Harpsichord News

Larry Palmer is harpsichord editor of THE DIAPASON.

Another member joins the
harpsichordists’ century club

Virginia Pleasants, harpsichordist, clavichordist, and fortepianist, celebrates her 100th birthday on May 9, 2011. Born in Ohio, she attended Wittenberg University and completed her baccalaureate degree (with a major in piano) at the College-Conservatory of the University of Cincinnati. After private piano study in New York City, she won a first prize in the MacDowell Competition for Chamber Music.
Joining her husband, music critic Henry Pleasants, in Europe at the end of World War II, the couple lived in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany until settling in London in 1967. There Henry wrote music criticism for the International Herald-Tribune and Virginia served for twenty years as an adjunct lecturer at Cambridge University. Her frequent recitals of early music and her gift for keeping in touch with a wide circle of interested friends kept Virginia in the forefront of the British early musical scene. In turn she kept many, including readers of The Diapason, better informed about interesting happenings across the Atlantic. Pleasants’ discography includes four discs of Haydn Sonatas for The Haydn Society, and Quincy Porter’s Harpsichord Concerto, issued by Composers Recordings Incorporated.
Four years after the death of her husband in 2000, Virginia came “home” to Philadelphia. In 2002 she joined several friends in dedicatory festivities for Richard Kingston’s 300th harpsichord, playing music of Zipoli, Blow, Croft, Domenico Scarlatti, and Hungarian composer Tibor Serly. A longtime member of the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society, Virginia gave a memorable lecture-recital on the fortepiano works of Philadelphia composer Alexander Reinagle for the Society’s 2007 conclave at the University of North Texas in Denton.
With her attainment of the century mark, Virginia Pleasants joins a select group of revival harpsichordists, including Marcelle de Lacour and Virginia Mackie. More research may be needed, but it seems that daily practicing, especially on a plucking instrument, might be considered beneficial for a long, as well as happy, life.

Comments and news items are always welcome. Address them to Dr. Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275. E-mails to [email protected].

Larry Palmer is harpsichord editor of THE DIAPASON.

Bach from Finland and Medici Music from Italy

Elina Mustonen’s recording of Bach’s Six Partitas for Harpsichord

An artist of distinction new to me is the superb Finnish harpsichordist Elina Mustonen. Her 2009 recording of the Six Partitas, BWV 825–830 by Johann Sebastian Bach (Polyhymnia Records PH 0908), provides musically stimulating readings of these major dance suites played with understanding and integrity on a fine harpsichord after Couchet by Dutch builder Willem Kroesbergen (Utrecht, 1993).

Ms. Mustonen, who has been playing the harpsichord since the age of eight, graduated from the Helsinki Sibelius Academy in 1983, moved on to pursue graduate study with Ton Koopman at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, and returned to Finland to join the faculty of the Sibelius Academy. She achieved her doctorate from that institution in 1988 with a thesis on J. S. Bach’s harpsichord pedagogy.

Her earlier recordings of fifteen Scarlatti sonatas, chamber works, and complete sets of Bach’s French and English Suites for Harpsichord built Mustonen’s reputation as an artist of merit.

Of particular interest is the order in which she offers the partitas on this two compact disc set: beginning with the C-Minor Partita (number 2), she continues with the third Partita in A Minor, and concludes with the fourth, in D Major (total time 76:22). Disc two opens with Partita Five in G, continues with the first Partita in B-flat, and ends with the sixth Partita in E Minor (total time 75:57)—giving an especially coherent tonal trajectory to each disc, and a satisfying, almost concerto-like feel to both, achieved  because of the somewhat gentler dance suites as the mid-point of each disc.  

All movements are recorded with the indicated repeats. Ornaments sound ornamental and tempi are well maintained with just the right amount of flexibility at important musical and cadential points. The ambiance of Orimattila Church provides clear but spacious sound. Ms. Mustonen has also provided the informative notes published in Finnish and English (translated by Jaakko Mäntyjärvi). These discs are highly recommended, both for archival use and for genuine listening pleasure.

The Medici Harpsichord Book, edited by Aapo Häkkinen (Bologna: Ut Orpheus Edizioni ES 66, 2011), €14.95.

Fifteen anonymous Italian keyboard pieces from the late 17th century are to be found in this slim, intriguing publication. Mistakenly attributed to the great Frescobaldi by a librarian’s penciled notation on the flyleaf of the handsomely bound volume, it is now assumed to be from a time at least forty years after Girolamo’s death. The most interesting of the possible authors would be the Tuscan Grand Duke Ferdinando III de’ Medici (1663–1713), a patron of music honored in his lifetime with the laudatory descriptor “the Orpheus of Princes [Orfeo dei  Principi].” If indeed these few works come from the Duke’s pen they would comprise the only surviving music thus far ascribed to him. 

