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Sunday, December 15, 2013

Pitched At 415 & Set In Werkmeister III Temperament



 
Byron Schenkman taking delivery of his Craig Tomlinson harpsichord

It is not often that one can go to a beautiful home to listen to beautiful baroque music being played on a brand new  Italian Style harpsichord by an accomplished and erudite harpsichord player. His name is Byron Schenkman.

And it is not often that one gets to listen to an Italian baroque composer whose name does not end in an i. If you take a peek at tonight’s programme note that's composer Ana Bon di Venezia. Of her my Seville grandmother would have said, “En su casa la conocen.” (They know who she is in her home.)



Craig Tomlinson
While her music was most pleasant and according to Schenkman it had a definitive air of Vivaldi as she took lessons (she paid we were told) in his Venetian school, Ospedale della Pietà I was particularly enamoured by another Italian of whose existence was unknown to me until tonight. That would be Domenico Zipoli who by the time of his death was only 38. In 1726 the man who had studied for a short time under Alessandro Scarlatti went to Seville and from there to Córdoba in what was then the Virreynato del Río de la Plata. He was made a Jesuit but never became a priest as there was no bishop to ordain him. He worked with the Guraní Indians in Paraguay and died of an unknown disease back in Córdoba.

Since the Jesuits of his time promoted the idea that the Guaranís should grow and harvest Ilex paraguariensis from which mate is made and brewed I am certain that both Zipoli and I  indulged at length in the refreshing hot drink! 


Going back to the purpose of this blog which is to rave about a wonderful concert of new music. New because while I may have heard or know a tad about  Frescobaldi, Purcell and Bach, all the pieces were new to me with the exception of one of the Bourées in the Back Suite in A Minor BWV 807. Of the Bourée I know since I have a 1964 recording of the Swingle Singers where they sing that very piece.

Much is said and written about new music. But music that you have never heard, heard for the first time on an instrument that is brand new is music that almost redefines what new music is.

And when you add to that the intimate surroundings of a salon that happens to be a living room of the Schenkman's harpsichord maker, there is something even more special. And I must mention all the goodies to be found in Tomlinson's wife Carol's kitchen after the performance.

Byron Schenkman has in the few concerts I have had the luck to hear him play convinced me (he changed my mind in fact as I used to hate the harpsichord and considered it an inconsequential instrument about as useful as the triangle) that indeed it is a wonderful instrument with many possibilities in spite of not having a piano’s pedals. I like Schenkman’s Glen Gould style of playing, with face close to keyboard and sitting on the edge of his chair. When you combine his erudition with his enthusiasm (and he played without sheet music) you may understand why I have converted. 



Byron Schenkman’s new harpsichord, made by our Canadian treasure, Craig Tomlinson, is of the Italian Style. This means that all the metallic works including the strings are all made of brass. While I am no expert on these matters Tomlinson has told me that the sound of an Italian Style harpsichord is special because of its brass works. Since Tomlinson somehow manages to convince those who pick up their new instruments to play in his salon, I can attest to the lively sound of  this harpsichord.


There is something that Schenkman might not have noticed. This is that his harpsichord while it was being built in Tomlinson’s workshop, shared a space with a very large motorcycle.

That reminds me of an article (yes article) I read in a Penthouse Magazine back in the early 80s. In the story a Hollywood agent hires a man who has a time machine to bring Domenico Scarlatti to the present in Los Angeles. The agent thinks he will make tons of money promoting Scarlatti as a composer and player of the virtuoso harpsichord. Unfortunately, Scarlatti abandons his harpsichord, drops out, and takes up with a rock band and is mesmerized by a Moog synthesizer.

If instruments should have souls and Tomlison’s instruments most certainly must have them, then this particular Italian Style harpsichord just might …