Johann Sebastian Bach
Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach (1725)
Menuet in F major, BWV Anh. 113
Menuet in G major, BWV Anh. 114 (Christian Petzold)
Menuet in G minor, BWV Anh. 115 (Christian Petzold)
Rondeau “Les Bergeries” in B-flat major, BWV Anh. 183 (François Couperin)
Menuet in G major, BWV Anh. 116
Polonoise in F major, BWV Anh. 117a
Polonoise in F major, BWV Anh. 117b
Menuet in B flat major, BWV Anh. 118
Polonoise in G minor, BWV Anh. 119
Choral “Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten”, BWV 691 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Choral “Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille”, BWV 510
Menuet in A minor, BWV Anh. 120
Menuet in C minor, BWV Anh. 121
Marche in D major, BWV Anh. 122 (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach)
Polonoise in G minor, BWV Anh. 123 (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach)
Marche in G major, BWV Anh. 124 (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach)
Polonoise in G minor, BWV Anh. 125 (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach)
Aria “So oft ich meine Tobackspfeife”, BWV 515 (Johann Gottfried Heinrich Bach ?)
Menuet fait par Mons. Böhm in G major
Musette in D major, BWV Anh. 126
Marche in E-flat major, BWV Anh. 127 (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach)
Polonoise in D minor, BWV Anh. 128
Aria “Bist du bei mir”, BWV 508 (Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel)
Aria aus Goldberg-Variationen, BWV 988/1 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Solo per il cembalo in E-flat major, BWV Anh. 129*(Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach)
Polonoise in G major, BWV Anh. 130 (Johann Adolph Hasse)
Præludium in C major, BWV 846/1 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Movement in F major, BWV Anh. 131 (Johann Christian Bach)
Recitativo “Ich habe genug” e/and Aria “Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen”, BWV 82/2,3 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Menuet in D minor, BWV Anh. 132
Aria di Giovannini “Willst du dein Hertz mir schenken”, BWV 518
Choral “Dir, dir, Jehova, will ich singen”, BWV 299 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Aria “Gedenke doch, mein Geist, zurücke”, BWV 509
Christian Petzold
Suite de Clavecin (1726) in G major
Cipriana Smarandescu, cembalo
Furio Zanasi, baritone (BWV 508 - BWV 82/2,3 - BWV 518 - BWV 509)
Recorded October 2014
CONTINUO, CR113
Introduction
The Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach consists of two manuscripts that he presented to his second wife Anna Magdalena as a gift: the first in 1722, when the family were living in Köthen, the second in 1725 when they were living in Leipzig. Both manuscripts include minuets, rondos, polonaises, chorales, preludes, musettes, marches, gavottes and a few songs and arias. The main difference between the two collections is that the notebook of 1722 contains only original works by Johann Sebastian Bach (including some movements of the French Suites, the Aria of the Goldberg Variations and the first Prelude of the Well-Tempered Clavier), while that of 1725 is more extensive as it also includes songs written by composers of the same era, such as Christian Petzold, François Couperin, Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel and Johann Adolf Hasse, as well as by J.S. Bach’s own children (Carl Philipp Emanuel, Johann Gottfried Heinrich and Johann Christian) and some anonymous composers.
This recording is based on the 1725 manuscript, with the addition at the end of the record, of the entire Suite de Clavecin by Christian Petzold now conserved in the archives of the Church of Weißenfels, which includes the two celebrated minuets in G that are a part of the Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach.
In the interpretative approach of Cipriana Smarandescu, the short and apparently easy pieces became the basis for extensive embellishments and articulations, maintaining a philological attitude of respect for performance practice while trying to highlight the particular expressive idioms of each piece of music. In order to enrich the timbres of the range of sound, some pieces (almost all of the chorales, the Sarabande from the harpsichord suite by Petzold and some parts of the basso continuo) have been executed with the lute stop register of the harpsichord that, thanks to its sweetness and transparency, made it possible to increase the depth of the colour. The baritone voice was chosen for the songs and arias because of its particular lyricism and freshness, which makes it perfectly suited to the overall character of the Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach.