Reviewed by Denis Herlin.
1. Les Trois Programmes
2. Parmentier
References
1. The Three Programs
1.1 Rather than dedicate their recordings to a single composer, these three harpsichordists have chosen to present a multifaceted panorama of the music of Louis XIV's era. Recorded in 1985, Edward Parmentier presents an original but somewhat arbitrary selection of works by the great masters of this repertoire (Louis Couperin, Chambonnières, d'Anglebert and, because of his famous and momentous visit to Paris, Froberger). On the other hand, Byron Schenckman's disc, which presents, with the exception of D'Anglebert the very same composers, is assembled from a different perspective, taking its pieces from the Bauyn Manuscript, one of the most important sources of French keyboard music of the period. As for Linda Burman-Hall, she has dedicated her program to two relatively obscure composers, Jacques Hardel and Etienne Richard. Like Byron Schenkman, much of her music is drawn from the Bauyn Manuscript, but she does not hesitate to introduce the suites of these two composers with unmeasured preludes drawn from the Parville manuscript, another principal source for this repertoire. Thus the music chosen by these three harpsichordists shows graphically the course of their approach to the harpsichord music of this period. The new critical editions Hardel and Richard's music, and the publiscation in facsimile of various manuscripts offers an extraordinary opportunity to rediscover and revive music which compares with works of Louis Couperin or D'Anglebert.
2. Parmentier
2.1 Edward Parmentier's CD opens with two pieces of Froberger from his publications of 1656 (Toccata IV) and 1649 (Canzon VI). In a suite in C minor by the same composer, Parmentier introduces an interesting adaptation of a unique prelude in the same key by the lutenist Dufaut in such a way that Froberger's famous Tombeau de Blancrocher amplifies and completes our understanding of this complex composer. In a sense it's too bad that these pieces of Froberger are not drawn from the Bauyn manuscript, the sole collection of his works in France; on the other hand, the choice of the Suite in D Major by Louis Couperin is quite judicious, bringing together all the known (and rarely recorded) pieces in that key by this composer. Following a remarkable prelude of vast proportions we hear an allemande which carries in the Bauyn manuscript the indication that it must be played "fort lentement"; this is typical of the directive comments that Froberger inscribed at the beginning of certain pieces. The sarabande is paired with a double which, to my knowledge, exists in no other source. It is in fact an example of a written-out reprise as ornamented by the harpsichordist, a practice that conforms to our understanding of French musical practice of this period, and which despite some accents more reminiscent of D'Anglebert than of Louis Couperin, is realized with conviction. The suite ends with one of only two galliards that Louis Couperin is known to have written, and by a magnificent chaconne. The three pieces of Chambonnieres include a rondeau, a little-known chaconne, and a "brusque" (a gigue). As for the three pieces of D'Anglebert, they are taken from the book of 1689, giving us a glimpse of this composer's talent in the art of the prelude, both in his transcription of the passacaille from "Armide" (shown in the notes in the Italian form "passacaglia" for no reason whatever), and in the homage to his teacher, the "Tombeau de Mr de Chambonnières. Edward Parmentier's interpretation is often convincing and impassioned, though sometimes slow. His choice of the Flemish harpsichord (by Keith Hill, 1984, after Joannes Couchet, 1640) gives a tranparent legibility to the polyphonic subtlety of these pieces. It is regrettable that the introductory text is so poor, and that it contains such gross errors as "Louis Couperin was granted the post of Saint-Germain-des-Pres [sic for Saint Gervais]"!
Reviewed by Denis Herlin.
1. Les Trois Programmes
3. Schenkman
References
1. The Three Programs
3. Schenkman
3.1 To attempt to give an idea of the richness of the Bauyn manuscript
in a single CD is a bet against tall odds. This single source brings together
350 pieces, most written for the harpsichord, divided into three sections,
the first consecrated entirely to Chambonnières, the second to Louis
Couperin, and the third to various composers like, for example, Froberger,
Hardel or Richard. In this recording harpsichordist Byron Schenkman has
chosen pieces by Chambonnières (4), Froberger (5), Hardel (4) and
Du Mont (1). But he has reserved pride of place for pieces of Louis Couperin
(17 out of 31 pieces). The pieces have been grouped by tonality (comprising
no more than five pieces by the same composer), but in quite an original
way. While the copyist of the Bauyn manuscript generally collected Chambonnières'
and Louis Couperin's pieces by tonality (do, re, mi, fa, sol), and by genre
(all the allemandes in C, all the courantes in C, the sarabandes in C,
etc.), this harpsichordist selected pieces in the same tonality, while
departing completely from the traditional order (allemande, courante, sarabande,gigue).
