Bach: Sonatas for Violin & Keyboard
Bach’s sonatas for violin and keyboard are well-recorded; this album features a bonus, in that the final G major sonata comes to us in three versions; the other bonus is participation by Christophe Coin, who plays in three of the sonatas on the viola da gamba. Their ensemble Le Stagioni’s keyboard player is Paolo Zanzu, who also performs here on pianoforte. Violinist Liv Heym concertizes on both modern and baroque instruments, playing violin and viola. In this recording she plays an instrument made in 1743 by Pierre Saint-Paul. Zanzu plays a Mietke copy harpsichord, a Zell and Hass copy harpsichord, a Silbermann-copy harpsichord, and a Silbermann-copy pianoforte. Variety abounds!
About BWV 1019, they write:
Bach’s collection may not have been initially intended to bring together the six sonatas: it is possible they were assembled later by copyists. While the first five sonatas exhibit a remarkable unity in their formal architecture as well as in their compositional style, the sixth stands apart in its style and its structure, which continued to evolve over the course of numerous revisions. This sonata warrants a separate explanation. Three different versions are known today. Revised right up until 1749, this sonata does not use the model of the sonata da chiesa, like the five others, but rather the sonata da camera or the suite. Solo sections are incorporated in between the ensemble movements: solos for harpsichord and for violin in the first version; a solo for harpsichord in the third version.
Heym studied baroque violin with Monica Huggett, who recorded these works, I believe, in 1980 or 81 with Ton Koopman for Philips. This recording is obviously a little richer, using the variety of keyboards and approaches with gamba, which isn’t necessarily implied by the score. Bach’s writing is interesting in that he’s written a trio texture wherein the second solo instrument is taken-up with the right hand of the keyboard. All this said, when Coin does contribute, his sound well-integrates with the left-hand of the keyboard. In a piece like the second of the second sonata, BWV 1015, having a long-held note supported by a bass instrument, well, it has a place.
The balance in this recording is well done between keyboard and violin, with one not dominating the other. The recording is on the dry side, which provides a lot of transparency.
For this review, I want to pick out a few single movements to comment upon.
Andante un poco, BWV 1015
The bass line here for the keyboard seems to pre-date Alberti; I think the piano here works well as the keyboard instrument, with the player able to achieve the attack of a harpsichord in the left hand while the right is able to adopt a more catabile style. Heym employs some vibrato which warms the sound of her instrument; she makes sensible phrasing with her melodic line. But I think she misses the gist of the rhetorical landmines left by Bach in this movement. Instead of doing something with the short phrases, she treats the whole thing more or less as a quiet respite from the earlier fast movement. Her understanding is more aligned to the longer phrases rather than what I hear as smaller, more declamatory phrases. The repeated notes in the main melody is meant to force our hands against the harmonic shift. Instead of emphasizing this tension, it’s not really explored.
Allegro (II), BWV 1017
The entire texture is lighter here, in part because of the harpsichord used. The playing here feels effortless and relaxed, which is an aesthetic that works. But overall I feel that the approach from the violin is all a bit too polite. Again, I want to hear the smaller cells as their own nuggets of musical content, rather than fitting two, three, or more of these into longer length phrases. Heym is making good musical sense, but while doing so, I think she and her partners are leaving something behind. As an example, there’s a little rising chromatic moment in the melodic material that’s shared between the harpsichord and violin. This should be emphasized. It’s not.
Vivace, BWV 1018
This movement has a rising line that mimics the chromatic one I mentioned in the movement, above. There are also these leaps that pass between all three parts. I want to hear more emphasis when this comes. The result here is musical, but I’m in want of hearing more inflection and dynamic intensity based on where these repeated motifs keep coming and falling into their harmonic patterns.
The sound of this harpsichord is louder with more overtones. While different from the instrument used in 1017, it’s nonetheless attractive sounding. The tone of the violinist is less enjoyable.
Sonata, BWV 1019
I appreciate that the musicians included all the musical material here for us to build the three versions of this sonata. The first four tracks include the centerpiece for solo harpsichord. I appreciate Zanzu’s additions in the repeat. While not going out of his way, his playing is more sensitive to the smaller phrases I’ve been discussing above. He’s not a slave to these, but for me, they’re easier to hear.
Listen, if you will, to the way the Adagio is phrased first by the keyboard (with gamba) and then how it sounds when the violin comes in. There’s kind of a natural separation with the way a harpsichord works mechanically, which is the way I think we take these smaller phrase groups to become rhetorical gestures. The violin, on the other hand, ignores these, playing through these in one longer phrase.
That the two groupings of movements seem to have been recorded in different sessions is an oversight, I think. The sound signature from the first five movements to the sound in the remaining seven is different. The first part is better, sonically.
The opening Vivace (track 26) needs more of a kick. I’ve been waiting for something that pushes things and this would have been the movement to do it. (The final Allegro from BWV 1017 isn’t too shabby.)
There’s a dark aspect to Heym’s violin’s sound that I think is exploited well in the Cantabile movement, track 29.
The Presto, the last track on the album, has a good fit between musicians, especially so with the left hand of the keyboard and the violin. But again, I’m wanting some differentiation here between the long phrases lengths and the shorter cells. Both musicians could do more at exploiting these; ignoring them stands out more in the violin part, by the nature of the way the sound is produced. More, I’d have liked to heard this movement rock a bit faster. Presto, it doesn’t give me presto feels.
Final Thoughts
All those involved in this production are accomplished musicians. I recognize that I’ve shared some critical remarks above and that’s in part because there are already a number of options in the catalog of these works. What stands out in this recording is the option to hear more than one keyboard, and to hear a keyboard coupled with a gamba, for, well, a different sound.
The musicians don’t ever seem rushed in this production, which is fine; and their approach is also consistent. My biggest complaint, aside from the difference in sound quality between different recording sessions, is how they render their phrasing.
My approach, I recognize, is not universally adopted as gospel. So some listeners may well like the longer phrase lengths that are emphasized here. But my understanding of the rhetorical connection to baroque music is involved in how we render the smaller phrases, which can be heard as the musical pieces (phrases) that make up the longer sentences. These often have a rhythmic signature to them, and harmonically, they demand leaning into certain beats to emphasize dissonance and a release into harmony.
While this way of playing isn’t emphasized here, what is performed is well-crafted. This may not ultimately be my favorite rendition of these sonatas, but there is value in the variety of color presented and, on top of that, a good selection of admirable-sounding keyboards.
