Nachtmusique/Eric Hoeprich Glossa GCD 920608 *****

Johann Christian Bach, youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, is known as the "London Bach". He settled in the British capital in 1762 and it was there that his six, four-movement symphonies for wind sextet were posthumously published in 1782. The music is a bit weightier than you might expect from a composer who has a reputation for lightness. Erich Hoepric, director of the Dutch period instruments ensemble Nachtmusique, goes as far as imagining the composer saying "I have a story to tell which deals in pride, pathos and high drama, but I intend to do this with elegance and wit". Nachtmusique's performances on this impressive disc are distinctively coloured and tangy in expression.

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