Lennart Axelsson, 'Minuet in G' (Johann Sebastian Bach)

Lennart Axelsson (1941) is a Swedish trumpet player who has spent a good part of his career in Germany. Born and raised in Sweden, he began his career in a Swedish armed forces band. Disillusioned with military life, he quit to become a full-time musician, playing with various jazz bands in Sweden. In the early 1970s, he moved to Zürich, Switzerland to take a job in the big band of Swiss radio station Schweizer Radio DRS. In 1974, he joined the James Last Orchestra. He was one of the featured trumpet soloists on Last's 1975 album 'In The Mood For Trumpets', along with Rick Kiefer and Ack van Rooyen; this was notable as Last's record company Polydor usually did not credit the individual personnel on Last's studio recordings. In 1979, Axelsson left the Last band and joined the NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk, or North German Radio) big band, where he eventually became the featured trumpet soloist. He retired from the NDR band in 2005.

He plays the 'Minuet in G', BWV 114, from the 'Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach'.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer, virtuoso organist, harpsichordist, music teacher, conductor and choirmaster of the late Baroque period. He is considered one of the greatest composers of all time.

Anna Magdalena Bach (1701-1760) was a professional singer and the second wife of Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote two manuscript notebooks for her, which were published as one, the 'Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach'. Keyboard music (minuets, rondeaux, polonaises, chorales, sonatas, preludes, musettes, marches, gavottes) makes up most of the notebook, and a few pieces for voice (songs and arias) are included.
The Notebook provides a glimpse into the domestic music of the 18th century and the musical tastes of the Bach family.

Life must have been difficult for Anna Magdalena. When she entered the Bach household, she gave birth almost every year for 13 years. Seven of her offsprings did not survive, but her surviving children included their celebrated son, Johann Christian, who was described as 'the apple of Bach's eye and his favorite pupil'. Moreover, the Bach house was a musical hub in Leipzig at the time, and many guests frequented the house. Not only did the lady of the house prepare to take care of her guests' wellbeing during their visits, she also organized numerous musical evenings for the family and visitors.

As a professional singer in the Cöthen Court Chapel between 1721 and 1723, performing alongside her husband, she helped garner almost half of the household annual income, earning 200 thalers at first, which was then increased to 300 thalers subsequently, granted by the Prince. Her role in Johann Sebastian's life also involved being his copyist, preparing fair copies of most of his vast musical work.

With views of Leipzig, Germany.

Recorded in the album 'Trompeten-Träume (Trumpet Dreams) - The Golden Trumpet' (2006).

Видео Lennart Axelsson, 'Minuet in G' (Johann Sebastian Bach) канала Alex Suzano