Prior to the establishment in the second half of the 17th century of this
classic scheme (only Hardel's pieces are presented in the "correct" order)
it is not known whether there was a conventional order for playing the
movements of the harpsichord suite. Here, Byron Schenkman has presented
a series of pieces in F of Louis Couperin without allemande or sarabande
(prelude, two courantes, Branle de Basque, Tombeau de mr de Blancrocher).
Elsewhere he has judiciously ordered Froberger's dance pieces in G minor
together with two pieces in that tonality by Louis Couperin (a prelude
to begin, and a passacaille at the end; this practice of mixing pieces
by several composers is consistent with what one finds in certain manuscripts
of the period.) The instrument used is a copy of Vaudry harpsichord of
1681 by Kevin Fryer, of a beautiful somber color. Byron Schenkman's interpretation
of these pieces follows the text of the Bauyn manuscript precisely (for
example the audacious or erroneous alternation of F sharp, F natural, F
sharp in the left hand in the reprise of Hardel's Allemande), while providing
varied ornamentation in the repeats, following contemporary performance
practice. It's a shame therefore that the page numbers of the Bauyn manuscript
are not included so that the listener might follow along with the facsimile.
(Geneva, Minkoff, 1977-98). As for the introductory text, though it is
more accurate than that in Edward Parmentier's CD, it is no more than meager.
Reviewed by Denis Herlin.
1. Les Trois Programmes
4. Burman-Hall
References
1. The Three Programs
1.1 Rather than dedicate their recordings to a single composer, these three harpsichordists have chosen to present a multifaceted panorama of the music of Louis XIV's era. Recorded in 1985, Edward Parmentier presents an original but somewhat arbitrary selection of works by the great masters of this repertoire (Louis Couperin, Chambonnières, d'Anglebert and, because of his famous and momentous visit to Paris, Froberger). On the other hand, Byron Schenckman's disc, which presents, with the exception of D'Anglebert the very same composers, is assembled from a different perspective, taking its pieces from the Bauyn Manuscript, one of the most important sources of French keyboard music of the period. As for Linda Burman-Hall, she has dedicated her program to two relatively obscure composers, Jacques Hardel and Etienne Richard. Like Byron Schenkman, much of her music is drawn from the Bauyn Manuscript, but she does not hesitate to introduce the suites of these two composers with unmeasured preludes drawn from the Parville manuscript, another principal source for this repertoire. Thus the music chosen by these three harpsichordists shows graphically the course of their approach to the harpsichord music of this period. The new critical editions Hardel and Richard's music, and the publiscation in facsimile of various manuscripts offers an extraordinary opportunity to rediscover and revive music which compares with works of Louis Couperin or D'Anglebert.
4. Burman-Hall
4.1 Although entitled Music for the Royal Pleasures, a title that would seem to presage an anthology, Linda Burman-Hall's disc brings together the complete works of Jacques Hardel (Chambonnières' favorite pupil) and Etienne Richard, both of whom were in the service of the d'Orleans family. On the basis of testimony of Le Gallois, who describes in his letter to Mlle Regnault de Slier, dealing with the music, (note 1) the concerts of Hardel with the mysterious lutenist Porion before Louis XIV. here the harpsichordist accompanies Hardel's unique suite with contreparties for the lute, played by Catherine Liddell. This realization, surprising at first, becomes very interesting and demonstrates that the repertory of harpsichord pieces is not necessarily confined to the soloist, and that it accomodates very well with other instruments. (For this purpose the listener can compare this polyinstrumental version with the solo version of Byron Schenkman.) Besides this harpsichord suite, there is also a courante for lute in C of Hardel (from the Saizenay ms.) of which there is no harpsichord version. It is sad that the lutenist did not interpret the d minor courante from the same manuscript. (Saizenay I, p. 4) which is anonymous in the manuscript but which corresponds in fact to the third courante for harpsichord of this recording. This would have permitted one to hear the same piece on the harpsichord and on the lute. We return to our edition of the harpsichord pieces of Jacques Hardel, (note 2) which is otherwise omitted from the very serious bibliography in the CD booklet. 4.2 Of the three suites by Richard, that in D demands to played on the organ, owing to the presence of a magnificent prelude mesuré which perfectly suits this instrument. (Note 3) For the Suite in G, Linda Burman-Hall has herself realized a double d'allemande, an idea inspired by the presence of a double (probably by D'Anglebert) for the sarabande of this same suite. A gigue concludes the suite, raising several problems of interpretation; written in binary rhythm, it can be played just as well in ternary rhythm, as was proposed by Bruce Gustafson in his book of harpsichord pieces of Richard, (note 4) also omitted in the bibliography. Despite these omissions, Linda Burman-Hall's notes accompanying this CD are extremely detailed and gives full particulars of the sources utiilized. The musicological qualities of this work should not cause one to ignore this harpsichordist's sensitivity and imagination which has brought this music to life, music of which only a bare skeleton remains, to which she has brought a spectrum of new sonorous color.
