Six sonatas for flute and harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) are remarkable examples of his chamber and instrumental music. Along with Mozart’s flute works, Bach’s ones are a foundation of flute repertoire. The sonatas in B minor, E flat major and A major (BWV 1030–1032) were composed for flute and cembalo (the name for harpsichord in Italian), where the cembalo is an equal to the soloing flute owing to a fully written melodic line. The other three sonatas – in C major, E minor and E major (BWV 1033–1035) – are for flute and basso continuo, which implies the performer’s improvisation (the performer builds a harpsichord part on the basis of numbered accords in bass).
The autograph of the manuscript of the Sonata in B minor, BWV 1030, the biggest and most technically complicated of Bach’s flute sonatas dates back to circa 1736–1737 (at the time, Bach led Collegium Musicum in Leipzig). The disputable issue of the dates of Bach’s compositions (and at time their authorship), so not infrequent for his music, emerges in the case of the flute sonatas again. So, for instance, the creation of the Sonata in E flat major, BWV 1031, is limited within 1730 to 1734. Bach composed this sonata, with its light and transparent texture, and a simple harmony, in the vein of galant style (galant (French) – courteous, refined, well-mannered; a style of European music of the early and mid-18th century). By its structure, the sonata is closer to the genre of concerto rather than cycles of four-movement church (sonata da chiesa) and chamber (sonata da camera) sonatas. The Sonata in A major, BWV 1032 (1736 (?)), also has a three-movement structure. The Sonata in C major, BWV 1033 (1736), is close to the style of chamber sonata with its characteristic dance movements like a suite (the sonata ends in two minuets). The other type, i.e. church sonata, with alternating tempos “slow-quick-slow-quick,” is in two of the sonatas – E minor, BWV 1034 (1724), and E major, BWV 1035 (1741).
Partita in A minor for Solo Flute, BWV 1013, a true gem of Bach’s music, is one of the masterpieces of the baroque era. It was composed roughly in the early 1720’s, during the composer’s last years in Köthen. Partita in A minor is among the most complicated pieces for the instrument. However, it is widely popular among performers thanks to its beautiful and profound music.
The prominent pianist Alexander Bakhchiev (1930–2007) was one of the best representatives of the Russian piano school. He was widely known as both a soloist and ensemble player, as well as for his teaching, social and educational activities. Alexander Bakhchiev was born in Moscow. In 1948, he finished the piano department of the Moscow M. Ippolitov-Ivanov Music College where he studied under Ilya Klyachko. When a student of the Moscow Conservatory, Bakhchiev studied first under Vasili Argamakov and Klyachko and then, including his post-graduate course, under Lev Oborin (1953–1956). In 1951, Bakhchiev won the second prize of the Berlin International Festival of Youth and Students. Since 1951, he was active as a performer touring in Russia and overseas.
In 1968, he and his wife pianist Elena Sorokina formed a piano duo recognized as a “Golden Duo of Russia. “The duo was known worldwide thanks to their extensive touring in Russia, Europe, the United States, Canada, Israel and Japan. Among Bakhchiev’s other collaborators were famous singers Galina Pisarenko, Nina Isakova, Nelly Li and Alexei Martynov, instrumentalists Alexander Korneyev (flute), Valery Popov (bassoon), Mark Pekarsky (percussion), Eduard Grach (violin), and conductors Kirill Kondrashin, Boris Khaikin, Karl Eliasberg and Gennady Rozhdestvensky.
Rarely performed works, unfairly forgotten or never played before ones, took a significant place on Bakhchiev’s repertoire. Sofia Gubaidulina, Efrem Podgaits, Grigory Frid and many other composers dedicated their opuses to him. Alexander Bakhchiev’s legacy includes a great deal of sound recordings both solo and in ensembles.
Alexander Korneyev (1930–2010) was a legendary Russian flutist, conductor and educator. Composers like Valery Kikta, Sergey Vasilenko, Edison Denisov and Moisey Weinberg dedicated their flute compositions to him. Korneyev was one the first performers of a number of works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturian, Sergei Prokofiev, Tikhon Khrennikov and Dmitry Kabalevsky. Korneyev was a soloist of the Moscow State Academic Philharmonic Society for many years. He played in ensemble with many of the well-known performers such as Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, Lev Oborin, Tatiana Nikolayeva, David Oistrakh, Mstislav Rostropovich and many others.
Alexander Korneyev finished the musical college of the Moscow State Conservatory (1943–1947) under Vladimir Tsybin, a founder of the Russian flute school. He continued his education at the Moscow Conservatory under Tsybin and Yuli Yagudin, where he later also studied opera and symphony under Boris Khaikin and graduated in 1979. Korneyev was a prize winner of the International Festivals of Youth and Students in Budapest (1949, 2nd prize) and Berlin (1951, 1st prize), the Prague Spring International Music Festival (1953, 1st prize) and the International Competition for Musical Performers in Geneva (1958).
During 1949 to 1979, Alexander Korneyev was a soloist of the Big Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio and Central Television. He performed with such famous conductors as Nikolai Golovanov, Alexander Gauk, Evgeny Mravinsky, Kirill Kondrashin, Alexander Melik-Pashayev, Karl Eliasberg, Kurt Sanderling, Sergei Samosud, Neeme Järvi, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Evgeny Svetlanov, Leopold Stokowski to name but a few.
Korneyev’s activity as a conductor is notable for his performances of Alexander Kholminov’s one-act operas The Overcoat and The Carriage after Nikolai Gogol, and works by Valery Kikta.
