Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and the Emfindsam Style
July 18th 2006 07:30
C. P. E. Bach, a classical composer living between 1714 and 1788, is not the most well known of his family. In fact, in comparison to contemporaries such as Haydn, Mozart and Gluck, much of his work unfortunately pales in historical comparison. However, in a small group of composers of who Bach is the most well known, a musical movement was taking place which not only had repercussions through all classical music, but actually anticipated many of the ideals of romanticism some hundred years later. This important movement came to be known as the emfindsam style.
Possibly a response to the simplicity and non complexity of the rococo era galante style, which had a function of merely entertaining the ear with pleasant sounds, emfindsam music was complex, varied, surprising and more stirring. The ideal of the style has been said to stir the emotions, to surprise and stun the listener, and to present through various musical techniques unexpected qualities.
C. P. E. Bach’s ‘Versuch’ - ‘The Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments’ includes with itself 6 didactic klavier sonatas which highlight this musical trend. Examples of the style can also be seen in some of Bach’s symphonies. The style is characterised by many attributes, such as short punctuated phrases, surprising rhythmic patterns with variation and syncopation, sudden changes in dynamics, striking dissonances, and the coming and going of different musical themes which may seem to have little in relation to each other. Where it is normally an understood baroque quality that each musical movement could possess and portray only one mood, the emfindsam style was possibly the first very definitive break from this, as within a movement there were presented many contrasting ideas and moods, all occupying their own space of the music.
What is possibly most interesting about the emfindsam movement and C. P. E. Bach’s composition is that in many ways its ideals predate that of romanticism. Some of the qualities attributed to Beethoven’s late life period, such as variation, surprise and contrasting ideas were presented in a similar style(but of course with different writing trends of the period) in Bach’s works, about 70 years earlier. The romantic desire to depict different emotional states in music, and manipulate the emotions of an audience were already happening in a crude form. This was not a complete transition of course, and audiences would have to wait a great deal longer before there was music with the intention of depicting vivid scenes, or complex emotive musical expression. After all, Bach’s works, while intending to stir emotions, were not at all programmatic.
If you have ever considered early classical music to sound simple, it is well worth listening to some works of C. P. E. Bach and seeing just how varied and intelligent this early musical movement was.
(sorry about the multiple post earlier today, seems I'm still getting to grips with the display time function)
C. P. E. Bach
C. P. E. Bach’s ‘Versuch’ - ‘The Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments’ includes with itself 6 didactic klavier sonatas which highlight this musical trend. Examples of the style can also be seen in some of Bach’s symphonies. The style is characterised by many attributes, such as short punctuated phrases, surprising rhythmic patterns with variation and syncopation, sudden changes in dynamics, striking dissonances, and the coming and going of different musical themes which may seem to have little in relation to each other. Where it is normally an understood baroque quality that each musical movement could possess and portray only one mood, the emfindsam style was possibly the first very definitive break from this, as within a movement there were presented many contrasting ideas and moods, all occupying their own space of the music.
What is possibly most interesting about the emfindsam movement and C. P. E. Bach’s composition is that in many ways its ideals predate that of romanticism. Some of the qualities attributed to Beethoven’s late life period, such as variation, surprise and contrasting ideas were presented in a similar style(but of course with different writing trends of the period) in Bach’s works, about 70 years earlier. The romantic desire to depict different emotional states in music, and manipulate the emotions of an audience were already happening in a crude form. This was not a complete transition of course, and audiences would have to wait a great deal longer before there was music with the intention of depicting vivid scenes, or complex emotive musical expression. After all, Bach’s works, while intending to stir emotions, were not at all programmatic.
If you have ever considered early classical music to sound simple, it is well worth listening to some works of C. P. E. Bach and seeing just how varied and intelligent this early musical movement was.
(sorry about the multiple post earlier today, seems I'm still getting to grips with the display time function)
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