Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra

The Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra (German: Kammerorchester Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach) was a German chamber orchestra, founded in 1969 in Berlin, dedicated to the music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and his contemporaries.

Kammerorchester Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Orchestra
Founded1969 (1969)
Disbanded2014 (2014)
Concert hallKonzerthaus Berlin, Philharmonie Berlin
Principal conductorHartmut Haenchen
Websitehaenchen.net/cpebach-berlin/

History

What was to become the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra was formed comprising members of the Staatskapelle Berlin in 1969 by composer Jean Kurt Forest with the support of the general manager of the Staatsoper Hans Pischner, with the aim of performing contemporary music. Jean Kurt Forest was succeeded as artistic director by Dieter-Gerhard Worm.

In 1980, following the initial collaboration with Hartmut Haenchen and then his appointment as artistic director, this specialist modern music orchestra changed its profile to concentrate on early classical repertoire, in particular that of the composer it was named after and his contemporaries. The reason for this change was state regulation by the East German government, which exerted influence on which contemporary works should be played. From these experiences arose the idea of searching for rediscoveries in Berlin musical history and of naming Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Friedrich the Great’s court harpsichordist, the ensemble’s patron.

By the 1980s, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, whose music belongs to the avant-garde of the 18th century, had been virtually forgotten. The orchestra’s extensive recordings of C.P.E. Bach’s works, many of them first recordings, were distinguished with numerous prizes. The C.P.E. Bach Chamber Orchestra held a special place in Berlin’s musical life as “a point of reference for excellence of quality and unmistakable style” (Berliner Zeitung). There followed tours and invitations to festivals, and the chamber orchestra was a guest in Japan, Italy, Austria (Salzburg Festival, Vienna Musikwochen), the Netherlands, Spain, Poland and Switzerland, as well as at Germany's most important music festivals, such as the Brandenburgischer Musiksommer, the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, the Mozartfest Würzburg, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Schwetzinger Festspiele and the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It performed with world-famous soloists including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Deborah Polaski, Sviatoslav Richter, Christine Schäfer and Frank Peter Zimmermann, as well as with Peter Schreier as singer and conductor. TV productions, radio broadcasts and 62 CDs and DVDs document the artistic quality of the ensemble.

The chamber orchestra continually extended its repertoire from the Baroque to Classical, Romantic and modern classics, dedicating itself as much to Richard Strauss and Dmitri Shostakovich as to Schubert, Mozart and in particular to Joseph Haydn. The heart of the work of the chamber orchestra, which consisted of 25 musicians (strings and wind) from Berlin's top orchestras, and of artistic director, was its own concert series, established in 1984, with 5 concerts per season in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie and the Great Hall of the Berlin Konzerthaus. Numerous rediscoveries, particularly works from the Berlin-Brandenburg musical tradition, were given their first performances in modern times in this concert series. The economic independence of this series was a financial and organisational challenge, which the orchestra overcame every year without public funding, as all involved waived their artists’ fees. In 2014 the chamber orchestra looked back on 45 years of musical and contemporary history to celebrate a 34-year collaboration with Hartmut Haenchen. On 1 May 2014 the orchestra was disbanded and ceased its concert activity.

The style of the chamber orchestra

Under the artistic direction of Hartmut Haenchen, a specific understanding of music, musico-structural analysis and virtuosity characterised the ensemble's successful interpretations. “The orchestra plays on modern instruments, without ignoring current historical performance practice. This results in remarkably intense and lively performances, which are deeply rooted in the score rather than amounting to nothing more than superficial pseudo-historical sound” (FonoForum). Alertness and agility distinguished the ensemble's concerts and recordings, “finely graded agogic nuances, precise assessment and moderate use of tonal space, controlled expressivity” (Berliner Zeitung) renders them unmistakable. While preparing the musical scores, Hartmut Haenchen referred to a knowledge resource of more than 200 theoretical texts from the 16th to 18th centuries. However, this was not to recreate an “authentic” performance, which many argue cannot exist in modern performance, but to create one of many possible interpretations according to stylistic insight. In order to present the intentions of a historical composition today with meaning, the interpretations concentrated on issues and statements that one can relate to today.

Discography

Chronological selection, Catalogue numbers refer to the first CD edition

Recordings under Hartmut Haenchen
Recordings under Peter Schreier
  • Johann Sebastian Bach: The four orchestral suites,1986; PHILIPS
  • Johann Sebastian Bach: The Brandenburg concertos, 1986, PHILIPS
  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat, 1987, PHILIPS
  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Masses, 1989, PHILIPS
  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantatas 51, 82, 202 & 208 with Barbara Hendricks, 1990, EMI
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: “La finta semplice”, “L’oca del Cairo”,1991, PHILIPS
  • Early classical flute concertos with Patrick Gallois, 1992, Deutsche Grammophon

Books
  • Hartmut Haenchen „Werktreue und Interpretation“, Pfau-Verlag Saarbrücken 2013, 2. Auflage 2015, Band 1 ISBN 978-3-89727-499-0, Band 2 ISBN 978-3-89727-500-3, als Schuber ISBN 978-3-89727-501-0
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