Café Zimmermann – The Imaginary Music Book of J.S. Bach (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Johann Sebastian Bach has made the reputation of Caf’e Zimmermann ever since the ensemble was formed in 1999. This new recording presents the music of the Kantor from a different angle, that of the notebooks in which musicians wrote down pieces and movements they particularly liked. This recording brings together works composed by Bach in the late 1740s which may be described as intimate in character, including the famous Trio Sonata from his Musical Offering. The Baroque idiom of this “experimental” sonata is contextualised by the innovative style developed by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel in one of his own trio sonatas. A number of arias by J. S. Bach are also presented here with exclusively instrumental forces.

Under the direction of violinist Pablo Valetti and harpsichordist C’eline Frisch, the ensemble even ventures into Mozartian territory with the Aria and Fugue, K. 404a, taken from two pieces by Bach that Mozart himself had annotated and arranged in his own musical notebook. Finally, a chorale that Bach was particularly fond of, a three-part fugue played here by harpsichord and flute. Carl Philipp Emanuel had it printed at the end of his father’s musical testament, The Art of Fugue: “Before thy throne I now appear”.

Tracklist:
01. Café Zimmermann – Sinfonia in D Major (03:26)
02. Café Zimmermann – I. Allegro (06:11)
03. Café Zimmermann – II. Adagio ma non troppo (04:45)
04. Café Zimmermann – III. Allegretto (06:58)
05. Café Zimmermann – Adagio e dolce (After Sonata No.3 in D Minor, BWV 527 by Johann Sebastian Bach) (03:27)
06. Café Zimmermann – Fugue – Allegro (After ‘The Art of Fugue’, BWV 1080 by Johann Sebastian Bach) (07:00)
07. Café Zimmermann – Wir danken Dir, Gott, BWV 29: Aria ‘Hallelluja, Stärk’ und Macht’ (Transcription for Four Instruments) (04:42)
08. Café Zimmermann – Himmelskönig, sei wilkommen, BWV 182: Sinfonia in G Major (01:52)
09. Café Zimmermann – Aria ‘Gott soll allein mein Herze haben’ (05:25)
10. Café Zimmermann – Schwingt freudig euch empor, BWV 36: Aria ‘Auch mit gedämpften, schwachen Stimmen’ (Transcription for Four Instruments) (06:17)
11. Café Zimmermann – Ein ungefärbt Gemüthe, BWV 24: Aria ‘Ein ungefärbt Gemüthe’ (Transcription for Four Instruments) (03:06)
12. Café Zimmermann – I. Largo (05:15)
13. Café Zimmermann – II. Allegro (05:50)
14. Café Zimmermann – III. Andante (02:44)
15. Café Zimmermann – IV. Allegro (03:09)
16. Café Zimmermann – Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit, BWV 668 (Transcription for Four Instruments) (04:17)