Your feelings on the harpsichord?

Kuhlau · Post by **Kuhlau** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:04 pm

Something Cliftwood said in another thread has prompted me to start a new one (though I'm sure this topic will have been discussed here before) to ask members about their feelings on hearing harpsichord music.

Many, I know, are avowed harpsichord haters. Some dislike the sound so much that you wouldn't let them near a concert venue where a harpsichord was playing for fear that they'd sneak in round the back and onto the stage to smash up the instrument in front of a shocked player and audience. But others rather like the sound, despite its limited range, and it's in this group that I count myself.

For me, it has a lot do with the individual instrument, the skill of the harpsichordist, and the recording or performance venue. If all three are just right, then I'm a happy bunny indeed. Get any of these factors even slightly wrong, and the sound of a harpsichord will have me recoiling in horror. (As an aside, these same criteria I apply to my enjoyment - or otherwise - of the organ).

What about you? How does the harpsichord make you feel? Love it? Loathe it? Tell us all.

FK

Post by **Lance** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:33 pm

For me, initially, I was not an avid fan of the instrument. It wasn't until I heard Landowska perform on her cast-iron framed and custom-made PLEYEL instruments that I took a liking to the instrument. Then, when I became the piano technician for the State University, I had three harpsichords to keep in tune and maintain, two Italian type (single manual) and one French type (two manual). From then on, I developed a special love for the instrument.

moldyoldie · Post by **moldyoldie** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:44 pm

Paraphrasing:

"A harpsichord sounds like two skeletons copulating on a corrugated tin roof in the rain."
-Sir Thomas Beecham

Probably 'nuff said from me, though I can stand the occasional continuo.

Post by **Lance** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:51 pm

I remember a fine old Nonesuch LP of Domenico Scarlatti sonatas performed by Luciano Sgrizzi. In a word, it was fabulous! Remember Sgrizzi? I think, nevertheless, I still prefer to hear my Scarlatti on the piano performed by the likes of Mr. Horowitz.

moldyoldie · Post by **moldyoldie** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:01 pm

Lance wrote:...Sgrizzi...

Almost sounds like a harpsichord. Whadda they call that, onomatopoeia?

(Sorry.)

Mark Harwood · Post by **Mark Harwood** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:03 pm

It would be nice to hear the continuo played on a lute or a lautenwerk sometimes. I'm not sure that the harpsichord's lack of dynamics is always overcome satisfactorily in Baroque chamber music.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:10 pm

Kuhlau wrote:What about you? How does the harpsichord make you feel? Love it? Loathe it? Tell us all.

FK

I'm reserving comment; partly because I don't think the harpsichord has really been "imaged" properly in a lot of the recordings I have heard; partly because in my own experience performing with a harpsichord (not all that often, to be sure), I have really liked the instrument; and partly because a musician friend of mine whose better acquaintance I am making specializes in the instrument.

Cheers,
~Karl

Post by **Lance** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:41 pm

It is fascinating what time does to some performance practices and musical thoughts of the past. I mentioned Wanda Landowska, the high priestess of the harpsichord, who is given credit for resurrecting interest in the harpsichord during the early part of the 20th century. Today, she is considered passé because she didn't use period instruments in her performances or recordings of "antique music," i.e., lightly-strung instruments, with no cast iron plate. One of her students, Rafael Puyana, also used these cast iron-plate instruments (I guess he actually used both). Her custom-made Pleyel instruments produced a richer and stronger sonority thus providing more dynacism, as you would expect. Another Landowska student and harpsichordist, Igor Kipnis, tended to use period-type instruments, such as his Rutkowski & Robinette facsimile. It was a gorgeous instrument that I prepared for him for the Poulenc Harpsichord Concerto. Still, for me, Landowska remains the "high priestess of the harpsichord."

Imperfect Pitch · Post by **Imperfect Pitch** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:57 pm

Moderation is key.

arglebargle · Post by **arglebargle** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 8:56 pm

I have a rather pleasant William Byrd "The Complete Keyboard Music" set from Hyperion that includes much enjoyable harpsichording by Davitt Moroney.

Post by **Lance** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:10 pm

No question, but where does one draw the line on "moderation?" Does one use the cast-iron plated Pleyel for harpsichord music OR the lightly strung reproduction of the original?

Imperfect Pitch wrote:Moderation is key.

