Johann Bernhard Bach Orchestersuite Nr. 2

Johann Bernhard Bach the elder (1676–1749), a grandson of the Erfurt organist Johann Bach, succeeded his uncle Johann Christoph as town organist of Eisenach. At the same time he was employed by the Eisenach Court Kapelle, for which he wrote "many beautiful ouvertures in the style of Telemann". Four of these works were in J.S. Bach's music library: these elegant compositions bear witness to Johann Bernhard Bach's skill in writing in the French orchestral style. Personal details

Hermann Max studied church music at the Berlin Musikhochschule, and musicology, art history and archaeology at Cologne University . His work together with his ensembles has focussed primarily on European music of the 17th to 19th centuries. Many concerts and broadcasts on Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne have concentrated on works not only by Johann Sebastian Bach himself, but above all, as in the present CD, on works by members of his family, his pupils and contemporaries, his predecessors and successors in office. Thus, this represents an important contribution to the rediscovery of Bach and his musical surroundings. Hermann Max is active as a guest conductor in Germany and elsewhere, and regularly he teaches courses in the interpretation of early music. With his ensembles he performs throughout Europe, in the USA and Israel. In 1991 he was offered the position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, but he did not accept it. In 1998 he was awarded the Telemann Prize of the town of Magdeburg for “outstanding service in the interpretation, cultivation and research into the life and work of Georg Philipp Telemann.” Since 1991 Hermann Max has been the artistic director of the annual Early Music Festival at Knechtsteden. Personal details

Hermann Max studied church music at the Berlin Musikhochschule, and musicology, art history and archaeology at Cologne University . His work together with his ensembles has focussed primarily on European music of the 17th to 19th centuries. Many concerts and broadcasts on Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne have concentrated on works not only by Johann Sebastian Bach himself, but above all, as in the present CD, on works by members of his family, his pupils and contemporaries, his predecessors and successors in office. Thus, this represents an important contribution to the rediscovery of Bach and his musical surroundings. Hermann Max is active as a guest conductor in Germany and elsewhere, and regularly he teaches courses in the interpretation of early music. With his ensembles he performs throughout Europe, in the USA and Israel. In 1991 he was offered the position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, but he did not accept it. In 1998 he was awarded the Telemann Prize of the town of Magdeburg for “outstanding service in the interpretation, cultivation and research into the life and work of Georg Philipp Telemann.” Since 1991 Hermann Max has been the artistic director of the annual Early Music Festival at Knechtsteden. Personal details