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Re: unrecorded keyboard
At 12:54 PM 4/15/01 +0200, Juozas Rimas wrote:
> >What about, for example, Musical Offering (BWV 1079) the 1st Ricercare? I
> >have a
> >recording of this one on the cembalo and the instrument sounds terribly
> >primitive, sorry.
>
> Primitive in this particular recording? Who's playing, and what type of
> harpsichord is it?
Ok, I said stronger than I should have said. It could have been by a good
harpsichordist, I don't know, (Davitt Moroney) but I have a quirk of disliking
long pieces on the harpsichord. They tire me... The sound of the instrument
s very straigthforward.
Depends on the instrument itself and on how it's played. Some harpsichords
are interesting, some aren't. Some performances are interesting, some
aren't. (I haven't heard that particular recording by Moroney, but I've
heard some of his other Bach.) The performer's approach matters as much on
harpsichord as it does on any other musical instrument....
And there is a huge variety of harpsichords. [Cue Jim Morrison...]
Is it possible to play, say, the 11th sinfonia so
softly on
the harpsichord as Gould does in his 1964 recording?
Yes, especially at Gould's very slow tempo. He has a nice delicacy in that
performance, and I think most of that comes from his tempo. (A few minutes
ago I tried it on harpsichord and clavichord to be sure, using Gould's
tempo, and it sounded just as soft.)
Maybe the momentum-based works (partly the ricercare in
question) would work better on the harpsichord but I'd still prefer the piano
rendition.
I would also appreciate if you told me which keyboard works, in your
opinion, do
sound better on the harpsichord than on the piano. So far I've always
looked for
the
piano renditions if there was a possibility. Maybe it's my prejudice to think
that the piano gives more freedom for the performer and more "tools" to
express
emotions.
As a harpsichordist I'm obligated to say "all of them." That's probably
not a very helpful answer, however. (And I think there are some that sound
even better on clavichord than they do on harpsichord *or* piano.) The
piano's bland tone (few harmonics), uniformity across registers, and equal
temperament all make Bach on the piano sound (to me) like a
transcription. Sure, the piano can bring out individual lines with more
obvious dynamic differences than the harpsichord, but I'm not sure that's a
virtue in Bach. A good harpsichord gives registral clarity to begin with,
and the player can do plenty with phrasing, articulation, and timing to
bring out the lines beyond that (if necessary, which it usually isn't).
So, for a second opinion I asked my wife, "There's somebody on the Glenn
Gould list asking which Bach pieces sound better on harpsichord than
piano. Which ones do you think?" She replied immediately, "ALL of them!"
[Cue Jim Morrison...]
Bradley Lehman, Dayton VA
home: http://i.am/bpl or http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bpl
clavichord CD's: http://listen.to/bpl or http://www.mp3.com/bpl
trumpet and organ: http://www.mp3.com/hlduo
"Music must cause fire to flare up from the spirit - and not only sparks
from the clavier...." - Alfred Cortot