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:43 pm

I have hundreds of Harpsichord CD's, I play one each day, sure some can be unbelievably loud and intrusive but if you can find the right discs it is Seventh Heaven, I second the Byrd Box as well as My Layde Neville's Booke, plus of course Scott Ross's Scarlatti traversal, i'm on disc seventeen at the moment in fact, I must have played thru the 33 discs twenty times or more, i'm not a big Landowska fan but the likes of Kenneth Gilbert, Gustav Leonhardt, Christophe Rousset, Pierre Hantai, Skip Sempe, Trevor Pinnock and many others make beautiful music, just try Richard Eggar's recent Purcell disc, wonderful stuff...and then there is Bach of course...

Post by **Lance** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 12:48 am

Never been a Byrd fan ... Byrd is for the birds! Teasing, of course, but Byrd is not for me. I'm really surprised you don't like Landowska since she really brought back the harpsichord. She never made any stereophonic recordings, all monos, some very old, but some remasterings have given her interpretations new life. I think she plays a great Bach WTC, both books, and the Goldbergs.

Chalkperson wrote:I have hundreds of Harpsichord CD's, I play one each day, sure some can be unbelievably loud and intrusive but if you can find the right discs it is Seventh Heaven, I second the Byrd Box as well as My Layde Neville's Booke, plus of course Scott Ross's Scarlatti traversal, i'm on disc seventeen at the moment in fact, I must have played thru the 33 discs twenty times or more, i'm not a big Landowska fan but the likes of Kenneth Gilbert, Gustav Leonhardt, Christophe Rousset, Pierre Hantai, Skip Sempe, Trevor Pinnock and many others make beautiful music, just try Richard Eggar's recent Purcell disc, wonderful stuff...and then there is Bach of course...

John F · Post by **John F** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:05 am

It's just another instrument. The player and the playing matter more to me than the hardware. I still listen to Wanda Landowska's versions of the Goldberg Variations with pleasure, though her Pleyel harpsichord isn't historically correct, and can enjoy the Goldbergs on the piano as well, depending on who's playing. Of course there's a wide range of sound among harpsichords, and I like the sound of the Thomas Goff instrument(s) that George Malcolm used to play.

Post by **Lance** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:19 am

John Francis, you continue to amaze me with your knowledge, even of makes of harpsichords! From whence did you acquire all this information? Or is it all simply "of interest?" Landowska's Pleyels may have been historically improper, but so is the piano. If you are talking about actual instruments, of course hers were not in keeping with the sound of the music at the time it was written when compared to a period instrument. I don't think harpsichords had 16' stops in those early days.

John F wrote:It's just another instrument. The player and the playing matter more to me than the hardware. I still listen to Wanda Landowska's versions of the Goldberg Variations with pleasure, though her Pleyel harpsichord isn't historically correct, and can enjoy the Goldbergs on the piano as well, depending on who's playing. Of course there's a wide range of sound among harpsichords, and I like the sound of the Thomas Goff instrument(s) that George Malcolm used to play.

John F · Post by **John F** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 2:13 am

I believe Landowska more or less designed the Pleyel instrument she played, and it's in any event made to order for her style of playing, with the lower octave extension of the 16 foot stop and frequent changes of color. If you listen to her 1930s recording of the Italian Concerto, she goes for a really massive sound on one manual for the "orchestra" and a contrasting delicate sound on the other for the solo. And her highly colored Scarlatti made even the stylish recordings of Ralph Kirkpatrick sound rather plain.

As somebody pointed out, if the Pleyel isn't the "authentic" instrument for Baroque music, it definitely is for the music composed for Landowska, such as Poulenc's "Concert Champêtre" and Falla's concerto. Which I suppose are played nowadays on Baroque-style instruments, when played at all.

Lance wrote:is it all simply "of interest?"

Sure. There's far more difference in the sound of two harpsichords than two violins or two whole orchestras, and the player's choice of instrument is arguably the most crucial interpretive decision he/she can make, and certainly the first one. And the same goes for listening - if you don't like the sound of Landowska's harpsichord, it's hard to listen "through" it to her other interpretive ideas. For those of us who grew up with Landowska in our ears, that's not so much of a problem, but I'm sure it's an important reason she's rarely spoken of nowadays. More's the pity.

Imperfect Pitch · Post by **Imperfect Pitch** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:13 am

Lance wrote:where does one draw the line on "moderation?"

Um, for me it's about 10 minutes at a time, maybe once every leap year :-) I actually took some harpsichord lessons in college, but I still find it hard to listen to the instrument for any appreciable length of time, at least when it's solo. I like it better as continuo.

