Re: unrecorded keyboard

[Juozas Rimas <JuozasRimas@TAKAS.LT>]

> Bradley wrote
> >
> > 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.

I'd like to talk a little more on this topic if you don't mind. Correct me if I
wrong but you can play the harpsichord only at ONE VOLUME LEVEL ON ONE HAND. Is
it so? My mediocre English will need more explanation: if you hit a key on the
harpsichord, a sound of x volume will be produced. If you hit another key, the
sound will still be at x volume. The third sound at x volume and so on. You can
play softer with the other hand as I understand but there seems to be little
overall control of the sound intensity on the instrument.
Ok, I'm carefully listening to the first Ricercare from the Musical Offering on
the harpsichord. And what do I hear? A voice starts at one volume level and
continues in the same fashion throughout the piece. Gosh, I would expect a
quiet, soft beginning (like Gould starts the first contrapunctus of the art),
then louder, louder - the culmination is coming, the music is flowing, BREATHING
as a live organism. And on the harpsichord I hear the ricercare as a rigid,
austere story told by a very restrained person. The piece is wonderful - it
sounds great on the harpsichord due to the divine polyphony but there is no
melodic dinamism, excuse me. No tide end ebb of the interior energy of the
music. We feel the culmination only because that place in the composition itself
forces us to think so - the merit of the performer is little.

If it is really so, this one point is well enough to keep the piano versions and
listen to the harpsichord renditions only if you care about authenticity or want
to explore some new colors of music, speaking in an abstract way.

Do you think Bach would compose pieces at (in fact) one volume level if he could
get his hands on a piano or at least a clavichord? Isn't it possible he wanted
melodic dinamism but physically couldn't get it on the harpsichord?

Did Bach want a choir sing all vocal parts of his cantatas at one volume level?
The violin solo pieces?

Sorry for my primitive writing but I can't write in a more sophisticated way due
to linguistic limitations :) Anyway I'd like to hear a straight answer from a
professional (biased, yes - impossible otherwise) but professional.

Juozas Rimas Jr
http://mp3.com/JuozasRimas - Baroque and more...