Reviewed by Linda Maria Koldau*
1. The "stile nuovo" in Instrumental Music
2. In stil moderno: The Development of Italian Music for Solo Violin
1. The "stile nuovo" in Instrumental Music
1.1 The "stile nuovo" is first and foremost a vocal matter: its roots
lie in the attempt of Italian composers and academicians to reproduce the
musical eloquence of Greek drama and thus to recapture the emotive power
of the musical expression of words. Although the decisive milestones in
the development of a new, moving style are vocal compositions, instrumental
music was directly involved in the musical changes around 1600. Composers
like Peri, Caccini, and Monteverdi were trained instrumentalists, whose
first official engagements primarily demanded the performance of instrumental
music. And even though there is not a single print of purely instrumental
music by Monteverdi, his integration of instrumental forces in his operas,
madrigals, and sacred music makes it evident that idiomatic and up-to-date
instrumental styles were well familiar to him and that they were regarded
as equal counterparts of an expressiveness immediately derived from their
vocal concertato partners. At the same time, this expressive potential
gave way to the development of an independent instrumental style, blending
the traditional instrumental idioms of dance music and virtuoso passaggi
with the newly developed musical rhetoric. Thus, the development of the
early sonata goes hand in hand with the stile nuovo experiments in the
early seventeenth century.
1.2 The violinist Ingrid Matthews has recently issued three recordings in which this development can be traced, from the instrumental performance of Caccini songs via Andrea Falconieri's sumptuous 1650 collection to the rich blend of French and Italian instrumental idioms as found in the sonatas by the French composer Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre.
2. In stil moderno: The Development of Italian Music for Solo Violin
2.1 The recording In stil moderno contains a selection of violin sonatas
published mainly in the first half of the seventeenth century. This selection
is interspersed with keyboard toccatas by Girolamo Frescobaldi and Giovanni
Picchi that are performed by Byron Schenkman on an original harpsichord
attributed to the 17th-century instrument maker Giacomo Ridolfi (c.1662–1682).
The close relation between the expressivity of the vocal "stile moderno"
and the early idiom for solo violin is clearly audible in the sonatas by
Dario Castello, Giovanni Battista Fontana, Biagio Marini, and Marco Uccellini.
All these compositions are marked by their sectional, at times almost recitative-like
organization, by their unpredictable changes from quasi-vocal lyricism
to brilliant virtuoso display, and by dance-like rhythms. On the other
hand, Matthews' "arrangements" of songs from Caccini's Le nuove musiche
(1602) also display to what a high degree early solo song was indebted
to the Italian vocal/instrumental traditions of dance song. Thus, Caccini's
"Aria sopra la Romanesca: Torna, deh, torna" does not differ in character
nor pace from Marini's original instrumental composition over the Romanesca
bass. Castello's sonatas (published in 1621 and 1629), though entitled
"in stil moderno," still display some features of the older canzona style
and have an undeniable modal flavor; on the other hand, their dramatic
contrasts and recitative-like passages are clearly inspired by contemporary
dramatic music. Marco Uccellini (c.1603–1680) and Isabella Leonarda (1620–c.1700)
represent the next two generations, and so does their music. We do not
know whose contentment Ucellini alludes to in his Sonata II "La Luciminia
Contenta," but the listener will certainly derive great delight from the
wild virtuosity in this piece. The long-breathed opening of Isabella Leonarda's
Sonata duodecima reveals an exquisite musico-dramatic sense and a clear
layout of extended musical units that are almost separate movements.
