Mozart in Birmingham

In music that is just 30 years apart, we see a snapshot of a changing world – a bridge between the Baroque period of Johann Sebastian Bach (father of CPE and JC) and the Classical era of Mozart. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach is often cited as being on the cusp of this transition but his own individual style is to the fore in these two original and inventive works from his 30 years in Berlin. His half-brother, Johann Christian (the 18^th of the Bach siblings) wrote his Sinfonia Concertante at the height of his career and was influential over a young Mozart who met and played for him in London. Finally, Mozart’s C major Symphony, his last before leaving Salzburg for the thrills of Vienna, has a real spring in its step. A bright and breezy opening movement leads to a delightfully elegant Andante and a fleet-footed tarantella that positively dances along to the end.