The Relationship Between’Empfindsamkeit’ And The Keyboard Sonatas Of C.P.E.Bach

This thesis mainly discusses the relationship between Sentimentalism and the keyboard sonatas of C.P.E. Bach, focusing on those eighteen sonatas selected from Bach’s Works for Experts and Amateurs.The whole thesis is divided into three parts. In the first part, the concept of Sentimentalism is reasonably interpreted on the basis of historical literature. In the second part, those eighteen sonatas are summed up according to their structural characteristics embodied in the "sonata form". Several questions which need to be considered while playing those eighteen sonatas on a modern piano are discussed in the third part; and the relationship between Sentimentalism and the composer’s specific technique is further studied in this part as well. A balance is expected to be found among these three aspects-theory, text analysis and performance practice. Moreover, the reasonableness of the conclusions reached in the first two parts is tested in the third part.