Bach Flute [Sonata] Sonatas. Barthold Kuijken, ^a Marc Hantai (fls); ^b Sigiswald Kuijken (vn); ^c Gustav Leonhardt (hpd); ^d Wieland Kuijken (va da gamba).

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (Full price) (Cassette) RK77026 (two cassettes, nas); (CD) RD77026 (two discs, nas: 101 minutes: ADD).

[Sonata] Sonatas—B minor, BWV1030 ^c; A major, BWV1032 ^c; E minor, BWV1034 ^cd. Trio [Sonata] Sonatas—G major, BWV1038 ^bcd; G major, BWV1039 ^acd. Partita in A minor, BWV1013.

Bach Flute [Sonata] Sonatas. Stephen Preston (fl); ^a Trevor Pinnock (hpd); ^b Jordi Savall (va da gamba).

CRD (Full price) (CD) CRD3314/5 (two discs, nas: 98 minutes: ADD). From CRD1014/15 (8/75).

[Sonata] Sonatas—B minor, BWV1030 ^a; E flat major, BWV1031 ^a; A major, BWV1032 ^a; C major, BWV1033 ^ab; E minor, BWV1034 ^ab; E major BWV1035 ^ab. Partita in A minor, BWV1013.

The annotation of the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi set consists of quotations from Spitta (the English translation of which, not that in the Novello edition of 1899, sometimes reads quaintly), in which he accepts the Sonatas in E flat (BWV1031) and C (BWV1033) to be by Bach, but as Kuijken et al. omit them both they clearly share today's doubts that Bach was the author of either. Spitta says, also, that the first movement of the A major Sonata (BWV1032) "survives only in mutilated form" but not that 'mutilation' here equals incompleteness, a shortfall made good by later scholarly work, as it is in this recording. No comment on either of these matters is offered in the notes; a recording such as this deserves better.

The above doubts are shared by neither Preston/Pinnock nor the annotator of the CRD set (our own NA), in which BWV1030-35 appear intact. In his original review of 1975 Roger Fiske described BWV1031 as "attractive", which it is, but BWV1031 as "poor... barely worth recording", a draconian assessment I cannot support; by Bach or not, both earn their track time. In including the solo Partita, BWV1013, the two sets are on common ground. Both performances (the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi set is at a slightly lower pitch than the CRD), have indisputable merits: Preston/Pinnock bring intimacy and gentle warmth to the music, whilst Kuijken/Leonhardt, recorded at a higher level and in a less dry acoustic, make a more immediate and animated impact they come to you, whereas you must join Preston/Pinnock in their gentler sound-world if you are to benefit from the much it has to offer. In the Allemande of BWV1013 Kuijken tends to phrase in smaller 'packages' (shorter breaths) than Preston, and, recorded close-in, his intakes of breath are more intrusive. I find Preston's softer attack, attractive 'pitch-bending' and rather greater responsiveness to Affiekt the more appealing, but could live happily with either set.

Of the only trio sonatas Bach wrote for two solo instruments and thorough-bass (BWV1036–9), the two in which the flute figured make up the playing time 'lost' by the exclusion of BWV1031 and BWV1033. BWV1038, for flute and violin, is developed from two violin/continuo Sonatas, BWV1021-2 (Schmieder records doubt—not shared by Spitta—that it was done by Bach himself), BWV1039, for two flutes, was later reworked by Bach as a gamba sonata, BWV1027. Both are most attractive works and splendidly played here with the aid of Sigiswald Kuijken and Marc Hantai. These and the other items in the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi set are beautifully recorded, with Leonhardt's harpsichord in aptly audible attendance. It is impossible not to recommend both sets for their respective virtues.

JD