The Sonata in E major for flute and harpsichord, probably by

J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

(BWV 1031), is a

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

in 3 movements: * ''Allegro moderato'' (in E major) * ''Siciliano'' (in G minor) – unusually, this movement is in the mediant minor key (the relative minor of the dominant key) * ''Allegro'' (in E major) The Bach scholar Robert Marshall has argued that the sonata was composed by J. S. Bach, since it was attributed to him by two independent sources, Bach's son

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...

in the manuscript copy of the work in his handwriting, and

Christian Friedrich Penzel Christian Friedrich Penzel (25 November 173714 March 1801) was a German musician. Although he was a composer in his own right, he is remembered more for his association with Johann Sebastian Bach. He was one of Bach's last pupils and is known for h ...

, Bach's last pupil. The musicologist Jeanne Swack has suggested alternatively that BWV 1031 was "modelled" on a previous work for flute in E-flat by

Johann Joachim Quantz Johann Joachim Quantz (; 30 January 1697 – 12 July 1773) was a German composer, flutist and flute maker of the late Baroque period. Much of his professional career was spent in the court of Frederick the Great. Quantz composed hundreds of flute ...

(QV2:18 in the Augsbach catalog), which survives in a version for flute and

obbligato In Western classical music, ''obbligato'' (, also spelled ''obligato'') usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ''ad libitum''. It can also be used, more specifically, to indica ...

harpsichord and in another version for flute, violin, and continuo. The similarities she cites are based primarily on structural and compositional considerations, as the musical themes are clearly different. However, Swack suggests either that Quantz composed both QV2:18 and BWV 1031, or that Bach (or another composer) used the Quantz original as a model for composing BWV 1031, which, she notes, is "much more complex and extensive.".Swack, Jeann "Quantz and the Sonata in E, major for flute and cembalo, BWV1031," Early Music (1995) XXIII (1): 31-53.

References

External links

* * Sonata for flute & keyboard in E major, BWV 1031

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description Flute sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach Trio sonatas Compositions in E-flat major {{chamber-composition-stub