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Against the odds: pandemic early choral music, Early Music, Volume 49, Issue 3, August 2021, Page 327, https://doi.org/10.1093/em/caab059
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In the shadow of the iconic Tower Bridge in London, the Bridge Theatre (one of the capital’s newest) re-opened its doors in summer 2021 with the premiere of Nina Raine’s play, Bach & Sons. The tension between old and new manifested in the contrast of the gleaming, glass-fronted theatre building and the fraying domesticity of the Bach family home portrayed on stage initiated a dialogue of contrasts and unlikely congruities that continued throughout the production. In scenes strangely familiar from recent experiences of families in lockdown, Johann Sebastian Bach (played by the musically as well as dramatically talented Simon Russell Beale) is shown struggling to keep up with his work deadlines, while his older sons Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel squabble for his attention to their composition lessons. In the background, the sounds of Maria Barbara attempting to soothe a crying infant add to the aural chaos.
Both Wilhelm and Carl are depicted as young men rebelling against the old rules—as represented by their father—though each has taken a different musical path to the new. What the playwright characterizes as Carl’s diligent, if workaday, style ultimately triumphs over his brother’s inspired but troubled creativity; both sons remain resentful of their father’s evident dislike of their compositions.
