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❤️❤️❤️

RENOTTE... what a composer !!! and this magic, magic cembalo. Mercy, mercy !!!!

JOS... a giant and MARGA the queen

È la più grande interpretazione sul clavicembalo della storia. Sono senza parole. Dunque il gruppo si allarga un poco: SCHEURICH GOULD. KOROLIOV

Mai sentito un clavicembalista come questa musicista. Questa donna INTUISCE, SENTE...Ka un talento inspiegabile e pagherei x sentirla come pianista

A music not of this world a testimony of the presence of the Lord

heat

The music of my English ancestors! Although, I'm sure they never heard it. Hello from America!

Great stuff!!

🎼✨✨✨ grazie!

It's no wonder J.S. Bach was taken with these beautiful suites. Thank you so much for making this recording available!

Excellent! 👏👏👏👏👏

That is how Dieupart must be played!

Thank you, Harpsichord Vinyl Gallery and Robert Tifft, for another fantastic album uploaded to TH-cam. The recording certainly hit the spot for me at 00:48 this early Sunday morning. 😀

It is always such a joy to hear the optimal sound of a harpsichord when it is recorded close to the strings and not somewhere in the corner of the next room. Mjammie!

*_Notes based in part on an article by David Fuller in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S. Sadie {London, 1979) 1/1_* François Dieupart, French harpsichordist, violinist and composer was active in London during the first half of the eighteenth century. Though his English contemporaries knew him as Charles, an autograph letter in French found with the first edition of Six Suittes de Clavessin (Bibliothegue Nationale, Paris), is signed "F. Dieupart." A French notarial act of 1714 (cited by P. Hardouin in Revuede Musicologie, XLI, 1958) mentions a François Dieupart living in the parish of St. James, Westminster. It is possible, though by no means certain, that this is the same man. Hardouin also cites a François Dieupart, père, a Parisian candlemaker whose marriage in 1667 may provide a terminus a quo for the lifetime of the musician, whose dates remain unconfirmed. Dieupart's instrumental music for Motteux's interlude "Britain's Happiness" (performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in March, 1704) provides the earliest dated record of his activities in England. The following year he collaborated with Clayton and Haym at the same theatre in the production of "Arsinoe." The eighteenth century music historian, Sir John Hawkins, credits Dieupart, together with Clayton and Haym, with promoting Italian opera in England. The Drury Lane enterprise involved some of the leading performers of the day: Valentini, Nicolini, Signora Margarita de l'Epine and Mrs. Tofts sang in the productions; and among the orchestra players were Dieupart, Pepusch, Loeillet and Haym. After the collapse of the Drury Lane enterprise in 1711, Clayton, Haym and Dieupart established a concert series in the York Buildings, described in The Spectator (no. 258, December 26, 1711; no. 278, January 18, 1712). The details surrounding the next years of Dieupart's life are purely conjectural. Hawkins reports at one point that he divided his time between playing violin in the" opera band" and teaching harpsichord; and at another, that he devoted himself entirely to teaching harpsichord and "in the capacity of a master of that instrument had admission into some of the best families in the kingdom." Paul Brunold, in the introduction to the I'Oiseau Lyre edition (1938) of the harpsichord suites, recounts a bizarre story involving a trip to the Indies. Hawkins says that he died advanced in years and in "necessitated circumstances" about 1740. Dieupart's Six Suittes de Clavessin were published by Estienne Roger of Amsterdam (n. d.). They were dedicated to Elizabeth, Countess of Sandwich, daughter of John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester. The wording of the dedication suggests that she may have been Dieupart's pupil, or at the very least that she was already familiar with some of the suites at the time of publication. A second printing of the Roger edition, parts only, appeared in 1702 with the title Six Suittes à un dessus & basse. Nearly all the pieces were included in a manuscript written by the Englishman Charles Babell and dated 1702. And several of the pieces were reprinted by the English publisher Walsh in Select Lessons for the Harpsichord (again, without date). Dieupart's treatment of the suite as a form with a fixed number of movements in a fixed order was without precedent in French harpsichord music. In only one suite is the order altered: in the second suite (not included in this recording) a passepied is substituted for the menuet. Also without precedent, two versions were published simultaneously, one for solo harpsichord, and one for a treble instrument and figured bass. The practice of alternative instrumentation to a solo scoring came to be widespread within the next twenty years. Though Dieupart's influence was widely felt in his time, it is not generally recognized today. It would seem that François Couperin drew upon Dieupart's ideas, as did Le Roux and Händel. J. S. Bach copied two of Dieupart's suites in his own hand: the first in A Major and the sixth in f minor. It is difficult to hear the ouverture of Dieupart's b minor suite (no. 3) without remembering Bach's Ouverture in the French Style, also in b minor. The g minor and F Major English Suite preludes are reminiscent of Dieupart's ouverture l in e minor and b minor respectively. In the prelude of the A Major English Suite of Bach one hears a subject from Dieupart's A Major gigue. Bach even transcribed the earlier composer's trill at the same point in his own theme, as if in tribute. In addition to the Six Suittes de Clavessin, Schering, in his Geschichte des Instrumental Konzerts (Leipzig, 1927), reports a manuscript in Dresden containing five "Konzertierende Sinfonien," including a sonata in strict church Style for double orchestra and flutes and a heavily scored concerto with oboes and trumpets. Other works include: Six Sonatas for Flute (London, 1717); Overture and Chaconne for the opera "Thomyris" (London, 1708); thirty-three Airs and Chansons (some with flute parts), twenty-seven of which appeared in the Musical Miscellany from 1729 to 1731 Notes based in part on an article by David Fuller in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. S. Sadie {London, 1979)

I spent many years learning all these pieces because I found this album when I was 10. The only one I can't play is Couperin's Le-Tic-toc-choc because of the double manual issue. The same with several Goldberg variations! I can't figure out how to not have my hands run into each other!

Thanks for posting this amazing recording!

Thanks for posting this amazing recording!

Track listing with Rubio numbers Padre Antonio Soler (1729 - 1783) 00:00 Sonata in A Minor R118 (2'22) 02:23 Sonata in C Minor R18 (5'05) 07:27 Sonata in D Flat Major R22 (5'50) 13:16 Sonata in B Flat Major R3 (4'34) 17:51 Sonata in C Major R7 (2'42) (Total time, side one 20'33)

I just ordered the vinyl of this masterpiece. I was so lucky to find it! I knew Duphly well, but Blandine puts extreme passion into it.... I think Chopin listened to this great ancient French genius.

55:55

Wonderful sensitive intellectually consistent playing ... beautiful instrument ... Many thanks for this rare gift ... as always and ever ... 💝💝💝 TY

The Allegro in the G Major is quite Scarlatti-esque

I knew Neil when he operated the Harpsichord Center in Eagle Rock, CA, which built and sold Zuckerman harpsichord kits.

Thank you, Harpsichord Vinyl Gallery and Robert Tifft, for this fantastic upload. 😊 Relaxing from the night shift, what better with a revival harpsichord playing Soler and Seixas sonatas? A luscious treat for my eras. 😁

The footwork is impressive!

*_Liner notes by Sister Teresita CSJ, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Music, Mount Saint Mary's College 2/2_* CARLOS DE SEIXAS was born in Coimbra on June 11 of 1704, the son of Francisco Vaz and Marcelina Nunez. It is not known for what reason he took the name of Seixas. His father had been the organist of the See of Coimbra from 1698 or 1699 to the time of his death in 1718. It may be conjectured that young Carlos had been taught by his father, and that his budding, precocious talent was guided to make rapid progress. At the death of Francisco Vaz, it was Carlos, his son, who was unanimously voted by the demanding Chapter to take his father's place. Seixas was then fourteen years old. Wishing to try his luck elsewhere, Seixas went to Lisbon in 1720, and in spite of the fact that he was only sixteen years old, he was admitted as organist of the Patriarchal See of Lisbon, and of the Royal Chapel. That same year, Domenico Scarlatti became chapel master of the Royal Chapel. A t the Portuguese capital Seixas became well known as a fine keyboard player and composer. He was also one of the most sought after music teachers favored by the royal family and the nobility. His earnings allowed him to live comfortably with his wife and five children. Seixas' compositions include religious works for voice and instrumental ensemble, an Overture, Sinfonia, Concerto for Keyboard and String Orchestra, and solo keyboard works. As a composer, he established his own style, and many imitated that style long after the composer's death. Some of his characteristic traits, particularly in his keyboard works include a penchant for lyricism, propensity toward pensive and melancholic moods, construction of angular motives with incisive rhythms, use of chromatic melodies and two-part textures. The sonatas contained in this recording give an overview of Seixas' keyboard style. Sonata in F Minor. This engratiating sonata shows Seixas' predilection for minor tonalities and multi-movement structure. The Allegro opens with an imitative motivic interplay between two voices; as the movement progresses the texture becomes fuller and more homphonic, but it thins out again to close with a scalar succession of parallel thirds. The expressive minuet is marked by slow harmonic rhythm and an alternation between triplet figures and simple rhythm. Sonata in A Minor. Similar to Soler's treatment of some sonatas, Seixas constructs this work by stringing together a series of motives or phrases. This binary design moves from tonic to dominant and back to tonic. The next movement is a spirited Allegro in the same key as the first but moving to the subdominant in the second part of the binary structure. Sonata in Bb Major. Remaining almost exclusively in two-part texture throughout, this sonata brings out interesting sonorities of the keyboard instrument. The Allegro moves in a stately fashion while the Minuet has a graceful but steady pace. The predominant figure in the Minuet is the triplet for which Seixas seems to have a special predilection. Sonata in D Minor. This work is in three movements: Allegro, Adagio, and Minuet, with the slow movement written in the relative major key. An interesting and incissive effect is achieved by the use of the lowered supertonic at the cadence in the Minuet. The triplet figure also occurs predominantly in this movement. Sonatas in G Minor and D Major. These works exhibit the qualities frequently associated with toccatas, that is, free , idiomatic keyboard style. They require an intelligent and skilled performer. The G minor "Sonata" sets a furious and relentless pace including fast repeated notes, wide leaps and arpeggiated figures. The D major "Sonata" begins with rhythmic figures which remind subtly of the guitar. Though not used very often in Seixas' works, hand-crossing appears here. The sonorities of the instrument are exploited and made to sound brilliant. Undoubtedly, the music of Soler and Seixas is a worthy contribution to the eighteenty-century keyboard repertoire. Both Soler and Seixas knew the music of Domenico Scarlatti. That the music of the Iberians show traits akin to those of Scarlatti is an unquestionable fact. The degree to which Scarlatti influenced them, however, must not be overemphasized. With regard to keyboard technique, it must be pointed out that some devices frequently thought of as Scarlatti's innovations, such as rapid progression of parallel thirds and sixths, already existed in the music of the Iberian Peninsula long before Scarlatti arrived there. We must agree with William Newman that the similarities between Soler, Seixas and Scarlatti are the result of a heritage shared by the three musicians of international styles and Hispanic and Portuguese elements. Sister Teresita CSJ, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Music Mount Saint Mary's College