The pieces form four multi-movement sets, each containing one or more binary Aria alla Francese, all of which are in duple meter, with both A and B sections ending in a petite reprise. Each aria ends with open harmony, lacking a third—major or minor—in its final chord.

The first group of pieces, in A Major, contains a Preludio Cantabile con Ligature, Passagagli  Pastorali  (at 109 measures, the longest work in the volume), and two Arias. Set Two, in A Minor, begins with a Preludio di Botte, Acciachature, e Ligature—containing especially thick chords with  handfuls  of notes— and two Arias, separated by a 30-measure Tochata that opens with four measures of whole notes outlining ascending tonic chords, suggesting arpeggiation similar to that at the beginning of a Frescobaldi work in the same genre.

A third set of pieces, in G Minor, opens with brief Preludio and Aria, a 16-measure Tochata, continues with an extended 89-measure Passagagli, and concludes with an Alemanda that not only cadences with a third-bearing chord, but has it prominently placed in the top voice. Two more pieces, in D Minor, make a pair rather than a suite, comprising only a Preludio Cantabile con Ligature and the ubiquitous Aria alla Francese.

In an interesting concordance of review items, editor Aapo Häkkinen (born 1976) studied harpsichord with Professor Elina Mustonen at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. A notice in the printed score mentions that he has recorded The Medici Harpsichord Book on compact disc for Deux-Elles (DXL 1083)—an aural boon that might offer helpful assistance in figuring out how to interpret the ornament sign (+), or what to do about several measures in the binary dances that do not contain enough beats, and perhaps, give an aural suggestion of how to manage wide-ranging leaps that occur in some of the bass lines—intervals for which a damper pedal could be a definite advantage (although several of them would fare quite well on a short-octave harpsichord in which the lowest three notes C, D, and E would be played from keys that appear to be E, F-sharp, and G-sharp). In a Preface of less than a full page there is no editorial guidance given to help the non-specialist or curious player, nor are there any suggestions offered for added accidentals in places where they might, indeed, be musically valid or even superior to the printed score. For an exploration of these fascinating pieces, the interpreter is on his/her own.

That said, after playing through the newfound pieces several times, I find them of sustained interest, and recommend this beautifully printed Urtext edition to the musically adventurous harpsichordists among us.

Comments and news items are always welcome. Address them to Dr. Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275. E-mails to .

Robert Tifft is Evening Circulation Supervisor for the Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University. His 28-year friendship with János Sebestyén arose from lifelong passions for the harpsichord and record collecting. In 2000 he created the János Sebestyén webpage at www.jsebestyen.org.

Larry Palmer is harpsichord editor of THE DIAPASON

János Sebestyén (1931-2012)

by Robert Tifft

There were many sides to János Sebestyén. Few people, even among his friends, knew them all or were aware of his many accomplishments. To record collectors he was an enigmatic figure whose name appeared on often-obscure recordings. In Hungary, concert audiences knew him from decades of performances on harpsichord and organ. For others he was a familiar presence on radio and television. His students often knew him only as their professor. I was privileged to experience first-hand his work in all these areas. 

János Sebestyén was born in Budapest on March 2, 1931. Both parents were musicians—his father Sándor a cellist and mother Rózsi a pianist. His musical education began with his mother and continued at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, where he studied organ, piano, and composition. He graduated with an organ diploma in 1955, a student of János Hammerschlag and Ferenc Gergely. His association with the harpsichord came about purely by chance. In 1957 he was asked to play the instrument for a performance of Frank Martin’s Petite Symphonie Concertante. The harpsichord was unfamiliar to many in Hungary and this performance awakened an interest with both the public and a number of composers. Sebestyén soon established himself as the only concertizing harpsichordist in Hungary.

At the same time he worked at the Hungarian Radio. His career there began in 1950 and by 1962 he was writing and hosting his own programs. These broadcasts continued for 45 years and dealt not only with music, but also politics and history. He was a true reporter, never without camera and tape recorder. His most famous program, The Diary of a Radio Reporter, was a monthly broadcast that documented in sound the cultural and political events that had taken place fifty years previous to the air date. The radio was his lifelong passion.

Sebestyén’s performing career outside Hungary began in 1958 with a tour of Scandinavia. Russia followed in 1961, then Holland the following year. A tour of Italy in 1963 was pivotal in many respects and this country would become his second home. It was in Rome that he first met composer Miklós Rózsa, resulting in a lifelong friendship. In Milan he was reunited with former Hungarian Radio colleague Thomas Gallia, a sound engineer now working as studio director at the Angelicum, an important cultural center with a permanent orchestra and recording studio. 

