An artist statement by Vincent van Amsterdam

Their fast penmanship is for me one of the reasons that connect the three composers, Scarlatti, Couperin and C.P.E. Bach. Their lightness in writing feels like they put their improvisations on paper. With such inspiration, with such great ‘inventio’, you are compelled to listen further.

Scarlatti’s music goes back to my youth and is a central part of my musical career. His pieces have great energy and sprit, full of bravoure and he doesn’t shy away from raw virtuosity. His ‘in-between/pre-classical’ style gives him a lot of freedom and he is not afraid to experiment on the keyboard and try out new technical and harmonical possibilities. It is difficult to choose from the more than 500 sonates, but I knew that in any case, I wanted to include K.87 and K.386, two pieces with widely different characters.

Les Rozeaux by Couperin was also a given from an early start in making this CD. A small gem with the relaxing sloshing water in the left hand, and the right hand roaming free as a small songbird. The other pieces from Couperin all have inspiring and theatrical names that tickle the imagination. These warm and soothing pieces of one of the great composers and teachers from Paris nicely compliment the other two composers. His teachings and books are highly admired by all, including C.P.E., and his light and colourful writing gives a nice contrast to the firmer German and the more spirited Italian style. A triangle of musical inspiration; Berlin, Paris and Madrid.

After the great succes of the Goldberg CD, I began thinking about a follow-up. In 2022 my ear and eye fell on the music of C.P.E. Bach. I was immediately captivated by his Fantasia in F sharp minor, a piece of music that has so many surprises in harmonies and has a great texture, almost like a theatrical monologue. The Wurtemburger sonate, written around the same time as the Goldberg Variations in 1741-42, sounds at times a bit like Haydn or Mozart, but in his Fantasia and his La Follia, C.P.E.’s own style ‘Sturm und Drang’ is fully developed. This style has so much temperament and colour that you can hear a clear line towards Beethoven or Mendelssohn.

For me, this CD is about experimenting, finding the edge of the ‘rules’, and going over them. All three composers have their own sound and style, but all were not afraid to experiment and find new ways to express themselves and be very bold in the execution afterwards.