*_Liner notes by Sister Teresita CSJ, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Music, Mount Saint Mary's College 1/2_* KEYBOARD MUSIC OF the Iberian Peninsula is a relatively untapped source of the eighteenth-century musical repertoire. Overshadowed by the musical output of other European countries, the music of Spain and Portugal has, for the most part, remained dormant in archives and private collections. This repertoire includes abundant examples of truly charming, refreshing, and unique compositions. Varied in style, character, harmonic complexity and form, these works afford an opportunity for expanding present perspectives of the eighteenth century. The backdrop against which Iberian keyboard music developed included a musical life which centered around the courts of kings and noblemen, and around cathedrals, monasteries, parish churches and public theaters. Foreign composers and performers were numerous. Among them may be mentioned Carlo Broschi (1705-1787), better known as Farinelli, whose singing powers were regarded as miraculous, and whose principal duty was to assuage Philip V's melancholia by singing exclusively for him; Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), who served as court musician to Charles III of Spain; and Domenico Scarlatti (1685- 1757), Master of the Royal Chapel in Lisbon, and music teacher of Princess Maria Barbara, daughter of King John V of Portugal. When Maria Barbara wedded Ferdinand, Prince of the Asturias and future King Ferdinand in 1729, Scarlatti accompanied her as part of her musical dowry. Native composers worked alongside their foreign colleagues keeping alive their country's musical tradition. A happy and enriching fusion of foreign and native elements is perceptible, though not always clearly distinguishable in some of the best music of both foreign and native composers of the time. Among the distinguished native composers two may be singled out as representatives of their country: Antonio Soler of Spain, and Carlos de Seixas of Portugal. Together with Domenico Scarlatti they represent a highpoint in Iberian musical composition, and together they make up "the three S's" of Spain and Portugal's keyboard tradition. ANTONIO SOLER was born in late November or early December of the year 1 729 at Olot, province of Gerona, Catalonia. He was one of several children born to Marcos Mateo Soler, a musician of the Regiment of Numancia, and his wife, Maria Teresa Ramos. While still six years of age, Antonio was admitted into the Escolania of Montserrat. A t the Escolania or Conservatory attached to the Benedictine Monastery in Montserrat children from eight to sixteen years old were housed and given instruction in music as well as in the humanities. Young Antonio must have evidenced unusual talent to have been admitted at his age. That he appreciated this Conservatory is evidenced by the fact that, later in his life, he would send a copy of his compositions to Montserrat as a token of gratitude for his schooling there. Some time before 1752 Soler obtained, by competition, the position of chapel master at the Cathedral of Lerida. For such competitions the contenders had to submit works of a certain specified type, as well as a motet, a mass, a villancico, and a canon or organ fugue. In 1752 Antonio Soler resigned his position as chapel master and applied for admission in the Hieronymite Congregation of the Monastery of San Lorenzo el Real at EI Escorial where he would spend the greatest portion of his life. He was received as a novice on September 25, and made his religious profession on September 29 of the following year, "his skill at the organ and composition being evident." Though no conclusive evidence is yet available, it is very probable that Fray Antonio was sent to Madrid shortly after profession in order to perfect his musical studies; the Hieronymite Congregation frequently had this recourse to prepare its organists and chapel masters for the demands of their position. Furthermore, it is also possible that Fray Antonio was ordained a priest while he was in Madrid and not at EI Escorial. This would explain the fact that Soler's name is not included among those who were ordained at EI Escorial. Padre Soler became chapel master at the Monastery some time before 1761 (but, contrary to most references on the subject, after 17 53). His position included the duties of planning, directing, and composing the music for all the services. In addition to this Padre Soler was a music teacher. Among his students could be found the Infante Don Gabriel of Bourbon, son of King Charles III to whom Soler gave musical instruction during the annual two-month visit of the royal family to EI Escorial. It was for this distinguished pupil that Padre Soler wrote an interesting portion of his compositions. Padre Soler's occupations at El Escorial were all absorbing. To his musical duties were added those duties of his state as a Hieronymite monk and priest: the recitation of the Divine Office eight times throughout the day, officiating or attending at two or three Masses, and application to mental prayer, usually twice daily. In spite of these numerous obligations Padre Soler produced a large number of works owing to the fact that, impelled by his native talent and a deep sense of dedication, he used every available time (otherwise used for relaxation in the Congregation) in the pursuit of knowledge and in composition. Excessive work undermined the Padre's physical strength, and on December 20, 1783, he died after receiving Viaticum. Padre Soler's abundant musical output consists of theoretical, keyboard, chamber, religious, and theater works. His buoyant spirit is felt in all his works. It was in the keyboard sonatas, however, that Padre Antonio Soler attained one of his greatest claims to glory. In these works are revealed the composer's artistic personality, individualistic spirit, and fine craftsmanship. A sampling of his sonatas is contained in this recording. Sonata in A Minor. Grace and simplicity mark this sonata which shows Padre Soler's frequent approach to musical construction-short phrases or motives and their repetitions and/or sequences are strung together in a manner characteristic of certain types of Spanish dances. Repeated notes used as an accompanying figure enhance the rhythmic drive of major sections of this work. Sonata "in the Dorian Mode." Exquisitely poetic, this sonata bears the indication "en modo dorico" and is written in C with two flats. The over-all tonal effect, however, is that of C minor since A is flatted quite frequently. The quiet peace of this binary sonata is interrupted briefly by a short, more energetic four-measure phrase in the first part, which also opens Part II now expanded and with a sequence. The broad tonal outline includes modulation to the dominant, and back to tonic. Sonata in Db Major. Expressive pauses, sudden changes of mood, and unusual harmonies link this sonata with the empfindsamer stit. Padre Soler's effective use of abrupt modulation is seen when what appears to be a half cadence in F minor on measure 22 turns out to be a modulation to C major. This sonata shows the composer's more individualistic traits. Sonata in Bb Major. Pastoral in character this sonata exhibits the composer's characteristic use of consecutive thirds and sixths as well as of one of his favored melodic turns - 3 - 2 - 1 - 5. The arpeggiated triplet figure simulatesaguitarristic effect known as punteado, or plucking effect produced by the fingertips. The cadential trill on the penultimate dominant notes at the end of the first and second halves show a galant trait. Sonata in C Major. This brilliant sonata is an example of Padre Soler's truly idiomatic writing. Hand-crossing, repeated notes, double notes, skips and octaves are all found here. The left hand is accorded nearly equal importance with the right hand, executing scalar passages, arpeggios, and trills. The resolute opening and dance-like rhythms propel the music forward in unceasing flow until it reaches the final cadence in each binary division.

