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Christoph SCHAFFRATH & Christlieb Siegmund BINDER: Keyboard sonatas
[I] Christoph SCHAFFRATH (1709 - 1763): XII Soli per il cembalo
Marius Bartoccini, harpsichorda, clavichordb
rec: Feb 25 - 28, 2025, Monte Compatri (Roma), Palazzo Annibaldeschi
Brilliant Classics - 97415 (© 2026) (2.15'06")
Liner-notes: E/IT
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
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Sonata in C (CSWV H:1)a;
Sonata in a minor (CSWV H:34)a;
Sonata in G (CSWV H:24)b;
Sonata in e minor (CSWV H:17)a;
Sonata in D (CSWV H:6)a;
Sonata in b minor (CSWV H:42)a;
Sonata in A (CSWV H:33)a;
Sonata in B flat (CSWV H:38)b;
Sonata in d minor (CSWV H:8)b
[II] Christlieb Siegmund BINDER (1723 - 1789): "6 Harpsichord Sonatas"
Paolo Gazzola, harpsichord
rec: April 2024, Mucinasso (Piacenza), Chiesa San Tommaso Apostolo
Brilliant Classics - 97380 (© 2025) (67'34")
Liner-notes: E/IT
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
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Sonata No. 1 in G (FleB 1.22);
Sonata No. 2 in F (FleB 1.23);
Sonata No. 3 in D (FleB 1.24);
Sonata No. 4 in E flat (FleB 1.25);
Sonata No. 5 in B flat (FleB 1.26);
Sonata No. 6 in A (FleB 1.27)
A time of change in musical aesthetics is always interesting. Compositions from such a period often mix old and new elements, and composers try to find their own way between them. The decades around 1750 are such a time. There is no lack of specimens of the mixture of styles in the oeuvre of composers who were the contemporaries of the sons of Bach. It is useful to mention them, as they were pupils of their father, and it took much effort to find their own way in composition.
They were all educated in keyboard playing, and so were the two composers who are the subjects of this review. The label Brilliant Classics has made a name for itself with a large catalogue of recordings of keyboard music, not only by mainstream composers, but especially by composers many music lovers may never have heard of and which are not well represented in the discography.
The best-known of the two is Christoph Schaffrath. Especially his chamber music has been given some attention, and he also figures in anthologies of music written for or performed at the court of Frederick the Great. Schaffrath was already appointed as member of his chapel before Frederick was crowned king in 1740. An earlier attempt to become organist of the Sophienkirche in Dresden had failed, when it was Wilhelm Friedemann Bach who got the job. From 1741 on he shared the position of the court's harpsichordist with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. In this capacity he was surrounded by some of the finest musicians in Germany, like the flautist Quantz, the Graun brothers and the two Bendas, Franz and Georg. In 1744 he entered the service of Frederick's sister, Princess Anna Amalia, an ardent lover and collector of music.
Schaffrath was a generally respected performer, who not only performed as chamber musician at Anna Amalia's court but also appeared in the homes of the aristocrats of Berlin. Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, composer and theorist, wrote about him that he "is known to the world by means of his beautiful compositions well-liked everywhere, some of the pieces written for the keyboard have become widely known in print". Schaffrath wrote exclusively instrumental music, partly for other musicians at the Berlin court - like the gambist Ludwig Christian Hesse - but mostly for his own use. According to New Grove Schaffrath composed at least thirteen keyboard concertos, but Marius Bartoccini, in the liner-notes to the first disc reviewed here, mentions even 72 concertos.
The twelve sonatas which he has recorded, have not been published and have been preserved in manuscript. That is to say: three of the sonatas are missing (Nos. 8, 10 and 11), whereas the last movement of the Sonata No. 7 in A is incomplete; for this recording Bartoccini completed it. He dates the sonatas between 1745 and 1763.
The time of composition indicates that they are intended for the harpsichord. The fortepiano had not fully established itself yet, and it does not surprise that the scores don't include any dynamic indications. However, that does not mean that they can't be played on a fortepiano, for instance a Silbermann. Bartoccini plays three sonatas on the clavichord, and that is a nice alternative.
The clavichord was the favourite instrument of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, but although they were colleagues, Schaffrath's sonatas show little influence of CPE Bach or of the Empfindamer Stil, of which Bach was one of the main exponents. Schaffrath's sonatas are rather specimens of the galant idiom, which manifests itself in the fact that they are mostly in two parts, and that the left hand is often confined to the role of accompaniment. However, in comparison with other keyboard music in this idiom, Schaffrath's sonatas show more stylistic variety. Whereas galant sonatas are mostly in major keys, four of the eight extant sonatas are in minor keys (as are three of the six Op. 2 sonatas, recorded by Borbála Dobozy; Hungaroton, 2008). There are also passages where the left hand's role is elevated and is more than mere accompaniment. It is also notable that all the extant sonatas are in three movements, whereas two movements were most common in galant keyboard music.