Thurston Dart plays four old organs:
St Lawrence, Appleby (Byrd, Blow, Gibbons)
Holy Trinity Chapel, Staunton Harold (Tomkins, Blow)
St John, Wolverhampton (Locke, Purcell, Greene, Handel)
All Saints, Rotherham (Purcell, Nares, Boyce, Stanley)
These recordings of Thurston Dart, certainly one of the most important musicologists of his generation, are an invaluable document of our view of old music and performance practice in the decade after World War II. Recorded in 1958, they enter the world of recordings only three years after the introduction of the Long Playing Record (LP), and nearly a decade before the adoption of stereo recording. At that point there were few players in the early music game- Landowska, E Power Biggs, Helmut Walcha, Alfred Deller, Arnold Dolmetsch, and the very young Gustav Leonhardt and Nicholaus Harnoncourt, whose day had yet to come.
Given the eccentricities and the colorations of many of Dart's contemporaries, his performances seem surprisingly innocent of lame intrusions and manipulations of the music, anticipating in spirit the veneration of the Urtext that characterized the yet-to-be-born authentic instruments movement. After all, at this point in time, Leonhardt was playing a Neupert, Frans Bruggen a silver flute (at 440!), and Arnold Dolmetsch..., well, he was just being Arnold Dolmetsch.
Viewed from the present perspective, we can easily perceive Dart's veneration for the old masters, and the respectful way he proceeds in reproducing their wonderful music.
On this Volume One of his series, Dart plays English music from the Elizabethan era through the time of Purcell and Handel, visiting four ancient organs appropriate to the period of the music. Sound is of course mono, but clear and good. The churches that house English organs are often far less reverberant than the continental churches we're accustomed to hearing on disc; this is 'authentic', as these places are unaltered from their original state.
Joseph Spencer 6:09 PM 4/26/99
J. S. Bach (1685-1750): French Suites (BWV 812-7)
1. No. 1 in D Minor 8'25
2. No. 2 in C Minor 7'18
3. No. 3 in B Minor 8'52
4. No. 4 in E flat Major 7'56
5. No. 5 in G Major 10'10
6. No. 6 in E Major 9'20
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
7. New Irish Tune ('Lilliburlero') Z 646 1'03
8. Rigadoon in C major Z 653 0'53
9. Sefauchi's Farewell Z656 2'33
10. Minuet in D minor Z. T688 1'25
11. Ground in C minor Z T681 2'37
12. Air in D minor Z T676 1'21
William Croft (1678-1727)
13. Ground (from Suite No. 3 in C minor) 2'28
French Suites first issued 1961 as L'Oiseau Lyre 60039
Others released in 1958 as Argo RG 83
I am of the opinion that Dart's French Suites are the best recorded versions of these wonderful and unique Bach suites ever. Moreover, these recordings stand as the most effective and affecting recordings of the clavichord, ever. I'm not quite sure how they did it.
Of all the instruments, the clavichord is one of the most difficult to record, owing to the extremely low intensity of its sound. Unwanted sounds-- the breathing of the player, the sound of his fingers on the keys, his stomach growling, passing cars, just about anything is louder than the clavichord, and will show up and spoil the best recording. Somehow all this was avoided on Dart's recording, and the sound is quite superb, provided you have the acumen and the will to listen to it played back at an appropriate level.
The clavichord is easily the most intimate instrument there is, a perfect instrument for the bedroom, where you can beguile your lover without even waking her up! The sound has a way of bouncing off reflecting surfaces with an exquisite delicacy that has earned it the sobriquet of 'the beating of butterfly wings."
Dart approaches the French Suites with a keen sense of the delicacy and intimacy of the clavichord in mind. These are truly classic performances, standing miles above anything else that Dart recorded. They should be regarded as required listening for anyone interested either in the French Suites or in the clavichord.
Joseph Spencer 5:43 PM 4/26/99
Igor Kipnis informs me that he has written "very favorable" reviews
of these CDs for both Goldberg and Gramophone. Watch for
their appearance.
