1697–1773)
Fig. 7. The poet Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim
(1718–1903), with flute. Portrait 1750, by G.
Hempel.
practiced thoroughly. One must be
well acquainted with his melodies
before they please….You will sure-
ly be rewarded for the trouble you
take to make the Bachisch style
popular in your concerts. It is an
uncommon pleasure to hear his
works. At a distinguished musical
gathering, it was recently observed,
with general approval, that other
pieces merely please, but Herr
Bach’s and those of Concertmaster
Graun compel admiration.14

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Yet Krause then asks whether Gleim can find someone to
arrange a Bach harpsichord concerto for flute—that is, tran-
scribe the solo keyboard part for flute and continuo. We have
an example of such a work in the G-major concerto of 1755
(W. 169), a work composed originally for organ. Sebastian
Bach had probably arranged his harpsichord concertos from
works originally written for violin and possibly oboe. Here
Emanuel reverses the process. His manuscript score of the
organ concerto (W. 34) includes his alternate solo part for
flute, with adaptations that include the insertion of a few brief
passages for the orchestra into solo passages, giving the soloist
a chance to breathe (see ex. 5).

The Flute’s Growing Role

In considering Bach’s writing for the flute, we should not for-
get that the instrument had begun to play an important role in
orchestral music by the mid-18th century. Moreover, whereas
two oboes are the most common woodwind complement in
most 18th-century writing, Bach’s symphonies and concertos
are more likely to include a pair of flutes. Flutes are the only
woodwinds in his C-major symphony of 1755 (W. 174), the
six keyboard concertos published in 1771 (W. 43), and many
other works (see ex. 6, next page).
To be sure, the flutes play minor roles in these works, chiefly
doubling the violins to add color in certain movements (as in
arias and symphonies by the Graun brothers); these flute parts
are optional and can be entirely omitted. But Bach gives the
flutes soloistic parts in a number of his vocal works, beginning
with his Easter Cantata of 1756 (W. 244)—his first surviving
German sacred work. Many more would follow in the vocal
works that he composed after his move to Hamburg in 1768.
The flutes also have significant parts in the four so-called Example 5: Concerto G for organ and strings, W. 34, mvt. 3, m. 186ff, with
Orchestral Symphonies (W. 183) that Bach published while at alternate solo part for flute written in Bach’s hand (as a flute concerto the
work is known as W. 169). Manuscript score, Berlin Staatsbibliothek, Mus.
Hamburg, in 1780. Yet in neither these symphonies nor his Ms. Bach P 769. Bach’s autograph title page for the manuscript reads: “No. 25
Hamburg vocal compositions does Bach often give the flute / G major / Concerto for flute by C. P. E. Bach” (author’s translation). The top
the really indispensible, memorable types of writing found in five parts are designated “Flauto,” “Viol[ino]1,” “Viol[ino] 2,” “Viola,” amd
“Basso,” with the bottom three staves unlabeled. Two of the latter are occu-
his father’s sacred works. One of the few substantial flute solos pied by the solo part for organ. The bottom staff was left blank but was possi-
from this period may even be a bit embarrassing, for in it the bly meant for an alternate solo cello part that Bach never created.

flute’s trills and turns, however delightful, represent a cliché: a

singing bird in the aria “Der Vogel singt’s” from the Hymn of
Thanks, H. 824e.15

The Hamburg Sonata

It may be that capable flute players simply were not to be
found in Hamburg. Yet the Hamburg years saw Bach writing
one last solo sonata for the flute, the G-major work known
as the Hamburg sonata (W. 133), composed in 1786. The
work incorporates several new features that reflect its late
date. Following a trend that can be observed in Bach’s late
keyboard sonatas, it is in two rather than three movements
(a short lyrical bridge passage connects them), and it con-
cludes with a classical style Rondo.
The work’s extroverted virtuosity includes florid passage-
work in the flute’s uppermost register, which extends a
whole step higher than in Bach’s previous sonatas (to f-
sharp''' and g''')16 (see ex. 7). Entirely different from Bach’s Example 7: First movement, mm. 48–56, from the so-called “Hamburg Sonata,” W.
earlier flute sonatas, composed four decades and more pre- 133, composed at Hamburg, 1786.

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 Example 6: Printed part combining music of flute 1 and horn 1 for the Concerto in G for keyboard, two horns, two flutes, and strings, W. 43/5. Composed at
Hamburg, 1771, and published there as part of a set of six concertos by the composer in the following year.

