Barry Murray wrote:

>Greetings to the List.  I have two recordings of this work.  One is played
>on flute and harpsichord, the other is played on viola da gamba and
>harpsichord.  For which instruments was this piece originally composed?

The work was originally composed for the organ (ca.  1730).  From the set
of 6 (BWV 529 is numbered as 5 in the set) it is believed, according to
different sources, the first four may have had their origins as chamber
works but that the last two were probably composed specifically for organ.
According to Forkel's biography on Bach (actually a selection of the
biography used in liner notes by Christoph Wolff) the works were composed
for Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann.  The only certainty regarding the
origins of the first 4 trios is that the 4th trio (e minor-my favorite of
the set) was derived from the sinfonia to the cantata BWV 76.  The adagio
of the 3rd sonata recurs in the Triple Concerto in A minor(BWV 1044).

To be honest, I've read much of the Forkel biography(or different versions
of it) as well as biographies by other authors.  I don't know what percent
is fact or just accepted as fact and what is throwaway.  I remember reading
in the liner notes of The Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook (Elektra/Nonesuch)
where it says, "With the exception of William Shakespeare, we probably know
less about the private life of Johann Sebastian Bach than we do about that
of any other supreme artistic figures of modern history." -Robert L.
Marshall

Try the rest of the set if you haven't already.  I believe you'll enjoy it
very much.

--Wes Crone