1024 J. S. Bach ( ), J. G. Pisendel ( ) Violin Sonata in C minor, BWV 1024 Penelope Spencer David Roblou

Authorship of this C minor Sonata is problematic. Long thought to be by Bach, a copy in what seems to be Pisendel s handwriting leads some to conclude that it might be by Dresden s celebrated Konzertmeister. Baroque violinist Andrew Manze however observes that with nothing of similar quality in the rest of Pisendel s output, the sonata would have had to have been a bolt from the blue. Others argue that pointers such as the structural model and the lie of the violin part suggest Bach. Whatever the case, it s a powerfully disquieting work, the opening Adagio, haunted and haunting, harmonically bent on evoking mystery a mystery subsequently dispelled by the nononsense fugal thrust of a decidedly Bachian Presto, the tender reassurance of the Eb Affetuoso, and the determined Finale with its hint of Polonaise.