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Example 8: Quartet in A minor for flute, viola, and keyboard, W. 94. Autograph
manuscript score from Berlin, Archiv der Sing-Akademie, SA 3328. The heading
reads “2nd quartet for keyboard, flute, and viola by C. Ph. E. Bach“ (author’s
trans.). Composed at Hamburg, 1788, the last year of the composer’s life.
viously, it is in a style that we understand today as more or
less Classical. Bach probably would have described it as
“comic,” a term he applied disparagingly to fashionable
pieces without slow movements, like those composed by his
younger brother Johann Christian—though by this date he
had given in to popular demand and was evidently writing
such music himself for public concerts.17
Final Works
More important than any of these last few works, however,
are what may be Bach’s last entirely original compositions:
the three masterful quartets for flute, viola, and keyboard
(W. 93–95) (ex. 8), and the famous double concerto for
harpsichord, piano, and orchestra (W. 47). All four works
date from his last year, 1788, and all were probably com-
missioned by Sara Levy, an accomplished amateur musician
in Berlin.18
Although Levy herself was a keyboard player—she had
studied with Emanuel’s brother Wilhelm Friedemann—
other members of her family appear to have played flute
and viola.19 Hence the somewhat unusual scoring of the
quartets—which, despite the name, call only for three
instruments. Modern editions include a cello part, but it is
entirely editorial—and it is unnecessary, as Bach’s daughter
later explained in a letter to a collector.20 Unlike other late-
18th-century chamber music with keyboard, these pieces
give all three instruments equal parts. The flute and viola
are often paired, alternating with the keyboard (whose
right and left hands count as two separate parts).
More remarkable than the scoring, however, is the imag-
inative conception of the cycle as a whole. Here, as in the
Hamburg sonata and other late works by Bach, the three
movements are integrated into an unbroken succession,
each quartet taking a distinct form.
Culmination of a Career
With these works, and with the double concerto, Bach ended
a career of close to 60 years.21 We see in his music a gradual
transition from the Baroque and the clear influence of his
father’s music—as in the trio sonata in B minor, W. 143 of
1731—to the late 18th-century Classical idiom, exemplified by
his quartets. Notwithstanding the different styles of his early
and late works, all share one unmistakable feature: the expres-
sion of intense, rapidly changing emotions. Within Bach’s out-
put as a whole, the flute lies second only to the keyboard in
importance, prominent from his very earliest surviving pieces
to his last. Although some of these are well known to flute
players, many others are not; all are worth exploring. ❃
The author is grateful to David Schulenberg, Teri Towe, Mark
Knoll of the Packard Humanities Institute, and Stephen Roe of
Sothebys for providing copies of illustrations and other forms of
invaluable assistance during the preparation of this article.
After winning first prizes
in both the NFA’s Baroque
Flute Artist and Doctoral
Dissertation competi-
tions, Mary Oleskiewicz
quickly established herself
as an international per-
former of historical flutes
and the leading expert on
the flutist, theorist, and
composer Johann Joachim
Quantz. Acknowledged as
Mary Oleskiewicz among the leading ba-
roque flutists of modern times, she is also an authority on
music at the 18th-century court of the Prussian King Frederick
“the Great,” and her essays, editions, and recordings have
focused on the music of Quantz, C.P.E. Bach, King Frederick,
and the Bach family. A resident of Boston, she is associate pro-
fessor of music at the University of Massachusetts and has
taught at Queen’s College (New York City) and at the
Universität der Künste in Berlin. She records for Naxos and
Hungaroton Classics. See BaroqueFlutist.com.
End Notes
1. There exist several listings of the works of C.P.E. Bach. Currently the most
commonly used are the “W” numbers from Alfred Wotquenne, Catalogue thé-
matique des œuvres de Charles Philippe Emmanuel Bach (1714–1788)
(Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1905). Works missed by Wotquenne are cited by
“H” numbers from the catalogue by E. Eugene Helm (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1988).
2. Frederick, letter of June 8, 1735, to his sister Wilhelmine (Berlin-Dahlem,
Geheimes Staatsarchiv, Brandenburg-Preußsisches Hausarchiv, Rep. 47
Friedrich der Große, no. 305, vol. 2, fol. 224r).
3. Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel. Autobiography. In Carl Burney’s der Musik
Doktors Tagebuch seiner musikalischen Reise, translated by Christoph Daniel
Ebeling and Johann Joachim Christoph Bode, 3 vols. (Hamburg, 1772–73),
3:199-209, esp. 200. My translation.
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4. Bach left a number of flute sonatas for flute and
obbligato keyboard, including W. 83–87; he indicated
that W. 161/2 may also be played in this manner.
5. See Mary Oleskiewicz, “Like Father, Like Son?
