Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann, Robert King :: Bach, Telemann: Oboe & Oboe d'amore Concertos

Bach remix from Paul Goodwin and The King's Consort

Mike Birman | Brooklyn, New York USA | 11/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's well known that hundreds - perhaps as many as a thousand - of Bach's works are lost. Most of these were instrumental works that he composed for the Collegium Musicum, founded by Georg Philipp Telemann in 1702, which was held at Zimmermann's Coffee House every Friday evening when Bach was in charge of instrumental music there. It's especially surprising that, although Bach enjoyed the sounds of the oboe and oboe d'amore so much he provided these instruments with some of his finest obbligato parts in his cantatas, oratorios and masses, none of Bach's surviving concertos include works for them. We know they existed and we'd love to hear them but they're nowhere to be found. Or are they?



Most of Bach's later concertos, especially his 13 concertos for from 1 to 4 harpsichords, are reworkings of earlier works. We can use them to return to an earlier form and do so with great accuracy. The two Bach oboe concertos recorded on this disc reverse Bach's compositional process by reconstructing his earlier concertos from later, extant works. The F major oboe concerto was reconstructed from two cantatas and the harpsichord concerto in E major BWV 1053. The A major harpsichord concerto BWV 1055 has long been recognized as being well-suited to the range and the musical capabilities of the oboe d'amore (without a change of key) once the extra keyboard figurations are removed. Once it's transcribed, the concerto explores the capabilities, range and tessituras of the oboe d'amore to great advantage. Both works are splendidly performed by Paul Goodwin and The King's Consort led by Robert King. They sound as if they are original concertos for oboe, albeit familiar ones.



George Philipp Telemann composed between 4,000 and 6,000 pieces (no one knows the exact number, many of his chamber works remain uncounted). Two of them, concertos for oboe and oboe d'amore in D minor and G major respectively, are recorded here. They are jaunty, suave pieces without Bach's depth, but they're entertaining, as the music from the shrewdly commercial Telemann usually is. All four pieces have that wonderfully reedy, but slightly mournful sound unique to the Baroque oboe. This superb disc is a tasty sample of music that had disappeared for two centuries, and then was magically recreated using scholarship and impeccable musical taste. Both of Telemann's works are also given exemplary performances by Paul Goodwin and The King's Consort. If you like the sound of the Baroque winds, you'll love this elegant disc. The sound of this 1988 recording is bright and full, highlighting the two oboes. Strongly recommended.



Mike Birman"