On a related tangent, I've found that, among those who are not "into" classical music, certain instruments are almost universally well-liked (e.g., cello), while others send people scrambling for the exits. The harpsichord, perhaps by virtue of its dynamic limitations and - some would say - jarring timbre, seems to fall into the the latter bucket most of the time.

diegobueno · Post by **diegobueno** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:43 am

What's so "jarring" about the sound of the harpsichord? It's a beautiful instrument, with a rich variety of tone colors.

During the last round of harpsichord-bashing on this board, which was only a month or so ago, for Christs sake, I offered to send a recording of Pachelbel's Hexachordum Apollonis played by Marga Scheurich on a particularly lovely-sounding harpsichord to anyone who sends me a PM including their address. I think it's time to renew that offer.

piston · Post by **piston** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:05 am

Very much love Frank Martin's use of the harpsichord, his petite symphonie concertante and harpsichord concerto. In the former work, he placed the harpsichord and the harp respectively to the left and the right of the conductor, with the piano located further back between two string orchestras. While the harpsichord carries much of the theme, the harp and piano share an "important accompanying figuration." The work blends baroque and classical principles and, yet, is initiated by a twelve-tone idea which Frank develops with a great deal of finesse. The harpsichord here serves to draw fresh sounds from old styles.

Similarly, the Concerto for harpsichord displays a very intimate orchestration, restrained in number and without the trombone, along with a prudent use of strings. Martin wrote of the initial idea, or theme, "The undulating sequence of six quarter-notes which dominates the first movement was dictated by the steady rocking of the waves heard at the place on the shore of the North Sea where I began [the Concerto]."
Martin frequently played the harpsichord himself. His friend, Ernest Ansermet commented: "he does not go back to the models of past centuries" but "speaks his own language through the instrument and finds in it resources particularly suited for his style."

Highly recommended works.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:20 am

diegobueno wrote:. . . a recording of Pachelbel's Hexachordum Apollonis played by Marga Scheurich on a particularly lovely-sounding harpsichord . . . .

I've been rather jaded to Pachelbel for so long, hearing him in a favorable light is strongly indicated.

Thanks for the offer, Mark!

Cheers,
~Karl

diegobueno · Post by **diegobueno** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:40 am

karlhenning wrote:
diegobueno wrote:. . . a recording of Pachelbel's Hexachordum Apollonis played by Marga Scheurich on a particularly lovely-sounding harpsichord . . . .
I've been rather jaded to Pachelbel for so long, hearing him in a favorable light is strongly indicated.

Thanks for the offer, Mark!

Cheers,
~Karl

You always have to separate the person from the hype, especially posthumous hype. Pachelbel still suffers from the sudden popularity during the 1970s of his little canon, and all the new-age variants it has engendered. Hexachordum Apollinis (I misspelled the title earlier) is not great music, but it's good music, and when I'm in the mood for it, nothing else will do. It consists of 6 sets of variations, one for each string of Apollo's lyre. There's also a Chaconne in F minor on the disc, which rings some interesting changes on the traditional 1-7-6-5 bass line.

It's funny. I bought that recording some time in the mid 70s on the basis of an ad that went something like "You mean you've heard Pachelbel's Canon in D and you haven't gone on a Pachelbel binge yet??"

Imperfect Pitch · Post by **Imperfect Pitch** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:53 am

diegobueno wrote:What's so "jarring" about the sound of the harpsichord?

I dunno, it's a bit clangy for my tastes. But, more to the point, those with no classical background - who have no preconceived biases for or against the harpsichord, and may not even know it by name - seem to find it especially grating for some reason. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, though ... if others like it, that's fine with me.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:56 am

Imperfect Pitch wrote:But, more to the point, those with no classical background - who have no preconceived biases for or against the harpsichord, and may not even know it by name - seem to find it especially grating for some reason.

Not in my experience, that is not the case at all.

Au contraire, far the greater number of occasions, the Beecham bon mot is quoted as somehow 'explaining' it all.

Cheers,
~Karl

Imperfect Pitch · Post by **Imperfect Pitch** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:06 am

karlhenning wrote:Not in my experience, that is not the case at all.

I will admit, on most days I do prefer the harpsichord to the harp or flute ... just to keep things in perspective.

johnQpublic · Post by **johnQpublic** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:16 am

"Your feelings on the harpsichord?"

Gee,

, I guess my feelings are the same whether I'm

on the harpsichord, on the sofa or even standing up.

