Single-disc collections of C.P.E. Bach sonatas are still comparatively rare, let alone new releases coming from pianists. This is odd: the music is quite wonderful–quirky, affecting, and always a joy to hear–and the piano was, along with the clavichord, Bach’s preferred instrument. Certainly these sonatas sound demonstrably better under Danny Driver’s capable fingers than they do coming from any harpsichord player. The reason is simple: dynamics. Driver understands (and generously observes) Bach’s often surprisingly elaborate dynamic indications, and the resultant variety of touch and timbre gives this music the expressive dimension that it really requires. At the same time, Driver also knows how to inflect a phrase without losing the pulse or turning this already eruptive and sometimes disjunctive music into a collection of seemingly unrelated gestures.
Highlights are too numerous to mention. Bach in minor keys is always remarkable–often shockingly emotional–and there are examples of this aplenty in the G minor and C minor sonatas. But all of the slow movements are affecting, and there’s much more to this music than Sturm und Drang. Several of the finales, that of the B-flat major sonata in particular, clearly prefigure Haydn in their adventurous syncopations and wacky humor. Haydn himself acknowledged the influence, but few instances reveal themselves as clearly as in this example. So by all means do sample this delightful recording of music that deserves far more exposure than it gets.
