List B

Question 1

Where was CPE Bach born?

Answer 1

He was born in Weimar Germany

Question 2

When was CPE Bach born?

Answer 2

1714 and he was the second son of JS Bach

Question 3

When was CPE Bach alive and what period of music was he from?

Answer 3

He was born in 1714 and died in 1788. (He died at 74). He was a composer in the early classical period.

Question 4

What were some highlights in CPE Bach’s career

Answer 4

He was employed as a harpsichordist to King Fredrick the Great from 1740. Fredrick thought of Bach primarily as a harpsichordist more than a composer. In 1767 Bach successes Telemann, his godfather as actor and music director in Hamburg. That is when he died.

Question 5

What other composers were around the same time as CPE Bach?

Answer 5

Johann Joachim Quantz (German)*
Giovanni-Battista Sammartini (Italy)
Carl Heinrich Graun (German)*
Baldassare Galuppi (Italy)
Thomas Arne (English)
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (German)
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (Italy)
Fredrick the Great (German)
Christoph Willibald von Gluck (German)
Georg Christoph Wagenseli (Austrian)
Johann Wenzel Stamitz (Bohemnian/German)
Jiri Antonin Benda (Bohemian/German)
Joseph Haydn (Austrian)
Johann Christian Bach (German)

Question 6

What was Bach’s compositional style like?

Answer 6

Bach’s compositions were written during the early classical period. The style of music at the time was known as sensitive. Music of this style is very expressive, and often constrains surprising contrasts such as sudden change in rhythm or dynamics.

Question 7

What were some compositional techniques used in the early classical period?

Answer 7

Short phrases with frequent detached notes
Clear homophonic textures, usually with a single melodic line
Well-organised formal structure (sonata form) and development of themes
Modulations to closely related keys, typically up or down a 5th

Question 8

What was Bach’s compositional techniques influenced by?

Answer 8

He was influenced by features of the late Baroque period including using the bass continuo accompaniment, contrapuntal techniques and the use of the same key for each movement

Question 9

What is a sonata?

Answer 9

A sonata is a composition for a solo instrument or a small ensemble in several contrasting movements. The name comes from the Italian suonare, which means to sound.

Question 10

What were some features of Bach’s sonatas?

Answer 10

CPE Bach’s sonatas usually constrain three movements, often fast-slow-fast (as in later classical sonatas) although sometimes he used slow-fast-fast. Some of Bach’s sonata’s contain a bass continuo accompaniment

Question 11

What is the wq number?

Answer 11

It refers to the catalogue of CPE Bach’s compositions made by Alfred Wotquenne which is used to identify each piece

Question 12

What is the style of the Hamburger Sonata and how was it influential?

Answer 12

This piece is in a galant style, a forerunner of the classical style which is characterised by grace and elegance, charming melodies, simple harmonies and regular phrase structures

Question 13

What instruments could play the different parts in the Hamburger Sonata?

Answer 13

The continuo could be a lower pitched instrument such as a cello, bassoon or viola and a keyboard or plucked instrument such as a harpsichord or lute.

Question 14

What key is this piece in?

Answer 14

G

Question 15

What form is the first movement in?

Answer 15

Sonata from:
Exposition bars 1-24
Development bars 25-43
Recapitulation bars 44-66

Question 16

What does Allegretto mean?

Answer 16

A brisk moderately fast speed

Question 17

What form is the second movement in?

Answer 17

Rondo form
Main theme 1-16
Episode 1 17-35
Main theme 36-43
Episode 2 44-64
Main theme 65-72
Episode 3 73-80
Main theme 81-88
Episode 4 89-106
Main theme 107-114
Episode 5 115-125
Main theme 126-133
Episode 6 134-149
Main theme 150-165

Question 18

What speed is presto?

Answer 18

Very fast

Question 19

Who did CPE Bach influence?

Answer 19

He influenced composers such as Mozart and Haydn . CPE Bach used a lot of intimate expressiveness in his pieces which were darker and dramatic. He influenced Mozarts symphony no. 25 in G minor and Haydn’s Farewell Symphony.

Question 20

How was this piece performed in the 18th century?

Answer 20

The keyboard would play the bass line with the bass instrument. However, the rest of the accompaniment was an improvised chordal line from the chordal figures written below the staff. In modern interpretations an editor has ‘realised’ the chords from the pianist’s right hand.