But seriously, I don't find it "jarring" but rather pleasantly a combo of "jingle-jangle". I own plenty of harpsichord recordings and have survived hearing them all. Today I played for one class a harpsichord recording of a Bach WTC fugue and as is usually the case, half of them liked the harpsichord's sonorities and half disliked it.

diegobueno · Post by **diegobueno** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:27 am

Imperfect Pitch wrote:
I dunno, it's a bit clangy for my tastes. But, more to the point, those with no classical background - who have no preconceived biases for or against the harpsichord, and may not even know it by name - seem to find it especially grating for some reason. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, though ... if others like it, that's fine with me.

Actually, I think resistance to the harpsichord comes mostly from people with classical training who have learned to expect that when someone presses a key on a keyboard instrument a piano sound must always come out, from pianists who have invested long hours in practicing Bach and Scarlatti on the piano, and so have formed an indelible sound image of this music with a piano sound, and feel disoriented in a situation where the fingering and articulation techniques they learned in this music no longer apply.

My first exposure to the harpsichord may have come from its use by the rock group The Left Banke, which I heard at an age when my musical training was not particularly sophisticated. I just thought it sounded cool.

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:01 pm

Imperfect Pitch wrote:
karlhenning wrote:Not in my experience, that is not the case at all.
I will admit, on most days I do prefer the harpsichord to the harp or flute ... just to keep things in perspective.

I'm listening to Bach's Flute Sonatas right now, Emmanuel Pahud on Flute and Trevor Pinnock on Harpsichord, beautiful recordings...

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:27 pm

diegobueno wrote:My first exposure to the harpsichord may have come from its use by the rock group The Left Banke, which I heard at an age when my musical training was not particularly sophisticated. I just thought it sounded cool.

There were some great records with Harpsichords on them back in the day...I always remember an LP by Roy Harper, he was a friend of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, the LP was called Flat, Baroque and Beserk...

Guitarist · Post by **Guitarist** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 2:01 pm

I'd like to recommend Olga Martynova's recordings on the Caro Mitis label. She's Russia's leading harpsichordist, and for good reason! She has tremendous technique, plays with great passion, and records interesting repertoire. All that combined with extraordinary sound, and you have quite a winning CD!

http://www.caromitis.com/eng/performers/martynova.html

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 2:13 pm

Chalkperson wrote:There were some great records with Harpsichords on them back in the day...

Ian Underwood snapped some plectra for Zappa on the Uncle Meat album.

Cheers,
~Karl

Imperfect Pitch · Post by **Imperfect Pitch** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 2:17 pm

Chalkperson wrote:I'm listening to Bach's Flute Sonatas right now, Emmanuel Pahud on Flute and Trevor Pinnock on Harpsichord, beautiful recordings... :D

Lovely, all we need now is fingernails against a chalkboard to round things out :-) Just kidding Chalkie, glad you're enjoying it ...

Steinway · Post by **Steinway** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 3:33 pm

I have heard endless numbers of harpsichordists play the instrument over my many years. I've heard Landowska live, Kipnis live, and others too numerous to mention in live performances. I have a large collection of Bach & Scarlatti recordings played by outstanding artists, so it's not my lack of exposure that led me to the conclusion that the harpsichord is an interesting and at one time, vitally important vehicle for keyboard music but is aninstrument sorely lacking in essential dimensions vs. the modern piano.

I do respect those who feel differently, but for my sensitive musical ear, give me my Scarlatti & Bach on a Steinway every time.

I've said this before, but I really believe that if the modern piano existed in the 17th Century, it would have been the instrument of choice by the Baroque composers of the time.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 4:42 pm

Cliftwood wrote:I have heard endless numbers of harpsichordists play the instrument over my many years. I've heard Landowska live, Kipnis live, and others too numerous to mention in live performances.

Did they play in large spaces?

The harpsichord is not an arena instrument . . . .

Cheers,
~Karl

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 5:58 pm

Cliftwood wrote:I have heard endless numbers of harpsichordists play the instrument over my many years. I've heard Landowska live, Kipnis live, and others too numerous to mention in live performances. I have a large collection of Bach & Scarlatti recordings played by outstanding artists, so it's not my lack of exposure that led me to the conclusion that the harpsichord is an interesting and at one time, vitally important vehicle for keyboard music but is aninstrument sorely lacking in essential dimensions vs. the modern piano.

I do respect those who feel differently, but for my sensitive musical ear, give me my Scarlatti & Bach on a Steinway every time.

