C. P. E. Bach Trio Sonatas for Two Violins and Continuo A minor, H582; F, H576; E minor, H577; B flat, H584; D minor, H590. London Baroque (Ingrid Seifert, Richard Ga'tlt, vns; Charles Medlam, ye; Richard Egarr, hpd).

Harmonia Mundi ED ED HMC90 1511 (62 minutes: DDD).

It seems rather difficult to associate C. P. E. Bach, Johann Sebastian's most talented and in some ways most adventurous of composing sons, with a form as deeply rooted in his father's time as the trio sonata -yet he wrote some 25 ofthem during his time at home in Leipzig and then in Berlin in the late 1740s and early 1750s. Some of them look backwards to the more democratic instrumental dialogues of baroque chamber music, while others look forward to the simpler textures of the classical period, but needless to say all are constructed with the craftsmanship we are entitled to expect from a Bach.

London Baroque have made quite a thing of playing the music of Bach's offspring over the last few years and this disc of five sonatas follows on from one of C. P. E. Bach gamba sonatas released in 1992 (1193). Here the limelight is back on the violin pairing of Ingrid Seifert and Richard Gwilt, and as usual they bring to the music a rich and colourful sound quite distinct from that of rival trio sonata groups. But it is what the whole ensemble does which really matters, of course, and they could hardly make a more impressive start to the disc than with the opening of the A minor Sonata, in which an explosive violin line is driven along by throbbing repeated bass notes, a texture that could have come straight out of one of the composer's sparkier symphonies. There is similar energy in the last movement of the E minor Sonata too, dealt with in equally virtuosic fashion. Elsewhere there is more lyrical music to be enjoyed. The first movement of the F major Sonata has elegance and a constantly evolving texture, while the middle movement of the B flat major features an eloquent melody for muted violins (here spiced with a saucy portamento or two), mixed with some exquisitely charming pizzicato passages. And, of course, there are surprises, those moments of startling unorthodoxy that are such a C. P. E. Bach trademark, including a crashing cadence that almost brings things to a complete halt in the F major's slow movement. "C. P. E. Bach Trio Sonatas" probably doesn't look all that promising an album title, but in London Baroque's hands it spells delight. LK