In New Grove, it is observed that Schaffrath "also had a marked talent for counterpoint, a skill apparent not only in the occasional fugal movement (...) but also in the disciplined part-writing of orchestral works and in his frequent use of imitation." These skills also come to the fore in the sonatas recorded by Bartoccini. This aspect of his compositional activities explains why he was engaged by Princess Anna Amalia, who had a rather conservative taste and a preference for baroque counterpoint.
It is interesting that Bartoccini shows some reservation with regard to the character of Schaffrath's sonatas. "While his keyboard virtuosity is first-rate, it lacks the metaphysical introspection found in the music of some of his colleagues". This may well be one of the reasons that it is not given that much attention. However, in the hands of a skilled interpreter, who studies the scores and knows what it takes to bring them to life, they deserve more interest. Bartoccini is such an interpreter. One of the features of his performances is his treatment of tempo and rhythm. He takes quite some liberties, and these, giving the impression of improvisations, make his performances all the more interesting. I certainly would like to hear Schaffrath's keyboard concertos. In the performances on the clavichord, Bartoccini effectively uses the instrument's dynamic possibilities in the interest of a speechlike, rhetorical interpretation.
Unlike Schaffrath, Christlieb Siegmund Binder is an almost complete unknown quantity. His six harpsichord sonatas Op. 1 have been recorded a few times, and two harpsichord concertos are available on the Pierre Verany label (2004). Moreover, a few pieces have been included in anthologies.
Binder was born in Dresden as the son of an oboist and spent his entire life there. As a choirboy he received lessons from Pantaleon Hebenstreit, who was famous across Europe as a player of the pantaleon, a large sort of dulcimer. Hebenstreit died in 1750 and the next year Binder was appointed pantaleonist at the court. His employer, Frederick August III, was far more interested in the harpsichord. His personal library included 343 harpsichord concertos. Binder once stated that he possessed "taste and an extraordinary gift for music, an admirable skill on the harpsichord". This explains why music for harpsichord - concertos and sonatas - take a central place in his oeuvre which comprises exclusively instrumental music. In 1768 he dedicated a collection of 18 harpsichord concertos to his employer.
In 1764 Binder became second organist to Peter August in the court's Catholic chapel, and he was first organist from August's death in 1787. During his visit in Dresden Charles Burney heard him play the organ and was very impressed, especially by his command of the pedals.
"In the Dresden circle Binder held the same position as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in Berlin", according to a scholar in a book on music in Dresden in the time of Viennese classicism. However, very few of his music was published in his lifetime and his influence was virtually confined to Dresden. This is all in strong contrast to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach who had a substantial influence on the main representatives of Viennese classicism: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Binder was also soon forgotten after his death.
The Sonatas Op. 1 mentioned above were published in 1759 by the composer himself. It is not indicated when the sonatas recorded by Paolo Gazzola have been written. They are dedicated to "Her Serene Highness Augusta Amalia Electress of Saxony". This is Countess Amalia of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler, who became the last Electress and the first Queen of Saxony due to her marriage with Frederick August in 1769. This indicates that these sonatas were written in that year or shortly afterwards. They can be divided into two halfs: the first three sonatas are in two movements, the others in three. They are all in major keys. As mentioned, this is a feature of the galant style; however, the central movements of the last three sonatas are in minor. Four of the sonatas close with a rondeau, one with a menuet. Other features of the galant idiom are also present, such as the dominance of the writing in two parts and the role of the left hand as accompaniment, including drum and Alberti basses.
However, the sonatas include passages that are more technically demanding than was common in galant keyboard music, especially the crossing of the hands, trills and and fast passages with triplets of sixteenths. There are also some traces of the empfindsamer Stil as well as elements of the style of the previous era, especially in the contrapuntal passages.
The scores don't include dynamic indications, but in some cases repeated passages are played on another manual by Gazzola, creating a kind of echo. This is all within the freedom of the interpreter. I am quite happy with the way Gazzola plays these sonatas, although - in comparison with Bartoccini - his playing may be a little too straightforward. However, I am not sure whether Binder's sonatas offer much opportunity to take some freedom. They are different from Schaffrath's sonatas. That again shows the stylistic variety within the span of a few decades. Exactly that is what makes this time in music history so interesting.
These two recordings are valuable additions to the growing catalogue of keyboard recordings of Brilliant Classics.
Johan van Veen (© 2026)
Relevant links:
Marius Bartoccini