"MÚSICA A TRES: BACH E HIJOS"

The recognition that Johann Sebastian Bach enjoys today, as one of the great geniuses and masters in the history of music, was not what he enjoyed in his own time, when it was rather his sons Wilhelm Friedemann, Johann Christian and Carl Philipp Emanuel who were the famous composers, acclaimed in various European cities and courts. For 27 years, C. Ph. E. Bach worked as a keyboard player in the service of Frederick the Great of Prussia. The king, a flautist whom he had to accompany every evening, admired his playing but not his compositions, which he considered too modern. C. Ph. E. Bach had to wait until he obtained the post of Director of Music in Hamburg before he could compose and express himself freely. In this position, and in the last year of his life, he composed the exuberant trios Wq. 93-95 for transverse flute, viola and harpsichord. The variety and experimentation, the virtuosity of the three instruments and the great beauty of the slow movements are hallmarks of this fascinating music by the man whom Charles Burney considered "the greatest composer and keyboard player in Europe".