Bach’s flute and harpsichord music

The third and final concert in the Bir Miftuħ International Music Festival featured two young French musicians who played an elegant selection of Bach’s music.

Jean-Christophe Sampson (flute) and Sophie Charpentier (harpsichord) were very well balanced and worked exceedingly well together.

Bach composed his flute sonatas between 1720 and 1741 at a time when the recorder was being superseded by the transverse flute. These sonatas usually included a continuo part – a keyboard instrument such as the harpsichord or the organ, a cello or a viola da gamba.

Charpentiere proved to be a veritable tour de force especially in the Toccata in E minor BWV 914 – a solo keyboard showpiece designed to illustrate rhythms as varied as Bach’s melodic inventions as well as to put into perspective his polyphonic skills.

Charpentiere brought out all the improvisatory skills attributed to the composer while at the same time stamping her own interpretation to the work.

The rather weak sound of the harpsichord –which fitted the Bir Miftuħ church to perfection (as did the flute) – was transformed into a varied display of showmanship and musicality. Tempos and temperaments changed continuously to make this work one of the highlights of the evening.

Another outstanding work was the Partita in A minor for Solo Flute BWV 1013. Sampson plays a flute manufactured in wood in the mid-1800s in France.

Its beautiful mellow sound was a joy to listen to – although studies exist which find “no evidence that the wall material has any appreciable effect on the sound colour or dynamic range of the instrument”.

The partita is a dance-suite featuring four very popular dances – Allemande, Corrente (courante), Sarabande and Bouree Anglaise. The longest was the first dance with frequent leaps from one register to another.

The following Corrente was livelier, ending on a high D sharp (by leap) which the flautist was careful to keep in check (there were a few other instances in the sonatas when the last note of some phrases fluctuated).

In contrast, the Sarabande was slower, perhaps more aristocratic, and Sampson brought out all the beauty of the music with some very heartfelt moments.

The last dance was a Bouree Anglaise, very popular during Bach’s lifetime. It intrigued the audience with its different rhythm marked so well by the flautist.

The other three works were sonatas performed by both musicians – besides the encore which was very well received.

The flute was the leading instrument with the harpsichord playing a more accompaniment role.

I liked especially the third movement - the adagio – of the Sonata in G minor BWV 1020 with its beautiful moving theme exquisitely played by the flute which was well balanced by an unobtrusive harpsichord. Its long phrases contrasted with the fast runs of the fourth and last movement.

While the other four works presented at Bir Miftuħ were composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and posed no difficulty regarding their paternity, this was not the case with this particular sonata which is believed to have been penned by Bach’s son, Carl Philippe Emanuel.

The lack of any double-stopping has led musicians to believe it had been composed by the son.

Be that as it may, the playing was crisp, with no lack of virtuoso display or more tender moments as the music demanded.

The last work presented was the Sonata in B minor (H moll) BWV 1030, a happy work which left the audience with a sense of appreciation for this rather unusual evening when we were able to enjoy Bach’s unique works.