Emanuel Bach and the Writing of Biography,” in Music
and Its Questions: Essays in Honor of Peter Williams,
edited by Thomas Donahue (Richmond, Va.: OHS
Press, 2007), 253–79.
6. The original trio version, composed in 1749, is W. 162;
the obbligato-keyboard version, which differs in only a
few notes for the keyboard, probably dates from Bach’s
last decades and is W. 84. At least three other trio sonatas
also exist in versions for flute and obbligato keyboard.
7. QV 5:81, recorded by the author for the first time,
was released in 2013. See Naxos 8.573120.
8. Contrabass parts in the Berlin sources for Bach’s con-
certos, where they exist, were clearly later additions to
the original sets of parts.
9. The putative early version, scored for violin and
obbligato keyboard, was originally attributed to J. S.
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Bach as BWV 1036. Both are edited in CPEBCW 2/2.1.
10. Although there had been several previous works for
unaccompanied flute, including Sebastian’s A-minor
Partita (BWV 1013) and twelve fantasias by Telemann
published in 1732–33, no earlier sonatas are known.
11. Solfeggi Pour La Flute Traversiere avec l’enseigne-
ment, Par Monsr. Quantz. Ed. Winfried Michel and
Hermien Teske. Winterthur (Switzerland): Amadeus,
1978; see p. 9 (W. 13, mvts. 1 and 3); p. 40 (W. 22,
mvt. 3); p. 82 (W. 159, mvts. 2 and 3).
12. On some of these concert venues, see Mary
Oleskiewicz, “Chamber Music and Piano Music,” in
The Archive of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin:
Catalogue, edited by Axel Fischer and Matthias
Kornemann (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2009), 97–110, and
“The Court of Brandenburg-Prussia,” in Music at
German Courts, 1715–1760: Changing Artistic
Priorities, edited by Samantha Owens, Barbara M.
Reul, and Janice B. Stockigt (Woodbridge: Boydell and
Brewer, 2011), 79–130.
13. The Sonatina in F, W. 99, is particularly notable for
the role the flutes play in some of its transitions.
14. Letter of Dec. 20, 1747, in Darrell M. Berg, The
Correspondence of Christian Gottfried Krause: A Music
Lover in the Age of Sensibility (Farnham and Burlington:
Ashgate, 2009), 35–37.
15. This 1785 work, somewhat reminiscent of
Haydn’s Creation, is edited in CPEBCW, vol. 5/5.1.
16. Although he studied with Bach briefly in 1783,
the sonata is not likely to have been composed for
the blind child prodigy Friedrich Ludwig Dulon,
who was not in Hamburg at the time. Leta Miller,
“C.P.E. Bach’s Sonatas for Solo Flute,” Journal of
Musicology 11 (1993): 215–16, proposes that the
work might actually have been written for Christian
Carl Hartmann, a virtuoso from the Royal Academy
in Paris, who performed it twice in public concerts
in Hamburg during June 1786.
17. In a conversation with the poet Claudius, Bach
criticized “the new comic music” for “filling the
ear but leaving the heart empty.” Undated letter of
1768 to Gerstenberg, no. 20 in Matthias Claudius,
Briefe an Freunde, edited by Hans Jessen (Berlin:
Eckart, 1938), 43.
18. Levy was the great-aunt of Felix Mendelssohn;
see Peter Wollny, “Sara Levy and the Making of
Musical Taste in Berlin,” Musical Quarterly 77
(1993): 651–88. Bach’s very last work, a St.
Matthew Passion performed posthumously in
1789, consists mostly of arrangements of previous-
ly composed music (this too includes flutes).
19. Sara Levy, or her husband Solomon, who may
have been a violist, was probably responsible for
Friedemann’s composing or revising not only his
six flute duos but also three duos for two violas. All
these works are preserved in manuscripts that
belonged to Levy (see the catalog accompanying
Oleskiewicz, “Chamber Music and Piano Music”).
20. See letter no. 7 (Oct. 7, 1791), Anna Carolina
Philippina Bach to Johann Jacob Heinrich
Westphal in Manfred Hermann Schmid, “‘Das
Geschäft mit dem Nachlaß von C. Ph. E. Bach’:
Neue Dokumente zur Westphal-Sammlung des
Conservatoire Royal de Musique und der
Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique in Brüssel,” in
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und die europäische
Musikkultur des mittleren 18. Jahrhunderts, edited
by Hans Joachim Marx (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht, 1990), 473–528.
21. Emanuel Bach’s last work, The St. Matthew
Passion, employs flutes, but these simply double
the violins.
22. This was published posthumously as a catalog
of Bach’s estate: Verzeichniß des musikalischen
Nachlasses des verstorbenen Capellmeisters Carl
Philipp Emanuel Bach (Hamburg: Schniebes,
1790); online transcription at http://www.cpe-
bach.org/pdfs/resources/NV-1790.pdf.
23. These and most of the other works mentioned
here are being newly edited in Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works (Los Altos:
Packard Humanities Center, 2005–). Individual vol-
umes in this publication will be cited as CPEBCW,
followed by series/volume numbers. See the intro-
duction to CPEBCW, vol. 2/1, pp. xii–xiii, by Mary
Oleskiewicz, on the date of W. 134. For the trio
sonatas with flute, see CPEBCW, vol. 2/2.1.
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