Lavishly decorated, melodically and rhythmically erratic, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s keyboard music speaks of that period between the Baroque and Classical periods when music was volatile and experimental. CPE’s music was lauded in its day, inspiring the next generation of composers.

Russian early music specialist Alexei Lubimov has developed a program of keyboard works, exploring the composer’s rich and extravagant personality.

Featured on this disc is the tangent piano, a rare instrument with greater dynamic range than the earlier harpsichord, and with stops combining the effects of the harpsichord, clavichord, fortepiano, and harp. Lubimov notes there wasn’t just one keyboard instrument in use in CPE’s time, and uses the rich tone and colour possibilities of the tangent...