J. J. Froberger (1616-1667): Works for Clavichord
from L'Oiseau Lyre SOL 60038, 1961
1. Le Tombeau de Monsieur Blancheroche 3'30
2. Suite X in A minor 5'01
3. Lamentation for Ferdinand IV 2'30
4. Capriccio No. VI 4'30
5. Suite No. XIV in G minor 5'31
6. Allemande (from Suite No. XX) 4'47
7. Ricercar No VI in C sharp minor 3'44
8. Lamentation for Ferdinand III 3'08
9. Suite No. XIX in C minor 4'55
10. Fantasia No. II 5'10
11. Suite No. III in G major 3'47
12. Allemande (from Suite No. XXX) 2'59
13. Suite No VII in E minor 5'27
Five Early English Pieces
from Decca OL 50075, 1954
14. La Bounette 1'30
15. La Doune Cella 2'11
16. La Shy Myze 1'26
17. An Allemande fitt for the Manicord 2'21
18. Sarabanda (from Suite No. 4 in C minor by William Croft) 2'57
Vol. 2 of Dart's Clavichord Collection is equally fascinating, if not as successful as his French Suites. Certainly a case can be made for performing Froberger on the clavichord— or almost any German music, for that matter— but in the event, Froberger belongs to the harpsichord. Indeed, Froberger was a key player (sorry about the pun) in the scenario around young Louis XIV's court that cemented the relationship between the harpsichord and French nobility. Nonetheless, Dart's readings of these pieces are extraordinary, not least for the early date of the recording, but more for Dart's insight and musicality. It seems likely that these may be among the earliest extant recordings of Froberger's music. In his notes to this reissue, J. Martin Stafford notes that "Thurston Dart was particularly proud of the recordings of Bach and Froberger that comprise this CD and its companion... We believe that these two CDs include all the clavichord recordings which he ever made."
The reissue of these valuable recordings was made possible by The British Clavichord Society of London. I'm sure Thurston Dart would be very pleased.
Joseph Spencer 6:46 PM 4/26/99
Igor Kipnis informs me that he has written "very favorable" reviews
of these CDs for both Goldberg and Gramophone. Watch for
their appearance.
Reviewed by Laurence Vittes for Southern California Early Music News April, 2000
"The newest release from Joseph Spencer’s Wildboar label also demonstrates the wonders of a Cristofori instrument, this one made in 1765 by Manuel Antunes of Lisbon and one of the earliest extant grand pianos, now in the collection of America’s Shrine to Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. The performer, Edward Parmentier, takes us on a miraculous voyage of 18th century sound and delight by composers ranging from Sebastian Albero to D. Scarlatti. As always with Wildboar, the sound is of audiophile quality, every nuance and every color alive as if the instrument were in the room."
The Portuguese Fortepiano
Edward Parmentier, fortepiano (Manuel Antunes, Lisbon
1767)
Wildboar 9401
Reviewed by Robert Haskins in American Record Guide, March/April 2000
The PORTUGUESE FORTEPIANO
Albero, Soler, Scarlatti, Giustini, Seixas, Galuppi, Carvalho- Edward
Parmentier
Wildboar 9401 (Albany) 77 minutes
"The dynamic keyboardist Edward Parmentier turns his attention to fortepiano-
a very special, silvery-sounding one made by the Portuguese Manuel
Antunes in
1767- with dazzling results. As Patrick Cohen has shown in his ongoing
series of
Soler sonatas (May/June 1999), Iberian keyboard music benefits a great
deal from
performance on touch-sensitive instruments. Parmentier plays 11 works:
Scarlatti's
sonatas in E (K 28) and B minor (K 227), Soler's sonatas in F-sharp
minor and G
(Nos. 77 and 116), a sonata in A by Sebastian Albero, the sonatas in
D and E
(Nos. 5 and 11) by Ludovico Giustini (1685-1743), Galuppi's Toccata
in D minor,
a toccata in G minor by Joao de Sousa Carvalho (1745-98), and sonatas
in F minor
and A minor by Carlos Seixas (1704-42). Antunes's instrument, part
of the amazing
collection at the Shrine to Music museum in South Dakota, was beautifully
prepared by John Koster. Parmentier's performances, as usual, are unpredictable
and almost volatile in their expressiveness. I love the many mood and tempo
changes in Galuppi's D-minor Toccata, the tonal variety in Albero's A-major
Sonata, the technical flair in the closing movement from Giustini's
D-major Sonata. Informative notes, superb sound. I hope we see some more
fortepiano recordings by this talented artist."