Bach – Canon perpetuus, BWV 1079 (Sigiswald Kuijken, Barthold Kuijken)

From the Old Town Hall, Leipzig, 2000 Kuijken brothers & Robert Kohnen give a live performance of the Musical Offering on historical instruments Barthold Kuijken - transverse flute Sigiswald Kuijken - violin Wieland Kuijken - viola da gamba Robert Kohnen - harpsichord Johann Sebastian Bach - Musical Offering in C minor, BWV 1079 - Canon perpetuus The Kuijken Ensemble, made up of the three Belgian Kuijken brothers on flute, violin and viola da gamba and the harpsichordist Robert Kohnen count among the most distinguished of all present-day early-music specialists. They have long since branched out into conducting and other far-reaching ways of propagating authentic Baroque style. But they are each masters of a different set of instruments, so their occasional reunions for concerts become genuine occasions. With The Musical Offering, played here in a rigorously reduced scoring, they demonstrate their great flair for style and their long-standing experience and although they don’t look at all alike, their shared musical heritage is audible. Bach’s late masterpiece ‘The Musical Offering’ (1747) is a musical homage written on the occasion of Bach’s visit to King Frederick the Great of Prussia in Potsdam.