J.S. Bach: a la francaise

Johann Wilhelm Hertel is one of the lesser-known composers of the late baroque and early classical era. Born in Eisenach in 1727, as a young man he travelled to the north of Germany with his father, who was a viola da gamba virtuoso engaged as a Kapellmeister at the court of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His oboes concertos are exemplary compositions of these times. The autographs, which are preserved in the Library of the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels (Sig. No. B-Bc5562 and B-Bc-5563), together contain 10 oboe concertos in various keys. Nine of them are collected (and numbered by librarians) in Sig. No. B-Bc-5562, and one is separately placed as B-Bc-5563. As there is no catalogue of Hertel's works, the numbers given for the concertos are taken from the manuscript Sig. No. B-Bc-5562. Some of the pieces are dated 1749 (Concertos Nos. 3 and 9) and others 1756 (Concerto No.2). All the concertos were prepared for this recording by Katarzyna Pilipiuk, copying with a focus on accuracy; only minor mistakes were corrected so as to give the most faithful transmission of the composer's ideas. Other information: ● Recorded March 2023 in Kraków, Poland ● Pilipiuk plays a Baroque oboe by Randall Cook (2019), after Jonathan Bradbury (c.1720) ● Booklet in English contains liner notes by the artist, and biographies of her and of the ensemble