History of the Pianoforte and Pianoforte Players

A History of the Pianoforte and Pianoforte Players carries the caption Philip Emanuel Bach, as he was in his Hamburg period. A section headed The Galant School says that when Bach died, the musical centre of gravity tended to Germany, but it was doubtful what precise line would be followed.

Philip Emanuel published at his own expense an Essay on the true Method of playing the Clavier in 1753, and the text calls that essay the most copious work on clavier technique that had yet appeared. The work of Philip Emanuel, which gives special attention to the legato, may be called a panegyric on the thumb, and the whole art was built on the thumb, which passed under in the right place. Eduard Risler has an inimitable soft touch and is a pupil of the eminent Parisian master Diémer. The text lists dances, tuneful airs, flowing allemandes, gliding correntes, heavy sarabands and filigree-worked gigues in works where the spirit of Bach strives to utter the very utmost of which it feels itself capable.