Il est très émouvant découvrir un tel enregistrement. L'intelligence de la claveciniste et qualité de la prise de son sont absolument remarquables.

I bought this record around 1970. I remember the notes telling me that this concerto was written for a young player who was basically a harpsichordist. Great to hear a fine player reminding us that the harpsichord did and does exist! If anyone can tell me (a harpsichordist) why it has almost dropped from broadcasters' lists, I would be grateful.

Anecdote. Alors que j'étais lycéen, je m'étais saigné aux quatre veines pour acheter les deux coffrets Philips de l'intégrale de Bach par Isolde. J'avais alors été éberlué par les basses Kolossales de son incroyable instrument. Et je me demandais comment on avait pu obtenir une telle puissance d'un clavecin. Et surtout, pourquoi tous les clavecinistes jouaient pas sur un tel instrument - enfin audible en concert ... Si jeunesse savait !

Thank you so much for making these recordings available. I used to own some of these on vinyl and one way or another I managed to either lose them or give them away when I "converted" to CDs. Louis Bagger is a name I remember from that era but did not own any of his recordings. His playing is wonderful to listen to as is that of the orchestra members.

My God, this is gorgeous! I love Rameau, but I've never heard him sound like this. The sound of that harpsichord is wonderful.

This harpsichord sounds out of tune.

🎼✨✨👏👋 grazie!

This type of music would go well on a documentary about about a serial killer.

Captivating. A wonderful listen from beginning to end. I happen to have Carole Terry's recording of the organ works of Brahms on the Musical Heritage Society label, and have enjoyed it very much over the years. By the way, it seems that the CRI recordings were acquired by the New World Records label some time ago, and NWR has the "20th-Century Harpsichord Works" release available as a download or burn-on-demand CD-R (enter "Carole Terry" in their search box). Judging from the samples available there, the sound of those files may be a bit too hard-edged for my liking. Thank you, HVG, for this fine upload!

Thank you, Harpsichord Vinyl Gallery and Robert Tifft, for another fabulous upload. This time, some 20th-century harpsichord music. I love the unique quality to the works from this time period. 🥰

*_Select works of these composers may be heard on CRI recordings (insert). 1/1_* Persichetti: CRI SO 279, Sonata for Two Pianos. Joan Yarbrough and Robert Cowan, pianos CRI SO 353, Parable. Arthur Weisberg, bassoon CRI SO 446, Parable XVI, Op. 130. John Graham, viola; Robert Black, piano Albright: CRI SO 277. Juba (1965) and Organbook (1967). William Albright, organ ; Pneuma (1966). Marilyn Mason, organ. CRI SO 449, Pianoagogo (1966) and Five Chromatic Dances (1976). Thomas Warburton, piano. Cowell: CRI CAS 109, Tone Cluster Pieces (1914-25) Henry Cowell. piano CRI SO 114, Persian Set (1957) Leopold Stokowski conducts members of his orchestra CRI SO 132, Music 1957. Japan Philharmonic Orchestra; Akeo Watanabe, conductor CRI SO 142, Symphony NO.7 (1952) Vienna Symphony Orchestra; William Strickland, conductor CRI SO 165, ".,. If He Please" (1954) members of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir, William Strickland, conductor CRI SO 173, Homage to Iran (1959) Leopold Avakian, violin ; Mitchell Andrews, piano; Basil Bahar, Persian drum. Quartets Nos. 2, 3 and 4 (1934-36) Beaux Arts String Quartet. CRI SO 179, Symphony No. 16 " Icelandic" (1962) Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Strickland, conductor, CRI SO 211, Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano (1965) Philharmonia Trio CRI SO 217, Synchrony (1930) and Variations (1956) Polish National Radio Orchestra, Strickland, conductor. CRI SO 248, Hymn and Fuguing Tune No.2 (1946) Boston Symphony Orchestra; Serge Koussevitzky, conductor. CRI SO 281, Episode, Invention, Six Ings Plus One. Herbert Rogers, piano. CRI SO 386, Hymn and Fuguing Tune NO.9 and Four Declamations with Return. Terry King, cello; John Jensen, piano. Gravely and Vigorously (1963) Terry King, cello. CRI ACS 6005, Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 2, Symphony No.7, " Tone Cluster" Pieces, Persian Set and Quartet No. 2, chrome cassette. Rorem: CRI SO 202, Piano Sonata No.2 (1949) julius Katchen, piano; Poems of Love and the Rain (1 963) Regina Sarfaty, mezzo-soprano; Ned Rorem, piano. CRI CAS 238, Some Trees (1968) and other songs. Phyllis Curtin, soprano; Beverly Wolff, contralto; Oonald Gramm, baritone; Ned Rorem, piano. CRI SO 362, Book of Hours. ingrid Oingfelder, flute ; Martine Geliot, harp. CRI SO 394, Romeo and Juliet. Ingrid Oingfelder, flute; Herbert Levine, guitar. CRI SO 396, A Quaker Reader. Leonard Raver, organ. CRI SO 485, The Nantucket Songs. Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano; Ned Rorem, piano/ Women 's Voices. Catherine Ciesinski, mezzo-soprano; Ned Rorem, piano. CRI ACS 6007, Piano Sonata No. 2, Nantucket Songs, Some Trees and Romeo and Juliet. chrome cassette.

