Proms at … Cadogan Hall 2 - 23.07.18

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

13:00
Cadogan Hall, London

Jean‐Philippe Rameau: Pièces de clavecin, Book 1 – Prelude in A minor
Jean‐Philippe Rameau: Pièces de clavecin, Book 3 – excerpts
Eve Risser: Furakèla BBC commission: world première
François Couperin: Piéces de clavecin, Book 1 – Sarabande 'La lugubre'; Chaconne 'La Favorite'
Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer: Pièces de clavecin, Book 1 – La sensible; La marche des Scythes

Jean Rondeau harpsichord

Young French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau is a passionate and quirky champion of his instrument, with a maverick energy that brings a contemporary freshness to his period performances.
Here, in an all-French programme, he pairs music by giants of the French Baroque - François Couperin, Jean- Philippe Rameau and Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer - with a world premiere by genre-crossing French composer Eve Risser, whose music draws on jazz and and improvisation to create its edgy sound-world.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The question is, "Do harpsichords have any dynamic range?"

I think they do, though it's slight.

[vinteuil]

The question is, "Do harpsichords have any dynamic range?"

I think they do, though it's slight.

... why is that the question?

.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... why is that the question?

.

Well I find it interesting - the way instrument makers and composers get round issues like this. The same goes for organs (though they have swell boxes to assist) and recorders (where there is some dynamic range, but very little in practice).

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

There's an interesting article here:

http://www.dafx.ca/proceedings/papers/p_115.pdf

[Serial_Apologist]

The question is, "Do harpsichords have any dynamic range?"

I think they do, though it's slight.

Isn't that partly the point of having more than one manual: varied volume as well as timbral output?

I'm not so fond of French baroque music, so I might just attend this one to put my prejudices under scrutiny.

[vinteuil]

Well I find it interesting - the way instrument makers and composers get round issues like this. .

... it's not a question of 'getting round issues like this'. A harpsichord is a harpsichord, it is not a piano, and there is no reason why it should try to be something it is not. Composers who knew harpsichords and knew what they could do composed with that in mind.

By the time harpsichord makers like Tschudi tried to mimic the piano's ability to crescendo and decrescendo, by his introduction of fanglements such as the machine stop and the venetian swell, composers were already writing for the piano rather than the harpsichord.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkat_Shudi

.


.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... it's not a question of 'getting round issues like this'. A harpsichord is a harpsichord, it is not a piano, and there is no reason why it should try to be something it is not. Composers who knew harpsichords and knew what they could do composed with that in mind.

They knew, but JSB preferred the more expressive clavichord for solo keyboard playing. (He wasn't interested in the newly-invented cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte.)

By the time harpsichord makers like Tschudi tried to mimic the piano's ability to crescendo and decrescendo, by his introduction of fanglements such as the machine stop and the venetian swell, composers were already writing for the piano rather than the harpsichord.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkat_Shudi

That you for the link. Most interesting

[doversoul1]

Bump.

1.00pm.

[Beresford]

Thrilling performance. And it's great to hear a Sophie Yates type of full-blown French style harpsichord - presumably double manual. Definitely not a plinky plonky sound. I didn't know what to make of the modern piece at the end (Risser?) but it was suited to this type of harpsichord sound, and would be ridiculous on a piano, I guess.

[vinteuil]

.

... the harpsichord was a recent copy of the ultra-famous, nay "iconic" 1769 Taskin in the Russell collection, Edinburgh - perhaps the most copied historic harpsichord by modern makers. I thought the sound-recording people did a brilliant job here.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p020yb7b/p020yb55

.

https://collections.ed.ac.uk/record/684

.


.

[doversoul1]

Thrilling performance. And it's great to hear a Sophie Yates type of full-blown French style harpsichord - presumably double manual. Definitely not a plinky plonky sound. I didn't know what to make of the modern piece at the end (Risser?) but it was suited to this type of harpsichord sound, and would be ridiculous on a piano, I guess.

An excellent recital. John Shea describes Jean Rondeau something like ‘Rock star end of a spectrum’ on Through the Night

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b9z2s0

As for the new work, I wouldn’t go out my way to listen to it again but, yes, it was very much a composition for this instrument and probably for this performer. I thought it was an interesting work.

[Constantbee]

Had my doubts about the suitability of the venue before I went. I was sitting upstairs. Roomy seating with a good view but the sound just didn’t project well. Maybe this is an issue with harpsichord performance. Wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to see JR for anything although I didn’t think the venue suited him that well. This was my first visit to CH and I found it a slightly cold, somewhat clinical setting. Nice in the sweltering temperatures we had yesterday, mind you. Presumably CH's acoustic features make it ideal for recording and broadcasting. The performance was everything you would expect from such a talented player, and I actually quite enjoyed the Eve Risser composition.

[PhilipT]

Had my doubts about the suitability of the venue before I went. I was sitting upstairs. Roomy seating with a good view but the sound just didn’t project well. Maybe this is an issue with harpsichord performance. Wouldn’t have missed the opportunity to see JR for anything although I didn’t think the venue suited him that well. This was my first visit to CH and I found it a slightly cold, somewhat clinical setting. Nice in the sweltering temperatures we had yesterday, mind you. Presumably CH's acoustic features make it ideal for recording and broadcasting. The performance was everything you would expect from such a talented player, and I actually quite enjoyed the Eve Risser composition.

I have found the acoustic upstairs at CH to be so muddy that now I either book a Stalls seat or don't go at all, whatever the programme. For those who haven't been, CH has air-conditioning in the modern, perforated-top-hat-under-each-Stalls-seat style, as at Glyndebourne. It is certainly effective.

[Serial_Apologist]

I have found the acoustic upstairs at CH to be so muddy that now I either book a Stalls seat or don't go at all, whatever the programme. For those who haven't been, CH has air-conditioning in the modern, perforated-top-hat-under-each-Stalls-seat style, as at Glyndebourne. It is certainly effective.

The atmospheric Edwardian period restorated bar room downstairs, where jazz is performed free to punters lunchtimes twice-weekly during the Proms, is also air-conditioned for your pre-concert refreshment.