I've said this before, but I really believe that if the modern piano existed in the 17th Century, it would have been the instrument of choice by the Baroque composers of the time.

I agree in a lot of cases but i'm not sure somebody could do all 555 Scarlatti Sonatas on a piano and get the incredible number of different sounding Sonatas not to sound repetitious, I probably play the Well Tempered Clavier on Harpsichord one time in ten compared to the Piano, The English and French Suites and the Partitas one in twenty although in the Inventions, Italian Concerto and Fugues then the reverse is true I listen to the Harpsichord on a three to one ratio compared to the Piano, Scarlatti on the piano I enjoy but not as much as on the Harpsichord...

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:03 pm

I used to think harpsichord was OK, but an incident I took personally (which involved me being ousted from a college concerto competition for playing a Bach concerto movement on the piano......with the resident harpsichord prof as one of the judges in the pre-competition run-off) sort of turned me off it for good.

Haven't put on any of my Landowska LPs in about 3 decades.

Wallingford · Post by **Wallingford** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:05 pm

......though I always DID find it cool in the arrangement for Herb Alpert's "Casino Royale" ......and I never had anything against Lurch playing it on The Addams Family.

In fact, if you listen closely you can hear it in Smokey Robinson's "Tears Of A Clown," along with that bassoon.

Post by **Lance** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:59 pm

In my view, that harpsichordist-judge did you a grave disservice. If that is the ONLY reason you were ousted from a college concerto competition, it is unfair. If there were prerequisites such as performing Baroque music on a harpsichord, that's one thing, and you would have been aware of it.

Wallingford wrote:I used to think harpsichord was OK, but an incident I took personally (which involved me being ousted from a college concerto competition for playing a Bach concerto movement on the piano......with the resident harpsichord prof as one of the judges in the pre-competition run-off) sort of turned me off it for good.

Haven't put on any of my Landowska LPs in about 3 decades.

Werner · Post by **Werner** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:54 pm

It certainly seems that you were treated unfairly if it was a harpsichord vs. piano decision. Who, do you remember, were the other judges?

But by now it is well established that Bach sounds very good and valid on the piano. You don't need my statement as proof, with all the great artists who prove it in performance.

I do hope, though, that you won't let this turn you off to the harpsichord's charms in the same literature, in the right seting. I had the good fortune to study the piano for a while with a harpsichordist who had studied with Landowska and had one of the Pleyel instruments like Landowska's, and I came to know some of the Bach harpsichord works from hearing her play them. So I've come to appreciate that literature on the harpsichord as well as pon the piano.

karlhenning · Post by **karlhenning** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 1:25 pm

Yesterday at Borders, I chanced on a 3-disc box of Scarlatti (vol VIII in the series) played by Pieter-Jan Belder, variously on harpsichord, fortepiano (and even one of the Sonatas on organ).

There is a wonderful delicacy and yet richness to the sound of these recordings; and (what surprises me a little to find myself saying) I can readily listen to a complete disc of these at a time.

This sounds so good, that I'm afraid the copulating-skeleta carp makes Beecham look a frightful ass ; )

Cheers,
~Karl

ravel30 · Post by **ravel30** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 2:23 pm

Hi,

This is probably not the best place for my comment but I was wondering if any of you have heard the Harpsichord Concerto by Philip Glass ?

I had that chance and I feel like it is a wonderful piece (Specially the first movement). I sure like the sound of the harpsichord when it sounds as beautiful as that.

Here is a link to a live performance of that piece :

http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20080412tsonc

I apologize in advance if some of you judge that my reply was inappropriate in this topic.

Matt

absinthe · Post by **absinthe** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 2:34 pm

ravel30 wrote:Hi,

This is probably not the best place for my comment but I was wondering if any of you have heard the Harpsichord Concerto by Philip Glass ?
Matt

Not me. I attended the première of the Harpsichord Concerto by Mike Nyman at the Barbican Centre. Very nice - looked and sounded horrendously difficult.

Kuhlau · Post by **Kuhlau** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:02 pm

ravel30 wrote:Hi,

This is probably not the best place for my comment but I was wondering if any of you have heard the Harpsichord Concerto by Philip Glass ?

I had that chance and I feel like it is a wonderful piece (Specially the first movement). I sure like the sound of the harpsichord when it sounds as beautiful as that.

Here is a link to a live performance of that piece :

http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20080412tsonc

I apologize in advance if some of you judge that my reply was inappropriate in this topic.

Matt

It's a thread on harpsichord music and your feelings about it, so I'd say your post is in the perfect place, Matt.

FK

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 7:24 pm

Welcome to our little Virtual Village, Matt, post often and ask questions...we love answering questions...

Chalkperson · Post by **Chalkperson** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 7:28 pm

karlhenning wrote:Yesterday at Borders, I chanced on a 3-disc box of Scarlatti (vol VIII in the series) played by Pieter-Jan Belder, variously on harpsichord, fortepiano (and even one of the Sonatas on organ).

There is a wonderful delicacy and yet richness to the sound of these recordings; and (what surprises me a little to find myself saying) I can readily listen to a complete disc of these at a time.

Good to hear, Karl, those Scarlatti recordings on Brilliant Classics are very good indeed, as I stated previously I love starting the day with one of those discs, if you get the full set then you can last a month without repetition...then you can save up for the Scott Ross traversal...

Richard Mullany · Post by **Richard Mullany** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 8:05 pm

Does anyone remember Dame Myra Hess? i think she was also responsible for restoring the harpsichord to it's place. I had many of her recordings on LP, now gone but not forgotten.
I always thought that Madame Landowska designed her instrument to suit the acoustiics of large spaces. Was not the original instrument usually found only in salons or equally small spaces? But the recordings she made in the late forties and early fifties were oin her home. I love those recordings on CD, I find them fascinating.

Werner · Post by **Werner** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 12:50 am

I've heard and read a good deal about Myra Hess. but no mention of her anywhere in connecton with the harpsichod. I think you've got Myra and Wanda mixed up - it was Landowska who, as you put it, was responsible for restoring the harpsichord to its place.

What is also true - and generally not mentioned in this connection - is that Landowska was a formidable pianist herself. In fact, I believe that her piano studies came before her work on the harpsichord. If you can get a chance to hear Landowska's Mozart interpretations, you'll hear a very speical approach. highly individual, based on profound scholarship, and, to me, highly convincing.

Of course, Myra Hess was also a terrific Mozart interpreter. These are two major artists indeed, yet each in their own way.

John F · Post by **John F** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 1:25 am

Quite right, Landowska's piano teachers included Aleksander Michalowski, a virtuoso who himself studied with Moscheles and Reinecke. (A lot of history there; Moscheles was well thought of by Beethoven and prepared the piano/vocal score of "Fidelio.") On an LP called "Landowska Plays for Paderewski," containing her only recordings of Polish music, she plays a Chopin mazurka - on the harpsichord!

But Landowska recorded music by Mozart and Haydn on the piano late in life, and the Coronation Concerto in the '30s playing her own witty cadenza. And there are broadcast airchecks of Mozart concertos with the New York Philharmonic as well.

Myra Hess was also a very fine Mozart pianist, so maybe that's where the confusion came in, though she never played the harpsichord, at least not in public. Actually, she was a very fine pianist, period, and despite her rather school-marm appearance could play music like the Appassionata sonata with a good deal of panache. There's some film to prove it, from one of the wartime concerts she organized in the British Museum.

AntonioA · Post by **AntonioA** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 2:42 pm

I love the sound of that instrument, not least in modern music. Falla´s Harpsichord concerto is one of my favorite pieces ever, especially the middle movement. A pity Landowska never recorded it, it was after all written for her. But i believe Falla´s Retablo del Maese Pedro was the first modern piece where a harpsichord is included. It was of course Landowska who played in the first perfomance of both works.

dulcinea · Post by **dulcinea** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 6:52 pm

I still cherish the memory of the first piece I ever heard on the clavecin: Francois Couperin's THE MYSTERIOUS BARRICADES.

Fergus · Post by **Fergus** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 6:44 pm

Chalkperson wrote:
karlhenning wrote:Yesterday at Borders, I chanced on a 3-disc box of Scarlatti (vol VIII in the series) played by Pieter-Jan Belder, variously on harpsichord, fortepiano (and even one of the Sonatas on organ).

There is a wonderful delicacy and yet richness to the sound of these recordings; and (what surprises me a little to find myself saying) I can readily listen to a complete disc of these at a time.
Good to hear, Karl, those Scarlatti recordings on Brilliant Classics are very good indeed, as I stated previously I love starting the day with one of those discs, if you get the full set then you can last a month without repetition...then you can save up for the Scott Ross traversal...

Put me in the Harpsichord Lovers camp although I have heard some poor recordings where the instrument is far too forward and can sound overbearingly boomy.
Is Belder a good recommendation then for the Scarlatti sonatas on harpsichord?

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