As one of his electives for this semester, Jbird has chosen to take harpsichord lessons. The normal harpsichord professor is on sabbatical so there are two fancy visiting profs that he is very excited to learn from. Last night one of those teachers, Byron Schenkman, played a faculty recital.
Even though I should know better, I can't help but think of the harpsichord as that twangy sound coming from the back of a baroque orchestra. It was lovely to have my impressions turned around: he played a beautiful concert, which he'd obviously taken a lot of time to prepare for, giving character to this ancient instrument.
One suite that he played had been transcribed by an early composer, Jean-Henry D'Anglebert, from Lute music. It makes a lot of sense, they're both plucked, after all. But if you look at the instruments side by side, you wouldn't expect them to be able to create music that sounded the same.
It made me think of how bizarre and impossible it is that the modern piano/pianist is often expected to attempt to reproduce the sound of an entire orchestra while it accompanies solo instruments.
It made me think of how bizarre and impossible it is that the modern piano/pianist is often expected to attempt to reproduce the sound of an entire orchestra while it accompanies solo instruments.
you are getting so good at your descriptions I feel like I was there, although you lost me a bit towards the end! I gues I don;t know enough about it all!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought I was ranting by the end there...basically, the pianist is often written music that was originally for an orchestra but has been put onto two lines for a piano. So the sounds should essentially be reproducing 80 or so orchestral instruments, but it just can't!
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