Reviews

British Harpsichord Society
www.harpsichord.org.uk


Fantasia Cromatica, sonates & transcriptions by JS Bach. Yves Rechsteiner - Clavecin a Pedalier
Reviews of Spanish Keyboard music published by Scala Aretina. Reviewed by John Collins
Musica Sor Prendiente del Monasterio de San Pedro de Las Dueñas
The Benton Fletcher Collection at Fenton House
Instruments from the Russell Collection
Macheret

Johann Sebastian Bach
Fantasia Cromatica, sonates & transcriptions
Yves Rechsteiner
Clavecin a Pedalier by Nicolas Macheret

Passionate about Bach and the sound of German harpsichords, Rechsteiner commissioned a double manual harpsichord with separate pedal harpsichord in the North German style from Nicolas Macheret.

For a detailed account of this instrument click here.
The result is this stunning recording of Bach keyboard works and arrangements to suit a rare instrument. There is little surviving evidence of pedal harpsichords to work from and this recreation relied more on the maker's savoir-faire than a minutely detailed copy of a relic. There is certainly documentary evidence to support the existence and use of these instruments in the German repertoire, however alien it may be to the Flemish and French traditions.

There has been much debate in the past over what was "Bach's harpsichord". This makes no claims to be such a beast. It is a creation to explore the possibilities of such an instrument in a historic context. This is no revival harpsichord with a leather plectrumed 16' stop underscoring the principal 8'. It brings out a full clear separate bass voice allowing intricate harmony from both hands.

Combine this with Rechsteiner's scholarship and spine tingling playing and you get one of the most exciting recordings heard for some time. Can't wait for the next one.



Musica Sor Prendiente del Monasterio de San Pedro de Las Dueñas

Luisa Morales - harpsichord

Caskabel s.l. CD-151 Total Time 45mins 32 seconds.

luisacd This CD contains 13 pieces, many of which the Spanish harpsichordist Luisa Morales discovered in the archives of the Monasterio de San Pedro de Las Dueñas in the province of León, Northern Spain. There are sonatas by well-known composers such as Scarlatti and Soler, the others by composers almost unknown except to specialists in the field of 18th century Spanish keyboard music. The harpsichord used is by J Martí- P Yègre after Christian Zell (Hamburg 1728) and is tuned to A = 420 using the Vallotti temperament.

The cover offers little indication of what awaits on the CD- a sombre black with a photograph of the Virgin of the Barrio on the front, and a head-and-shoulders photo of Señora Morales dressed in black against a section of arch on the back, and the titles of the pieces in a miniscule white type. However, the music contained is a far cry in its vivacity and variety from the almost monochrome sombreness of the cover.

The first piece played here is an anonymous Fandango, with only the RH written out in the MS. Luisa Morales supplies the LH using the traditional tonic-dominant sequence, the work unfolding in a progressively exciting manner, not of the scale of Soler, but certainly a good opener for a CD. She continues with a sonata on the 5th Tone Punto Alto (ie D major), the only work known so far by Sebastián Tomás. Added ornamentation and change of manuals brings extra sparkle to this lively piece in 3/8, each section ending with repeated chords as a contrast to the 2-part texture. Following this is an anonymous sonata, also in D, this time in 3 / 4. Also predominantly in 2-part texture, each section contains a contrasting passage with the RH playing at the top of the compass against LH quavers in arpeggiated formation. Again the formal structure is pointed by manual changes. A lively sonata in G by José de Nebra is one of a small number that have survived, and the Gayta Zamorana imitates the sound of bagpipes. There follows a sonata in G (R45) by Soler, and four sonatas by Scarlatti. Luisa Morales takes all of these sonatas at a slower speed than some players, but succeeds rather better at capturing the twists and turns in the harmonies, and imparting greater clarity to the tricky extended semiquaver arpeggios and passages in thirds. K491 in D is based on a bolero rhythm, and its companion K492, although marked Presto, is again taken at a tempo which allows the demisemiquaver runs to appear clearly and with clarity. In sonatas K443 and 429 passages towards the end of the pieces are transposed down an octave to fit the available compass. A sonata on the 6th Tone by Juan Moreno y Polo is in the rhythm of the Jaleo de Jerez, its 3/8 being in semiquaver triplets. Again mainly in 2-parts, there are passages in which the LH plays quaver chords or octaves against the triplets. The most reflective work on the CD is the next piece, sonata in F# minor by Soler, R85. The typical Spanish melodic augmented twice appears at the start of the piece, which contains rhythmic variety and semiquaver passages including both arpeggiated and conjunct movement, sometimes dissolving to just one "voice". To round of this CD we hear the joyful rhythms of the Zapateado in Mateo Albeniz' sonata in D in 6/8.

One criticism is that at 45 minutes the CD is decidedly short by today's standards- several pieces do not include repeats- but here one gets top quality playing from a specialist in this neglected repertoire. In particular the added ornamentation is an object lesson to those who would like to develop an authentic approach to this subject. However, as an introduction to the contemporaries and successors of Scarlatti and Soler this CD fills a noticeable gap most admirably; it is to be hoped that Señora Morales makes further recordings of these composers, who can bear comparison with their better- known peers, perhaps on a copy of an Iberian instrument, although the harpsichord played here certainly has the appropriate Mediterranean attack and rapid decay so necessary to both the teeming invention and wit as well as the contrasts of light and shade in many of these pieces. She has edited and published some of the pieces on this CD for the series Tecla Aragonesa under the auspices of Institución Fernando el Católico, and hopefully will be able to bring more treasures to print for us to be able to share.

