Trio Maurice Bourgue J. HAYDN / W.F. BACH / C.P.E. BACH Trios for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano

Keyboard trios scored for oboe and bassoon instead of the usual strings are rare in the chamber repertory, especially in the 18th century. Only the Dresden composer Johann Gottlieb Naumann is known to have written six sonatinas for oboe, bassoon and keyboard instrument, and even these are an arrangement of his quartets for harpsichord and strings. In Hamburg in around 1775 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach did, however, write “Six Little Sonatas for Clavier, B flat Clarinet and Bassoon”, while the young Beethoven – at that date still living in Bonn – composed a Trio for flute, bassoon and keyboard. These historical prototypes have inspired Maurice Bourgue and Sergio Azzolini to work together on the present release. Joseph Haydn’s London keyboard trios for violoncello, flute and keyboard are heard here in arrangements for oboe, bassoon and keyboard, while the second part of the programme features arrangements of sonatas by Bach’s two oldest sons, here transcribed as trios for winds and keyboard.