The Bach Family Circle
Music for oboe and harpsichord. Acclaimed historical oboe player Geoffrey Burgess and harpsichordist Ann Murphy have compiled an exploration of the hypothetical voice of the lost Bach oboe.
The oboe was intimately linked with the Bach family in a number of ways. This innovative and imaginative CD draws a musical link between Bach, his contemporaries and relatives, through arrangements and compositions for solo oboe and harpsichord.
"...perhaps Bach simply never met an oboist to meet the intellectual challenges of the mature chamber idiom. Had he heard Geoffrey Burgess he would surely have changed his mind."
Harold Love, Recorder and Early Music
Press quotes
“Burgess, an acknowledged master of the baroque oboe, does not disappoint. The 'quacking duck' sound of the badly played instrument is here transformed into a swan in flight.”
— Kim Lockwood, Herald Sun
“delights with crisp, articulate and impeccably-phrased baroque oboe music.”
— The Sunday Mail
“Burgess and Ann Murphy are scintillating”
— Andrew Scott, The Sunday Age
“perhaps Bach simply never met an oboist to meet the intellectual challenges of the mature chamber idiom. Had he heard Geoffrey Burgess he would surely have changed his mind.”
— Harold Love, Recorder and Early Music
Artists

Ann Murphy
Ann teaches harpsichord and thorough bass at the University of Melbourne, and has given numerous recitals in Australia both as a soloist and in ensemble, and has recorded for the ABC.
Audio preview
Track Listing
- [Opening]
- Siciliano
- Presto
- Gigue
- Arioso: Adagio. Ist eine Schmeichelung der Freunde, um denselben von seiner Reise abzuhalten.
- Ist eine Vorstellung unterschiedlicher Casuum, die ihm in Fremde könnten vorfallen
- Adagissimo. Ist ein allgemeines Lamento der Freunde
- Allhier kommen die Freunde, weil sie doch sehen, dass es anders nicht sein kann, und nehmen Abschied.
- Aria d Postiglione. Allegro poco.
- Fuga all'imitazione delle cornetta di postiglione.
- [Allegro]
- Adagio
- Allegro
- Andante
- Allegro
- Tempo guisto
- Vivace
- Allegro
- Adagio
- Allegro
- Vivace
Sonata in G minor, BWV 1035 Johann Sebastian Bach
Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo, BWV 992 Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonata in G minor, BWV 1020 Johann Sebastian Bach
Continuation des Sonates Methodiques: Methodische Sonata No. 4 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
"Hobo Solo" in G minor, H 549 Georg Philipp Telemann
Performers
- Geoffrey Burgess · baroque oboe
- Ann Murphy
Composers

Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 – 1788) was a German classical period musician and composer. He was a crucial composer in the transition between the baroque and classical periods, and one of the founders of the classical style, composing in the rococo and classical periods.

Georg Philipp Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes.
Where to listen
The Bach Family Circle is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
The Bach Family Circle is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MD 3202
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Recording Engineer
- Vaughan McAlley
- Venue
- Move Records Studio
- Release date
- 1998
- Musical work
copyright - © 1998 Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 1998 Move Records
- Categories
- Baroque, Classical
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574320220
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