For further information on this CD, and to order, either contact Caskabel directly by (as far as I am aware there is no UK distributor) or I shall be delighted to obtain and send a copy within the UK.

John Collins



The Benton Fletcher Collection at Fenton House

 Early Keyboard Instruments

Mimi S Waitzman

Published by National Trust Enterprises Ltd ISBN 0-7078-0353-5 £24.99

fenton This book, with accompanying illustrative CD performed by Terence Charlston, is written to give a thorough and accessible explanation of the instruments, the collection and their collector in context. While it is accessible for the visitor to the house and collection without any specialised prior knowledge, it extends to a great level of detail to satisfy most serious students of early keyboard instruments. The end result is at least as suited for an armchair appraisal as for carrying round the house and will appeal as much to those unable to visit and hear the instruments as to visitors to the collection.

George Henry Benton-Fletcher, a contemporary of Dolmetsch and Galpin, became interested in the performance of early music on period instruments and started collecting at a time when to do so was far from fashionable. He claimed never to have spent more than £20 on an instrument. The great majority of instruments in the original collection were of English manufacture, with the inclusion of some Italian virginals. The acquisition of a Ruckers double, on loan from HM the Queen provides a tonal contrast to the English instruments. The absence of a French instrument limits a full comparison of early keyboard instruments, though the author describes the differences in some detail and the historical place of the different genres.

His interest may well have been encouraged by acquaintance with National Trust founders Octavia Hill and Sir Robert Hunter. In 1937 Benton Fletcher gave the collection and the building that housed it to the National Trust. Onset and aftermath of war necessitated several changes of location for the collection until it settled at Fenton House in Hampstead, London in 1952 where it remains, maintained by the author, mostly in playing order. A condition of the bequest required that the collection would remain available to students for study and practice, although this has to be limited given the massive growth in interest in these instruments.

The introduction provides a detailed account of how harpsichords, clavichords and pianos work with excellent diagrams of mechanisms. The main body of the book has photographs of each instrument showing the layout of keyboard, stops and pedals and other important details. Technical details include compass, current pitch, string length, gauge and pluck point. The text fully describes the features of each instrument and whatever is known of it’s history and maintenance.

The accompanying CD provides a wonderful comparison, not only between the playable instruments but also between styles of music appropriate to the period of individual instruments. Charlston’s playing shows off the potential of each instrument, with full use of all features available. The larger harpsichords are presented with numerous changes of registration demonstrating their full capabilities. While some might argue for a less complex approach, this would miss part of the point of this recording. Indeed it is not common to hear some of the features of late English harpsichords recorded. The notes specify the registrations used in each piece or movement and are helpful in identifying and comparing these. For example it is possible to compare the effect of a Venetian Swell on a 1770 Shudi and Broadwood with a Nags Head Swell on a 1777 Kirckman. Slight drawback is that the CD does not follow the sequence of the book. It helps to annotate the booklet accompanying the CD with the relevant page nos. from the book for each instrument.

The musical repertoire is too extensive to detail here but spans some little known 16th and 17th century keyboard composers, through many of the better known composers of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The selection is well matched to the instruments used.

At £24.99 for a well written and sumptuously illustrated book, including the CD which is well worth owning in its own right, the book is highly recommended.

Orderline +44 (0)1394 389950


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Instruments from the Russell Collection - played by John Kitchen

 John Kitchen Delphian Records Ltd www.delphianrecords.co.uk £12.99 DCD34001

The Russell Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments is one of the most important collections of its kind in the world. From the original Russell bequest of 19 instruments it has continually grown to over 50 instruments and is housed at St Cecilia’s Hall near the centre of Edinburgh, where opening is fairly restricted but the instruments are generally accessible to visitors. St Cecilia’s Hall is closed for refurbishment until 31st July 2003.

From such an extensive collection the CD can only provide a limited representative offering, presented in chronological order from a 1586 Italian Polygonal Virginal to an 1810 English Grand Piano, including a clavichord, spinet, chamber organ and a range of harpsichords, notably the much copied 1769 Taskin double, allegedly the most famous harpsichord in the world. In all, nine instruments are heard out of the total currently playable of 24. For more details of the Russell Collection visit www.music.ed.ac.uk/russell/

In terms of repertoire, John Kitchen plays some pieces from 16th-early 17th century, including the Capriccio cromatico by Merula which vividly demonstrates the chromatic effects of quarter comma meantone, widely used at the time but chromatic passages have a very striking sound from the unevenly spaced semitones, giving each key a distinctive sound. After the first two instruments there is a chronological jump to the 18th century with works from many of the great names of the time and some lesser known ones including Maurice Green and Antoine Forqueray. The final piece by Clementi is played on the Loud Pianoforte of 1810. Generally the nationality of the instrument is linked to the country where the composers worked.

The CD amply displays Kitchen’s talents across the range of instruments and repertoire and makes fascinating listening for early keyboard enthusiasts. John Kitchen is a Senior Lecturer and Organist at Edinburgh University and is a member of several ensembles in addition to his work as soloist accompanist and continuo.

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