TIMES OF TRANSITION

Cello concertos by C.P.E. Bach and Haydn


C.P.E. Bach: Cello Concerto in A major, H.439, Wq. 172 (1753)

J. Haydn: Cello Concerto in C major, Hob.VIIb:1 (1761-65)

J. Haydn: Cello Concerto in D major, Hob.VIIb:2 (1783)

The term "transitional period" is popular in art history when forms of expression change, and it sounds dramatic, but it is rare. In the Baroque period, polyphony and fugue were paramount, but melody with accompaniment was an equally valid form of expression that slowly supplanted polyphony. And in times of transition, labels are not very useful, because Baroque and Classicism can appear side by side in the work of one and the same composer. But since historians value order and archive drawers, we are easily tempted to perceive stylistic concepts as something created by the music itself, when in fact they are simply a way of dealing with it. The three cello concertos on this CD shed light on the long, fertile period in the latter half of the 18th century, when the typical stylistic features of the Baroque were gradually supplanted by the simple, so-called gallant style.
Karl Aage Rasmussen

Reviews:
“Another bull’s-eye from Concerto Copenhagen”
Jeppe Rønnow, Magasinet Klassisk, September 2021

“Breathtakingly beautiful”
The Strad, October 2021

Performers:
Andreas Brantelid – cello (Emil Hjort, Copenhagen 1887 with gut strings)

Concerto Copenhagen:
Oboe: Antoine Torunczyk, Lars Henriksson

Bassoon: Jane Gower

Horn: Emmanuel Frankenberg, Renske Wijma
Violin I: Fredrik From, Peter Spissky, Alison Luthmers

Violin II: Hannah Tibell, Jesenka Balic Zunic, Gabriel Bania/Jens Solgaard

Viola: Antina Hugosson

Cello: Tom Pitt

Double bass: Megan Adie
Harpsichord and musical direction: 
Lars Ulrik Mortensen

The album was released on Naxos on August 27, 2021.