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The Sonata in C major for flute and continuo, BWV1033, is preserved in a manuscript in the hand of C P E Bach, dating from the early 1730s, and in which he attributes the piece to his father. Its origins are obscure and disparate, perhaps since its first two movements, at least, are arguably more convincing as pieces for an unaccompanied melody instrument. Yet, in spite of sequential and cadential crudities, the music is not without either merit or charm and is, by and large, satisfying to play. There is a shapely nobility to the opening ‘Andante’, and a far from displeasing virtuosity, however simply conceived, in the ensuing ‘Allegro’. The music of greatest substance, though, is to be found in the ‘Adagio’ which, like the concluding Minuets, ‘alternativement’, is not devoid of Bachian character. Bach’s hand can surely be sensed, too, in the fully written-out parts of the first Minuet which bears relationship to a movement of a concerto by Bach’s Merseburg contemporary, Christoph Förster; but, be that as it may, the sonata is uneven in quality and inconsistent in technique. It has been suggested that the harpsichord accompaniment was added later, perhaps by one of Bach’s pupils.

from notes by Nicholas Anderson © 2002