Sonata E-flat Major, Rondo F Major, Sonata E Major, Larghetto G Major, Scherzo con variazioni, Zwei neue kuriose Minuetten, Svensk Dans

Christian Brembeck Fortepiano and Clavichord

Super Audio CD

Joseph Martin Kraus. the „Swedish Mozart“ as he was called already by contemporaries, left behind relatively little music for keyboard; namely a rondo, a Scherzo con variationi, the “Svensk Dans,” a “Larghetto,” and two minuets, in addition to two large sonatas. The reason for this might be his overriding occupation with instrumental, choral, and orchestral music that he had to produce primarily for use
at court. On the other hand, contemporary accounts give witness to his familiarity with keyboard instruments. (Pater Roman Hoffstetter from Amorbach reported to Silverstolpe in 1800 that Kraus played for him “often, without reading from the music, entire overtures, long recitatives, choruses, etc., ... on the clavier.”) In general, Kraus does not seem to have concerned himself with the “natural”—that is to say, pianistically advantageous—execution of his creations. On the contrary, the technical features of individual virtuoso passages owe much to violin technique, but apparently even more to “absolute invention.” A special allure of this recording is the choice of instruments: for the larger sonatas Brembeck choose a fortepiano (copy after Mozart‘s instrument by Anton Walter), for the smaller works a clavichord (copy
after Johann Christoph Fleischer), both instruments handcrafted by internationally well recommended harpsichord maker Eckehart Merzdorf.