Chamber

JS Bach

Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord, BWV 1027-1029; Trio Sonata, BWV 527; Partita in A minor, BWV 1013 – Allemande

Sarah Cunningham (viola da gamba), Richard Egarr (harpsichord) Avie AV2491 63:16 mins

Only the first of Bach’s three Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord survives in his own manuscript, and it is not known when he may have composed them. And while Sonata No. 1 in G, BWV 127 and No. 2 in D, BWV 1028 are laid out in typical four-movement trio-sonata form – slow-fast-slow-fast – No. 3 in G minor, BWV 1029 suggests a grander three-movement concerto; one could easily imagine its vigorous opening movement transcribed for a Brandenburg Concerto-like ensemble. Indeed, the middle movement of the Organ Trio Sonata No. 3 in D minor, BWV 527, which Sarah Cunningham has convincingly transcribed to make a fourth viola da gamba sonata, was duly recycled by Bach himself in his Triple Concerto, BWV 1044.

What unifies these four sonatas is their strict three-part contrapuntal texture – the chordal propensities of the viola da gamba are barely touched on. Closely miked, this new recording achieves a pleasing balance and integration of texture, with Cunningham carefully differentiating between leading and subsidiary passages in her part, and Richard Egarr choosing well-contrasted timbres for his upper and lower lines. He plays, as ever, with understanding and vital rhythm and, while Cunningham may not quite run to the eloquent rhetoric of Laurence Dreyfus (on Simax) or the latent romanticism of Jordi Savall (on Alia Vox) in their respective recordings of this music, her great experience is conveyed in many a subtler nuance. Even more so in her plangently lingering account of her transcription of the Allemande from Bach’s Flute Partita which serves as encore.

Bayan Northcott