Sebestyén’s discography may be divided into two parts: the recordings made in Hungary, and those in Italy. Most of the recordings in Hungary were for the state label Hungaroton, while those in Italy were published by a number of labels in Europe and the United States. His association with Vox in New York came about after Gallia and Rózsa suggested him to George Mendelssohn, owner of the label. Mendelssohn, famous for his frugality, provided little money and expected his artists to work quickly. Sebestyén was rarely happy with the results; the recordings in Italy were rushed and the instruments he played were far from ideal. He said these recordings pursued him like phantoms, disappearing from one label, only to be resurrected on another. Some remained available for decades. 

It was his collaboration with violinist Dénes Kovács for a 1970 recording of Corelli’s sonatas that led to the establishment of the harpsichord department at the Academy of Music. Kovács, then rector of the Academy, charged Sebestyén with the task of leading the department. While Sebestyén was never part of the early music movement, he provided every opportunity to expose his students to the newly emerging historical approach to the harpsichord, inviting prominent harpsichordists from throughout Europe for concerts and workshops. He encouraged his students to explore works outside the standard harpsichord repertoire and insisted they play new music. He wanted them to be as flexible as possible—to feel comfortable also at the piano or organ, and thus not limit themselves. He never considered himself a specialist, relying instead on his musical instincts to navigate the entire keyboard repertoire.

Sebestyén’s personal life was as passionate and varied as his professional activities. His circle of friends included actors, artists, pilots, doctors, and diplomats. It is no exaggeration to say that visitors flocked to his home, seeking knowledge and advice, or simply to enjoy his dark yet playful sense of humor. No one in Budapest was as well-connected—he knew everyone and had the ability to get things done. His accomplishments were many and there is no doubt he secured for the harpsichord a permanent place in Hungarian musical life and achieved near-legendary status at the Hungarian Radio. He was loved by his students, friends, and colleagues, and for me, our friendship was both unexpected and rewarding. János Sebestyén died in Budapest on February 4, 2012.

News items and comments for these pages are always welcome. Address them to Dr. Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275. E-mail:

[email protected]

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Dutch organist and conductor Charles de Wolff died on November 23, 2011 in Zwolle, the Netherlands, following complications from a fall in his home in Vierhouten. He was born on June 19, 1932 in Onstwedde near Stadskanaal in the Dutch province Groningen, where his father was a minister of the Dutch Reformed church.

De Wolff studied piano, organ, and music theory at the Utrecht Conservatory. When his organ teacher George Stam ‘moved’ to the Amsterdam Conservatory, de Wolff followed his teacher to the Dutch capital, later continuing his studies with Anthon van der Horst. Van der Horst—whose students had also included Piet Kee, Albert de Klerk, and Bernard Bartelink—was perhaps the most influential Dutch organist of the twentieth century and also an important composer and conductor, especially known for his annual performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Dutch Bach Society.

After completing his studies in Amsterdam in 1954 with the Prix d’Excellence (the highest distinction possible), de Wolff continued his studies, on van der Horst’s suggestion, with Jeanne Demessieux in Paris. From her, de Wolff learned to ‘only accept one’s very best’, as he said in an interview in 2008. Demessieux inspired de Wolff to go hear Olivier Messiaen at the Ste-Trinité on Sundays. Along with Bach, the music of Messiaen became a constant in de Wolff’s career. In 1965, he won the Dutch Gaudeamus competition for contemporary music with a performance of Messiaen’s Livre d’orgue. 

That same year van der Horst died, leaving ‘his’ Bach Society in the hands of de Wolff, who had already gained significant experience as a conductor following studies with Franco Ferrara and Albert Wolf. A year later, de Wolff was appointed music director of the Noordelijk Filharmonisch Orkest, based in the city of Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. De Wolff would stay with the orchestra for a quarter century. In Groningen, he also led the choral society Toonkunstkoor Bekker (1961–1989).

A difference of opinion about artistic matters between the Bach Society and its conductor in 1983 led to de Wolff’s leaving and the vast majority of the semi-professional choir following him. De Wolff and his choir continued their annual St. Matthew Passion performances—as well as their regular performances of Bach’s other major choral works—elsewhere as ‘Holland Bach Choir’, while the Bach Society started a new, smaller choir and an orchestra with period instruments. De Wolff stayed with ‘his’ Bach Choir until 1998, returning briefly a few years later.

As an organist, de Wolff was strongly associated with the Schnitger organ (1721) at Zwolle. One of the first of the large Dutch city organs to be restored with historic awareness (Flentrop 1954), the organ was regarded very highly by organists at home and abroad, especially in the 1950s and ’60s. The instrument was very dear to de Wolff, not only for the music of Bach, but also for Reger, Messiaen, and other contemporary organ music, much of which he premiered in Zwolle. A minor stroke forced him to give up organ playing in 2005.

