A first exploration of the theme of ‘music and melancholy’, with three works by C.P.E. Bach. Conversation between a Sanguineus and a Melancholicus is an experiment in ‘speaking music’. Two other works can be considered melancholic ‘ego documents’: the fantasia C.P.E. Bach's feelings (C.P. E. Bachs Empfindungen) and the Farewell to my Silbermann Clavichord.

00:00 Intro
00:36 Conversation between a sanguine and a melancholic person
08:06 Humores, humour
10:40 Emanuel Bach's melancholy sentiments
24:51 Farewell to my clavichord

Sources: see https://lodewijkmuns.nl/2020/04/30/melancholy-memory-and-music-2/

Music fragments:

00:36 C.P.E. Bach, Sonata a 2 violini e basso in C minor, ‘Gespräch zwischen einem Sanguineus und Melancholicus’ Wq 161/1*
11:32, 16:05 C.P.E. Bach, Fantasie (Freie Fantasie) in fis, ‘C.P.E. Bachs Empfindungen’ Wq 67*
14:42 J.S. Bach, Chromatische Fantasie und Fuge BWV 903*
20:24 C.P.E. Bach, Andenken an den Tod. 30 Geistliche Gesänge mit Melodien 2 Wq 198/12. Klaus Mertens, Ludger Remy CPO CX 9708
25:06 C.P.E. Bach, Abschied von meinem Silbermannischen Claviere, in einem Rondo Wq 66*

*Lodewijk Muns, piano

Music and Melancholy (1): Emanuel Bach

Lodewijk Muns, musicologist, composer and pianist, discusses topics such as music and memory, music and language, and the limits of music, with the piano at his fingertips.

Beyond the Bony Labyrinth: because the sound that enters our ears only becomes music when we recognize it. Music appeals to our memory, emotions, imagination, and capacity for language.

Philosophy: because it deals with the connections between music and other aspects of life, with clarification, and dispelling smoke screens.

This is the English version of the Dutch podcast Voorbij de oren.

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