I'm Starting to Like the Harpsichord ... :)

I have loved the harpsichord for quite a while!!! And not just that, but also the spinet and the virginal. I listen to harpsichord music more often than piano.

Compliments on posting something other than the usual august father... There are many little-known harpsichord composers because they are neglected by pianists (with rare but important exceptions), but who absolutely deserve it: Couperin first and foremost, but also Philidor, Platti, Rameau... the English virginalists... You name it...!

History has made the harpsichord a precursor to the piano (when instead, strictly speaking, one should speak of the clavichord), but it is truly a completely different instrument; among other things, it shares part of its repertoire with the lute and similar instruments, much more so than with the other great keyboard instrument (the organ). Not by chance, it can be considered an instrument more rooted in the Mediterranean area (France, Spain, and Italy) than in Northern Europe.

Sorry to add another consideration: in my opinion, the harpsichord is one of the least "recordable" instruments ever. In solo recordings, to express its dynamics, it is often recorded very "close," meaning with microphones placed right on the strings; then reverb is used to give it an ambient effect, after trying to smooth out the mechanical noises. Instead, live, its effect is very delicate and not at all penetrating, with the exception of certain large modern specimens (used, among others, by beloved masters like Bob van Asperen, who seek to impose a new conception of the instrument that can set aside philology).

In short, to capture the charm of the harpsichord in reproduction, I think one must avoid the temptation to turn up the volume, because doing so distorts the effect of the instrument; which, normally, is very discreet and has no intention of expressing the enveloping power, impetus, or sonic redundancy characteristic of other keyboard instruments. In this regard, it is a bit like the harp, the celesta, or the glockenspiel, which, if reproduced at high volume, would lose all their charm.

Could you recommend a good reading about Bach's children, especially regarding C.P.E.? (even technical ones)

Thanks Croma

Karl Geiringer, I Bach: storia di una dinastia musicale, Rusconi, 1981.

I believe it also talks about the children, but I am not sure. It is out of print and can only be found in a library.

But try looking here as well:

http://www.internetculturale.it/opencms/opencms/it/ricerca_metaindice.jsp?semplice.y=0&semplice.x=0&q=Carl+Philip+Emanuel+Bach&semplice=semplice&instance=metaindice