C. P. E. Bach’s Sonaten mit Veränderten Reprisen, Wq 50

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Sonatas with Varied Reprises (published in Berlin, 1760) constituted a bold experiment. Spelling out every repeat, Bach applies to each the art of variation. Starting off as a service (“play this and you’ll sound as if you’re improvising”), the opus ends up a masterclass in variation. Tom Beghin, playing his own beloved clavichord, enacts the role of the keyboardist-composer who repeats himself, while never saying the same thing twice.

Bonus track: third movement from Sonata V in B-flat Major, Tempo di minuetto, reconstructed by Tom Beghin with varied reprises.