Michele Benuzzi - Nichelmann: Harpsichord Sonatas (2015) CD-Rip

When calling to mind harpsichord music of the Baroque period, the 24 Preludes and Fugues of J.S. Bach or the Pièces de clavecin by Couperin are perhaps the most immediately obvious choices. However, the music of Christoph Nichelmann (who is said to have studied with Bach) is equally inspired, and this release is the first step towards a more substantial recording of his oeuvre indeed, it is the first recording solely dedicated to his output. One of a large number of composers whose music faded into obscurity after their death, Nichelmann is at last attracting the scholarly attention he deserves, largely thanks to today's vogue for discovering and promoting lesserknown repertoire.
This recording brings together the two sets of six sonatas from the middle of Nichelmanns life, printed in 1745, and which represent the only two surviving collections of his music. The style of his compositions is intriguing and eclectic: on the one hand we can still hear the heritage of Baroque music, and on the other the development of a more sensitive and expressive language although not quite the bridge to the Classicism which we hear in the music of Bachs son, Carl Philipp Emanuel.