*_David C. Calhoun/Ante Musica_* wrote about the instruments used 1/1: Notes on the Instruments Writing for the harpsichord in this century has in a way paralleled the recovery of historical instrument-making styles. The harpsichords for which most of the modern repertoire was conceived are those from the early years of the harpsichord revival in which piano technology combined with a late romantic taste to produce large and complicated "plucking pianos" with multiple registers of extreme and contrasted tonal color, and pedals for instant timbral changes. Such harpsichords "improve" on the piano as a sort of miniature orchestra, and "orchestration" is the main interest of music written for them. From the commissions of Landowska for her Pleyel to the well known "Continuum" of Ligeti, this view of the harpsichord has influenced, as well, modern performance of music of the historical period. It is still possible to find Bach and Scarlatti recorded on such "plucking pianos," sounding like a keyboard reduction of a Stokowski transcription for orchestra. Or. Terry has here set about turning the tables. Using two harpsichords of "historical" type, she has explored modern literature for what virtues it may possess beneath the obvious exploitation of coloristic extremes. The historical harpsichord is a linear instrument; it makes etchings, not paintings, and achieves its effects through shape and texture-quantitative means-rather than through colors which much of this music anticipates. Rorem's Spiders is made on a conventional "French double" made from Zuckerman parts, the last instrument from Robert Horning of Portland, Oregon (d. 1980). The traditional disposition of "unison (8') and octave (4') on the lower manual, unison (8') on the upper, and shove coupler" (which requires the player to stop playing in order to shift it) is at odds with the 20th century's "Bach" arrangement with pedals to shift couplers and stops with the 4' on the upper manual, and perhaps a 16' on the lower. The French compass, from FF, was required for this piece. The remaining works have been played on a large double from my shop, to a design by David Jacques Way. It has five octaves, GG-g3, and the same disposition as the French, with buff to the upper manual 8'. It is intended to avoid the perfumed and devious excesses, of the late French instruments, with a voice more direct and objective. This effort to make a large contrapuntal harpsichord is an extrapolation to what mid-18th century Flemish builders might have made had they not abandoned their native tradition to the Parisians. With hand-operated stops and couplers, it has not been possible to perform all the registration instructions from the composers of this music. Or. Terry has spliced tape in some cases. I'm shocked to find that I'm no more offended by this cheating'than by the idea of these performances, or these pieces. This music and these instruments may tell us something new, each about the other. David C. Calhoun/Ante Musica Seattle, Washington

