Composed in 1763, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Minuet H 171 is a short, elegant piece that perfectly illustrates the composer's distinctive Empfindsamer Stil [sensitive style].

With its seductive and spirited character, this minuet transcends the traditional dance movement of any Baroque suite. The melodic line, carried by a unique articulation and a supple and whimsical phrasing, highlights Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's changing and unpredictable sensibility. The listener, initially surprised, is quickly charmed.

While respecting the traditional form, the composer renews the minuet, making it a refined testimony to the transition between the late Baroque and early Classicism, a sort of missing link between the art of Johann Sebastian Bach and that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Finally, it should be noted that, in our arrangement, the repeats of the minuet have been enriched by discreet diminutions.

Frédéric Cellier

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach is the second surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach and his first wife Maria Barbara Bach.

For almost thirty years, he was harpsichordist at the court of Frederick the Great, then Director Musices in Hamburg. He was nicknamed the “Bach of Berlin” or the “Bach of Hamburg”.

Considered a role model by many musicians of the second half of the 18th century, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was admired by Joseph Haydn (who studied his keyboard works in particular), Mozart (who conducted his oratorio Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu: “The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus” in Vienna in 1788) and Beethoven, who repeatedly asked the publisher Breitkopf to send him works by Carl Philipp Emanuel.

His theoretical treatise “Essai sur la véritable manière de jouer les instruments à clavier”, in two volumes, the first published in 1753, the second in 1762, is probably the most important practical treatise on music written in the 18th century. It is a standard guide to fingering, ornamentation, interpretation, accompaniment and improvisation. By 1780, it had already reached its third edition. It served as the basis for the methods of Muzio Clementi and Cramer.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach is the only son of Johann Sebastian Bach to have had a perfectly successful career: his music was widely disseminated during his lifetime, and he was a wealthy and highly regarded master with an extraordinarily abundant output. He was nicknamed the “Bach of Berlin” or the “Bach of Hamburg”.

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).

He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).

Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, as well as his own arrangements for clarinet and harp of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes with the great French harpist Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, and for clarinet, piano, and string orchestra of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.

Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of light music pieces played around the world and a considerable number of arrangements of all styles and for all instruments, acclaimed by many personalities in the music world, including Michèle Auric, Jean Françaix, Adrian Gershwin, Wynton Marsalis, Yehudi Menuhin, Madeleine Milhaud, Manuel Rosenthal, Gabriel Tacchino, and Ornella Volta.

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation