Johann Sebastian Bach

Capriccio sopra la lontananza del fratro dilettissimo BWV 992

In addition to the great cycles such as the English and French Suites, the Goldberg Variations or the Well-Tempered Clavier, Bach also left behind a wealth of individual pieces with a wide variety of titles. For the most part, they date from his early youth and apprenticeship, around the years 1700-1710. The title of the present work - translated 'Capriccio über den Abschied des allerliebsten Bruders' - reveals that this is programmatic, onomatopoeic music of the kind that was very popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the six short and imaginatively headed movements, Bach shows himself from a different side than the usual polyphonic one. The occasion for the piece may have been the departure of his brother Johann Jacob Bach, who entered Swedish service in 1704.