*_Liner notes by Composers Recordings Incorporated 2/2_* Ned Rorem is known not only as a composer but as a diarist and essayist as well. He received early training In piano and also in composition with Leo Sowerby before attending the Curtis Institute of Music. After winning a prize for his song "The Lordly Hudson," Rorem went to Paris on a Fulbright grant to study With Honegger, later traveling to Morocco. After his return to Paris in 1952, Rorem's literary work and song settings were recognized by the Parisian cultural intelligentsia including Poulenc, Auric and Cocteau. Returning to New York in 1958, Rorem concentrated on writing solo songs and combining voice with orchestra in pieces such as Sun (1 967). In his later instrumental writing he used expanded tonality through altered chords, modality and poly modality. Later, in the 1960s, his compositions explored the use of modified serial techniques. Rorem's Spiders was written during June and July of 1968 for premiere by Igor Kipnis. On June 8th, Rorem went to speak with Kipnis regarding the composition and had finished the work by July 12th. Spiders IS one of only two works Rorem has written for the harpsichord; he has also composed some well-known pieces for organ, including A Quaker Reader. Compositionally Spiders is reminiscent of a fast- paced toccata of chromatic, running sixteenth notes, here in 4/4 time of quintuplet beats with occasional shifts to 5/8. The piece exploits the full range of a French double harpsichord from FF to fl. Since Rorem wrote this piece during the New York heat wave of July 1968, it might be construed as an attempt by a poor spider running to and fro to find a cool place to hide. This piece was recorded on a French double manual harpsichord with the disposition 2 x 8' and 1 x 4'. Double fortes were realized on the full chorus sound, fortes on 2 x 8', and mezzopiano and piano on the single upper 8'. Henry Cowell received some early training in the Violin, but his formal musical training began in 1914 at the University of California at Berkeley where he studied harmony and counterpoint. He later attended the Institute of Musical Art in New York and Stanford University. After a brief stint in the army. Cowell made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1924 playing his own works. After concert tours of Europe, Cowell met Charles Ives in 1927 and became a champion of his music. Cowell was responsible for introducing Ives' work to many performers, and through his journal The New Music Quarterly and its series of recordings, Cowell brought to Ives deserved recognition as a pioneer of 20th century American musical thought. Cowell taught at the New School of Social Research in New York, at the Peabody Conservatory and at Columbia University. Cowell's music can be said to fall into three stylistic "periods." The first, from 1911-36, is characterized by the use of tone clusters and the invention of unusual piano sound by plucking strings and using various objects inside the piano to produce new timbres. The second period, ca. 1936- 50, was characterized by more conservative, tonally Oriented Idioms with regular rhythms, such as his series of "Hymn and Fuguing Tunes" for various Instrumental combinations. The third period of his work, from 1950 to his death in 1965 during which the Set of Four was written, reflects an amalgamation of previously used styles and techniques such as clusters and ethnic Influences. Written for harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick, the piece was premiered at the University of California at Berkeley on January 26, 1961. The opening Rondo, marked maestoso is followed by the toccata-like Ostinato. The third movement is a slow Chorale followed by the final Fugue and Resume. The Rondo juxtaposes three different writing styles: 1) a chordal section of bitonal chords often spanning the interval of the tenth; 2) fast eighth and sixteenth note diatonic and arpeggiated passage work and 3) a piu mosso section of rising and falling chord clusters. The second movement Ostinato is based on an arpeggiated rhythmic pattern of four measures plus one beat In 4/4 lime. This ostinato is used in both hands and accompanied by leaping intervals or harmonized by itself in transposition. The ostinato sections alternate with running sixteenth note scalar patterns accompanied by large spanned chords with written-in pedal points. The third movement Chorale, composed of chord clusters, is reminiscent of a hymn tune played on a wheezy old harmonium. It IS not unlikely that Cowell intended this effect, as he composed many "Hymn and Fuguing Tunes" during the last years of his life. The final movement is the most serious, beginning with a short fugue based on a twelve tone row. The Resume that makes up the middle part of the last movement is composed of direct quotations from the three preceding movements. A repeat of the fugue with extension concludes the piece.

*_Liner notes by Composers Recordings Incorporated 1/2_* Vincent Persichetti has been a prolific composer for the piano and harpsichord, as well as for orchestra and voice. He received his doctoral degree from the Philadelphia Conservatory where he studied composition with Nordoff and Harris. He held important theory positions at various colleges and In 1947 was appointed chairman of the composition department at The Juilliard School of Music. He has received numerous awards, including a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation and from the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities, and commissions from renowned orchestras and institutions. Compositionally, Persichetti's music has employed modal, tonal, polytonal and atonal structures. Persichetti's Sonata for Harpsichord, Op. 52, written in 1951, is the first of seven sonatas written by the composer for this instrument. His other works for harpsichord are Parable for Harpsichord, Op. 153, the Little Harpsichord Book, Op. 155, and Serenade for Harpsichord, Op. 161. All but the first sonata are dedicated to harpsichord teachers/performers throughout the United States. The Sonata for Harpsichord is written in three movements. The first movement begins with an introductory Andante sostenuto containing a beautiful cantabile melody set with triplets over repeated chords. The following Allegro maintains its vitality by constant shifting rhythms on the eighth- note level (e.g. 3/8 followed by 4/8 and 5/8). The opening theme is stated twice and then manipulated in a quasi-development section before its recapitulation. The middle Adagio movement presents a haunting melody of wandering sixteenth and thirty-second notes. The second section of this Adagio provides a tonal contrast and more stepwise melodic writing before a modified return of the first melody. The final movement Vivace is in three large sections. The first begins with a driving repeated note theme followed by other short theme groups and a lyric theme of harmonized thirds and fourths. The middle section, marked agitato, exploits brilliant toccata-like passage work and development of some of the first section themes, with the repeated note theme returning in the third section. William Albright has studied composition with Finney, Rochberg and Messiaen and organ with Marilyn Mason; he is currently Professor of Composition at the University of Michigan School of Music. He has received many prestigious composition awards including two Koussevitzky Composition Awards. a Fulbright Fellowship. the Queen Marie-Jose Prize and an award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. His early keyboard works, especially those for the organ, reflect the influence of Messiaen with their colorful registrations and timbres. In later organ compositions such as Organbook III, as well as the Four Fancies, Albright has turned to Classical forms as a point of departure for his works. Four Fancies was commissioned by the University of Evansville Music Department and Douglas Reed, Associate Professor of Music, with a grant from the Mesker Trust Fund. The piece was premiered by Dr. Reed on March 11, 1980 at the University of Evansville's Wheeler Concert Hall on a 1 B74 Dowd harpsichord after Taskin. Albright has written: "The word 'fancy' in 17th and 18th century music was the English equivalent to fantasia, a spontaneous piece or a freely constructed piece. By the middle of the 17th century, the fancy was a dance suite. This was important to me in the piece because I think the harpsichord does dance music superbly because of its clang, clang, chang, chang sound; the rhythms are very clear on the harpsichord. And that's, I suppose, what I wanted to get out: a series of dances. That's why you hear so much metric rhythm, so much pulse, so much excitement of body movement in the music. "The first movement is a perverse, fun-house mirror glance at the French Overture. But by about the fifth second, the whole thing goes off its track' it gets derailed. It's called Excentrique, a title akin t~ a few 19th century character piano pieces by composers whose names I've forgotten. "The second movement has one of the worst puns in all music: the Mirror Bagatelle ('a mere bagatelle'). But I've wanted to use that title for so long, and I finally got a chance to use it because of the mirror-like effect I explore. And this is a spot where I actually use a new capability of the harpsichord. There are two parallel sounds on each of the keyboards, sounding at the same pitch. For this I created a texture based on a very fluid, spontaneous improvisation, although it's very carefully notated-around the same pitches on two different sounds. The technique in music is called 'heterophony,' a word which means two or more lines sounding around the same pitches but at different tim.es or rhythms. It's familiar enough in folk music, musIcs of other cultures, and in jazz, but not all that much used in Western classical music. "The third movement is called Musette. 'Musette' is the French word for bagpipes, and was a familiar movement in Baroque harpsichord suites. During a very simple melody you hear all kinds of funny glitches and squeaks and whizzes. It is accompanied by a very severe and plain left band. "The last movement, Danza ostinata, is a kind of combination of Soler's fandango and boogiewoogie from the '30s." From a performer's point of view, the notation, manual changes, and musical workings are extremely interesting. Traditional notation is used in the Musette and Danza ostinata while the Excentrique and Mirror Bagatelle have conventional notation but few bar lines. A timbral effect that Albright refers to as 'heterophony'.occurs In places With quick shifts between the two manuals of the harpsichord, creating a unique dynamic effect. Perhaps the most amusing from a performer's standpoint is the composer's use of descriptive makings given at the beginnings of and throughout various movements. These various markings direct affective colors within the context of the piece making it an extremely exciting and challenging piece to play.

