BACH, Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Prussian Sonatas socalled after the dedication to Frederick the Great, to whom Bach was court harpsichordist at the time were published in 1742 by Balthasar Schmid of Nuremberg. Together with the Württemberg Sonatas dedicated to Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg, which were published two years later, the Prussian Sonatas constitute the most important German keyboard music between Johann Sebastian Bach and Haydn. They rise far above the contemporary fashion for the sentimental or playful Rococo; they are heralds of the spirit of the Sturm und Drang in music and can be said belong to the highpoints of all piano music.
The publication of the Prussian Sonatas edited by Rudolf Steglich in 1928 is a good example for the consideration of musicological as well as practical performance aspects within one edition. With this present special edition, the publisher complies with the request for a reprint of the Sonatas which have been unavailable for a long time.
