Re: [F_minor] something Gould would like: Gibbons on piano

[Brad Lehman <bpl@umich.edu>]

>> Glenn Gould's stated favorite composer, in a recent piano recording:
>> http://www.amazon.com/Gibbons-Complete-Keyboard-Works/dp/B000X3UD74

> Thanks thanks Brad, the Gibbons & Byrd "Consort" was always the gem of my
> GG vinyl. Always made me want to hear more. This will be muy cool.

Yup, I admire the audacity of playing all that music on piano, and the 
web samples sound good.  It got a favorable review in the newest issue 
of _American Record Guide_, too.

I still have to say I prefer it on harpsichord.  (Of course I HAVE to 
say that; I play this stuff myself as a professional harpsichordist....) 
 Some favorite recordings are the all-Gibbons single CDs by John Toll, 
James Johnstone, Richard Egarr, the half a disc (shared with Byrd) by 
Laurent Stewart, and selections played by Peter Watchorn and Timothy 
Roberts on other collections.

The harpsichord music by Gibbons, Byrd, Farnaby, Bull, and Philips is 
prime steak for that plucked sonority, and it sounds weird on piano with 
the mushier attack and the overly-loud sustaining that a piano does.  :) 
 Equal temperament does this music no favors, either.  But it's good to 
see and hear pianists venturing into this territory anyway, as the music 
itself is so rewarding.


Brad Lehman
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