Peter Holtslag's affinity with original woodwind instruments is well-known at Aeolus : on his CD Awakening Princesses (AE-10186), he kissed numerous original 18th century recorders out of their museum-slumber. On the transverse flute, too, Holtslag remains faithful to himself : on the present CD, Bachs famous b minor sonata (BWV 1030) can be heard on an original instrument by Johann August Crone, made in Leipzig in the early 18th century.

With Bach, the obligato harpsichord parts in the sonatas are of equal level to the flute and Holtslag's partner, Ketil Haugsand, performs his role masterly on a harpsichord after Michael Mietke (we know Bach used Mietke's instruments).

Apart from BWV 1030 and 1032, there are no autographs and the authorship and sources of BWV 1020, 1031 and 1033 isn't always clear - Holtslag doesn't leave us in the dark and lifts a veil here and there in his informative booklet text.

All Bach Sonatas for Obligato Harpsichord and a Solo Instrument form a small series within the Aeolus label catalogue, the flute sonatas being the last CD after previous releases of the Viol Sonatas (Zipperling/Bauer, AE-10206) and Violin Sonatas (Höbart/Häkkinen, AE-10236). The choices of instruments and of recording technique follow Bach's principle of emancipation of both instruments - not self-evident even in 2016...