Sonatas for viola da gamba Wq 88, 136 - 137
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Like his father, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach composed three sonatas for viola da gamba. They date from his period spent in the service of the King of Prussia Frederick the Great and gave the brilliant gambist of the court chapel the opportunity to show off his virtuosity. If the two Sonatas Wq 136 and 137 are written with accompaniment of basso continuo, Bach son follows, in the Sonata in G minor Wq 88, the model provided by his father: in this writing in three voices treated equally, the hand right and left hand of the harpsichord compete with the solo instrument. The original range of the leg part also allows an execution in the viola, an execution practice already documented by sources at the time. This version is added to our Urtext edition in addition.