"We are delighted to see your interest in this recording of J. S. Bachs flute sonatas with obbligato harpsichord. It may seem surprising that we decided to present these particular works, given the wealth of existing recordings, but we believe we have very good reasons for doing so. I have always been fascinated by Bachs flute sonatas; they have always provided a measure of my abilities in terms of sound, style, expression, and ensemble. I have had very different experiences with the sonatas on many occasions, so it was a great pleasure for me to study the sonatas once again at a fundamental level. I then spent a great deal of time working through the various ideas that occurred to me during this process: these were fundamentally related to interpretation, but also included such external concerns as the choice of instrument, the pitch used, the completion of a work (BWV 1032) and the reconstruction of others (BWV 525a and BWV 1031). All of these factors influenced our choice of title in their own way. Toucher Bach: for us this means working towards the inner core of the music, towards the mutually supportive network of voices that ensures the stability of the counterpoint in an artistic form.