When you are a poor composer in the 1700s and a king takes a shine to your style, you immediately start writing pieces that will appeal to him. And when that king’s instrument of choice is the flute – endless flute sonatas it is! And so it was for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, son of the esteemed Johann Sebastian Bach, in 1738 when CPE took up a post with the then Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia. Luckily for us, many of these compositions have survived the intervening 285 years and this album is a snapshot of a young CPE during his Berlin years at court.

There are five sonatas presented, all performed by early flute specialist Manuel Granatiero. Working with Accademia Ottoboni, of which he is a founding member, they have a beautifully blended sound. They have even included the Sonata in G Minor H 542.5, also known as BWV 1020, for those more familiar with CPE’s father’s catalogue. Growing up, I always played this with the inflections of a JS Bach work, and it’s so interesting to hear it here with a CPE bent to it. While it might not seem like much to the uninitiated, CPE helped begin and usher in the ‘Classical Era’ while JS Bach was firmly part of the ‘Baroque Era’. The rules were changing at this time and when you listen closely, you can hear the world turning, even all these years later.