Sonata in E minor for flute and basso continuo 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 w ...

(BWV 1034) 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 four movements: * ''Adagio ma non tanto'' * ''Allegro'' * ''Andante'' * ''Allegro'' The

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

can be provided by a variety of instruments. For example in complete Bach recordings, Stephen Preston on

Brilliant Classics Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also sp ...

(originally recorded by CRD UK) is accompanied by harpsichord and viola da gamba while on

Hänssler Classic Hänssler-Verlag is a German music publishing house founded in 1919 as Musikverlag Hänssler by Friedrich Hänssler Senior (died 1972) to publish church music. The company is now based in Holzgerlingen. Since 1972 Hänssler Verlag has also publish ...

Jean-Claude Gérard Jean-Claude Gérard, a flutist born in Angers, he studied with Gaston Crunelle and later with Marcel Moyse studied flute at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris with Marcel Moyse. He won several international competitions a ...

is accompanied by piano and bassoon. The piece is largely believed to have been written during Bach's Köthen period (1717–23), when he was employed as ''

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' for

Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (29 November 1694 – 19 November 1728) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen. Today, he is best remembered for employing Johann Sebastian Bach as his Kapellmeister ...

. However, there is some evidence that this may have been written slightly later, after Bach's move to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

."Piece details"
Los Angeles Philharmonic

References

External links

* Flute sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach Compositions in E minor {{chamber-composition-stub