🎼✨✨ grazie!

great performance, scholarship and recording dowds sound like plucked pianos tho

unjustly ignored among Franco-Flemish galant

What a wonderful recording! Thank you, Harpsichord Vinyl Gallery for another brilliant listen, with my favorite instrument, the harpsichord. 🥰 I always enjoy your uploads. 😊

*_Louis S. Bagger wrote for the liner notes 2/2_* WQ. 43/3 IN E FLAT MAJOR (Hamburg 1771) In the Hamburg Unpartheischer Correspondent of April 29, 1771 there appeared an announcement advertising "six easy harpsichord concertos" by Capellmeister C. P. E. Bach which would differ from the composer's other concertos principally in being more suited to the nature of the harpsichord (Flügel) with its characteristic brilliance (gehörigen Glanze),' and which would be "easier for both solo and accompaniment, adequately ornamented in the slow movements, and supplied with written-out cadenzas." While the commercially astute Bach was evidently anxious to increase the sale of these concertos by giving them out as "easy" and by making no demands on the improvisational skills of amateurs (for which Posterity, always amateur in relation to the professionalism of a past age, can only be deeply grateful), they are, in fact, among his major works. The emotional tenor of the set is generally "light" (the one minor-key concerto being the exception), emotional depths come by poetic surprise, and the basses are more nakedly harmonic support than the basses in the earlier concertos. The integration of movements, which we have considered in Wq. 31, is made an object of particular study in the six concertos of Wq. 43, along with a new succinctness and concentration of form. None of the slow movements show the architechtonic completeness of ritornello form, but are propped up by the outer movements. Movements are often run together without interruption and ideas from one movement sometimes reappear in another. If we compare the first movement ritornel of Wq.43/ 3 with its counterpart in Wq. 31, we find less reliance on sequential development (Fortspinnung) , and more of a mosaic of contrasting ideas and textures, more like a Mozart ritornel in its progression, though very different in its actual musical speech. (Wq.43 is, in fact, contemporary with the early masterpieces of the Viennese Classical masters, Mozart's violin concertos, for example, and Haydn's Op. 20 quartets.) The broadly lyrical opening phrase is followed by a series of shorter phrases, both forte and piano, and the closing of the ritornel is not the forte unisono most usual in the Berlin concertos, but returns piano to the opening phrase. The non-developmental middle solo is characterized by a number of devices which give the movement the sharp articulation of form which I have remarked in the ritornel. Introduced by an extraordinary recitative-like dialogue passage between harpsichord and violin, it is all in C minor, the tertiary key, and not, as in the first movement of Wq.31, for example, mainly in transition to that key. The sixteenth-note figuration which characterizes this section is alluded to again in the recapitulatory solo. The final ritornel is left incomplete, without its closing phrase, the elided closing turning up in the next movement. The theme which opens the Andante is of a tender slow minuet type which appears frequently in the 1760's and 70's in such galant music as Bach's sonatinas for harpsichord and orchestra, elaborated decoratively with figural and coloristic variation, risking often a degree of rhythmic dullness and cloying monotony of mood. In this Andante, however, the theme is joined by the elided first movement closing and by another first movement phrase, the movement proceeding as a free meditation on these elements. The Andante leads without interruption into the finale, which is a brilliantly original and sustained piece of musical wit, its humor deriving less from its moto perpetuo character than from its manipulations of harmonic structure and its tutti-solo theatrics (such as the solo's brashly over-confident attempt to take over the orchestra's business in the second tutti). The opening is harmonically ambiguous, its off-the-tonic harmony being heard at first as subdominant to the C minor with which the Andante ends; only later in the ritornel is the tonic E flat established, so that when we hear this opening harmony again - at the solo entrance we hear it "correctly" as supertonic. This same harmony, at the same pitch-level, acquires yet a- third meaning at the beginning of the third tutti, where it is heard in relation to B flat major, the tertiary key. The re-transition is effected cooperatively: although we are on the dominant B flat, perfectly situated for the return, neither solo nor orchestra seems to be able to find its way back to the tonic alone. The final tutti, restatement of the tonally ambiguous opening ritornel, comes as a shock after the long dominant preparation which concludes the recapitulatory solo, but a moment's reflection will convince us of the inevitability of this entry. Not only is there no good tonic material in the ritornel to which to return, but, since the entire movement has represented a constant postponement of the tonic harmony, a tonic orchestra entry at this point would have had the effect of short-circuiting the final tutti. As Burney observed: "his boldest strokes, both of melody and modulation, are always consonant to rule, and supported by learning; and his flights are not the wild ravings of ignorance or madness, but the effusions of cultivated genius," LOUIS S. BAGGER

