Twenty newly imagined Baroque concertos place a potentially caffeinated Bach at Zimmermann’s coffeehouse in Leipzig: alert, exacting, witty, and completely absorbed in the Collegium Musicum.

The oboe leads this collection, supported by strings and continuo. Bassoon and harpsichord frequently step into the light, while the occasional flute changes the color of the ensemble. These are quick works, but never breathless ones. Their motion remains nimble and jaunty, with the contemplative weight, contrapuntal tension, and angular turns associated with Bach at his most concentrated.

Zimmermann’s coffeehouse hosted Leipzig’s Collegium Musicum, which Bach directed during much of the 1730s. This collection speculates on the instrumental music that might have animated those evenings, when public performance, conversation, and coffee occupied the same room.

These are original speculative compositions created for the Hypothetical Bach series. They are not rediscovered works by Johann Sebastian Bach, and no historical attribution is intended.

TRACK LIST
00:00 1. D Minor: Allegro moderato, “Der Abendspaziergang”
03:09 2. G Major: Allegro
05:42 3. B-flat Major: Allegro
07:34 4. D Minor: Allegro
10:01 5. F Minor: Allegro
12:25 6. F Major: Allegro moderato
14:43 7. D Minor: Allegro moderato
16:42 8. F-sharp Minor: Allegro moderato
18:36 9. B Minor: Allegro moderato
20:34 10. F Major: Allegro
22:23 11. C Minor: Moderato
24:16 12. D Minor: Allegro
26:52 13. C-sharp Minor: Allegro moderato
29:15 14. C-sharp Minor: Allegro
31:54 15. D Minor: Allegro
34:18 16. E-flat Minor: Allegro
37:00 17. D Minor: Allegro
39:19 18. G-sharp Minor: Allegro
41:48 19. D Minor: Vivace
43:28 20. D Minor: Allegro moderato

Concept, musical direction, selection, editing, sequencing, and visual design by Lorephonic Music. Generative technology assisted with the instrumental realization.

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