Symphony in C major (Wq 182:3 / H 659) - C.P.E. Bach

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra conducted by Hartmut Haenchen

I - Allegro assai - (attacca): 0:00
II - Adagio - (attacca): 2:43
III - Allegretto: 6:19

In contrast to the symphonies Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach composed for the musical public of Berlin between 1741 and 1762, with the six works of Wq 182 he turned his attention toward music for the connoisseur. He composed this set of symphonies, all scored for four-part string orchestra with continuo, in Hamburg in 1773 to fulfill a commission from Baron Gottfried van Swieten. Bach included these symphonies as the final item in the numbered list of compositions he compiled for his 1773 autobiograph. The third symphony (in C major), continues the tendencies already seen in the last, most advanced Berlin symphonies.

The Symphony in C major, the third in the set, with its wild invention and abrupt changes of mood, must have pleased the baron. C.P.E. felt that his music should stir the listener’s emotions, and he devised a style that could achieve this while encompassing the fiery passions of the Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) movement then sweeping the arts in central Europe. “As I see it,” the composer wrote in his 1773 autobiography, “music should move the heart emotionally, and a player will never achieve this by mere scrambling, hammering, and arpeggiation. Not with me, anyway.”

Many of C.P.E. Bach's most characteristic touches can be found in these symphonies: energetic tuttis abound, sometimes in strong unison as is the case in the opening movement of the Symphony in C major. Sudden contrasts in mood, extreme modulations and abrupt closes, hallmarks of the so-called "Empfindsamer Stil" of which Bach is the supreme representative, occur frequently. Wild and restless emotional upheaval are fundamental stylistic elements in Bach's music. His style is built around stark and sometimes bizarre contrasts, dramatic, emotional and intellectual; nowhere is it more apparent than in the sudden juxtaposition of extreme dynamic shifts also a feature of much of his keyboard music.

In such an intensely personal and emotionally extravagant language it is understandable perhaps that Bach chose to omit the ubiquitous Minuet and Trio in keeping with his fellow composer Johann Adam Hiller's view that: "Minuets in symphonies always seem to us like beauty patches on the face of a man; they give the music an effeminate appearance, and weaken the virile impression made by the uninterrupted sequence of three well-matched serious i movements, where in lies one of the greatest beauties of execution".

The first movement, in C major, is written in a binary form. It opens with an energic theme presented by the strings. In the development, the music deepens into several lyrical and drammatic nuances. Suddenly, the music stops, leading directly to the next movement.

The second movement, in A minor, is written in a free form. The strings present a deeply tragic theme, almost like an elegy, which is developed with continous variations that deepens the melancholic lyrism. It ends with an obscure coda that links to the next movement.

The third movement, in C major, is written in three sections. It begins with the strings presenting an gentle, dance-like theme. The development consists in continuous recapitulations with several modulations and ornamentations added by the orchestra. The work ends with a modest coda.

Picture: Engraving of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (c1987)

Sources: https://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs..., https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces... and https://cpebach.org/toc/toc-III-2.html

Musical analysis done by myself.