*_Louis S. Bagger wrote for the liner notes 1/2_* Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (b. Wiemar, 1714 - d. Hamburg, 1788), the second son of Johann Sebastian, composed fifty-two authenticated harpsichord concertos (including the famous double concerto of 1788 for harpsichord, pianoforte, and orchestra). These concertos span his entire career, from student days at Leipzig and Frankfurt, through his years (1740-1767) at Berlin and Potsdam in the service of Frederick the Great of Prussia, and his last years (1767-1788) as Music Director of the Republic of Hamburg. Taken as a whole, they are among Bach's most important works. WQ. 31 IN C MINOR (Berlin 1753) The ritornel of a concerto movement of J. S. Bach presents a single "affect" or character, and often but a single musical phrase or gesture. A Mozartean concerto ritornel presents a great parade of themes and textures, embodying the sharpest contrasts (in this respect like a Classical sonata exposition). Emanuel Bach's first movement ritorne!s lie somewhere between these poles. In the concertos composed at Berlin we may characteristically distinguish an opening thematic statement, a passage of sequential development, a contrasting phrase, and a closing (usually unisono). In the ritornel which opens Wq. 31 we find these elements applied to an unusual and dramatic scheme of harmonic structure. The opening thematic statement is in the form of a sequential passage which, instead of firmly establishing the tonic C minor, veers off immediately towards the relative major, E flat. After a return to C minor the harmony again pulls toward E flat in the same way. The first important musical idea firmly in the tonic is the contrasting phrase, in this move· ment a real theme, chromatic and full of pathetic sight motives (and notated very precisely as to dynamics). The tendency toward the relative major is normal in minor-key pieces: one might reasonably expect the first solo section to modulate to that key and the second tutti to confirm it, as in so many of Emanuel Bach's concerto movements. In this movement, however, this tendency, after having been prematurely indulged, is persistently frustrated at the important structural points. Thus, the first solo section appears to be heading toward E flat, but is turned off to G minor, the minor dominant, which becomes the key of .the second tutti. It is Emanuel Bach's usual practice to begin his first solo section* with a solo restatement of the opening theme, plain or ornamented, as in the finale of this concerto, or in the three movements of Wq. 43/3. Sebastian Bach, on the other hand, customarily had the soloist introduce himself with a new theme. In this movement the two procedures are blended: the solo enters with the main theme's opening motive in doubled note values - at half tempo, in effect - and continues with a new melody in the plainest, most stable, C minor. The use of the opening motive in this contrasted musical context establishes the solo in direct dramatic opposition to the tutti. At the beginning of the recapitulation this solo theme will serve to reestablish the tonic key. The first (expository) solo section ends with another unaccompanied passage of similar harmonic simplicity and stability, motivated by the arrival at G minor. In the recapitulatory solo section these solo themes, both in the tonic, are separated by recapitulation of much middle solo, and of the ritornel, split up unpredictably between soloist and orchestra. This way of restating material represents another kind of dramatic opposition between solo and orchestra. The harmonic stability of the solo's closing theme contrasts with the harmonic restlessness of the ritornel and middle solo material. The slow movements of Emanuel Bach's Berlin concertos are, with this I believe unique exception, all in ritornello form. The Adagio of Wq.31 preserves some of the ritornel scaffolding, but the solo parts of the movement consist mainly of a wordless recitative. This exists in two versions, both preserved in autograph copies. The earlier is a literal transfer to the keyboard of vocal recitative, like the recitative passages in the first "Prussian" sonata (Wq. 48/1). The second is an elaboration of this ,recitative into instrumental idiom. The notes of the accompanying string parts are greatly lengthened to accommodate the elaboration, but are otherwise unchanged. Bach refers to this revision in a letter of 1784, where he speaks of the concerto as one of his "show-pieces" (Paradors) , adding that "the recitative has been written out approximately as I have played it." The revision most probably grew out of Bach's improvisations in performance. Towards the end of the movement the soloist takes over the ritornel, hitherto the exclusive property of the orchestra, with an effect of particular dramatic evidence after the impassioned recitatives. A phrase of recitative leads "without the slightest pause" (direction in the autograph score) into the finale, as to an aria. The ritornel of the finale is a short lyric pathetic character which, instead of ending with a proper closing that could be used to conclude the movement, ends away from the tonic, in E flat. After restoring the tonic, the solo proceeds in a manner harmonically analogous to the first solo section of the first movement: comfortably bland figuration in E flat major turns poignantly to G minor for a statement on that key of the main (and only) theme. It is at the end of this movement that the idea of harmonic "frustration" which permeates the concerto is most explicitly dramatized: a stern unisono closing, in the manner of Bach's typical ritornel closings, supplies the first ritornel's lack of a closing.