Although a thoroughly passionate and in many ways single-minded musician—who could easily practice for eight hours a day and study orchestral scores in the evening—he was also a down-to-earth person, who enjoyed playing bridge with friends, driving large classic cars, and was never able to give up smoking. Seemingly secular on the outside, he always kept a connection with the Reformed Church and in later years played for weekly services, assisted by his son Franco, a geriatrist.      

After a simple ceremony, de Wolff was buried in Enschede on November 28, 2011.

—Dr. Jan-Piet Knijff, FAGO

Arlyn F. Fuerst died December 26, 2011 in Fitchburg, Wisconsin at age 69 from CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia), with which he lived since 2001. Born on May 25, 1942 in Holdrege, Nebraska, he received a Bachelor of Music degree in church music at Wartburg College in 1963 and Master of Music degree in church music and organ from the University of Michigan in 1964. In 1971 he received a Lutheran World Federation scholarship and was granted a leave of absence from his position at Trinity Lutheran Church for further studies at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, Germany and the University of Iowa. His teachers included Warren Schmidt, Robert Glasgow, Uwe Röhl, Kurt Thomas, and Gerhard Krapf. 

Fuerst was minister of music at Trinity Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Madison, Wisconsin, from 1964 to 2006. He organized and directed an annual Renaissance Festival for Advent and Christmas on the First Sunday of Advent for 25 years from 1977–2001. The Trinity Choir toured Europe under his leadership in 1979, 1986, and 1996. He represented the city of Madison together with musicians from Trinity at the Madison Fair in Freiburg, Germany in 1994. He taught as a presenter from 1974–88 for the University of Wisconsin Music Extension Series, and from 1979 to 1988 as a presenter for the UW Series on Church Music on the Statewide Communication Network. Arlyn F. Fuerst is survived by his wife, Carolyn Fuerst née Wulff, three sons, nine grandchildren, and a brother and a sister. 

Gerre Hancock, one of America’s most highly acclaimed concert organists and choral directors, passed away peacefully on January 21, surrounded by his family, in Austin, Texas. The cause was coronary artery disease. A gifted artist, teacher, and composer, he was considered by many to be a giant figure in twentieth to twenty-first century American sacred music. He was known not only for his artistry, but also for his energy, optimism, and love of the people he taught and for whom he performed.  

At the time of his death, Dr. Hancock was Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught along with his wife of fifty years, Dr. Judith Hancock. Prior to this appointment in 2004, he held the position of Organist and Master of the Choristers at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York City, where for over thirty years he set a new standard for church music in America. Previous to his time at St. Thomas, he held positions as organist and choirmaster of Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, where he also served on the artist faculty of the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, and as assistant organist at St. Bartholomew’s Church, New York City.  

A native of Lubbock, Texas, Gerre Hancock began to hone his legendary skills as a child, taking piano and organ lessons in Lubbock and playing in a local church. He went on to study at the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree, and from there to Union Theological Seminary in New York for his Master of Sacred Music degree, from which he received the Unitas Distinguished Alumnus Award. A recipient of a Rotary Foundation Fellowship, he continued his study in Paris, during which time he was a finalist at the Munich International Music Competitions. His organ study was with E. William Doty, Robert Baker, Jean Langlais, Nadia Boulanger, and Marie-Claire Alain.

A Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, Dr. Hancock was a member of its national council, and was a founder and past president of the Association of Anglican Musicians. As a noted teacher, he served on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the Institute of Sacred Music of Yale University, and the Eastman School of Music.  

Dr. Hancock was appointed a Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music in 1981 and of the Royal College of Organists in 1995. He received honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Nashotah House Seminary, the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, and from Westminster Choir College in Princeton New Jersey. In 2004 he was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree (Honoris causa) from the General Theological Seminary in New York, and was presented with the Medal of the Cross of St. Augustine by the Archbishop of Canterbury in a ceremony at Lambeth Palace, London. He is listed in Who’s Who in America. His biography appears in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, and the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists named him International Performer of the Year in 2010. 

Gerre Hancock’s consummate skill was clearly apparent in his concert appearances. Possessing a masterly interpretive style, he was an artist of taste, warmth, perception, and style—and a master of virtuosity in his improvisations. Considered for decades to be the finest organ improviser in America, he was heard in recital in countless cities throughout the United States, Europe, South Africa, Japan, and Great Britain. He also performed on occasion with his wife, Judith, including a recital at Westminster Abbey.

Compositions for organ and chorus by Dr. Hancock are published by Oxford University Press, as is his textbook Improvising: How to Master the Art, which is used by musicians throughout the country. He recorded for Decca/Argo, Gothic Records, Koch International, Priory Records and Pro Organo, both as conductor of the St. Thomas Choir and as a soloist. In addition, the American Guild of Organists produced a DVD about him, volume IV of The Master Series.

Gerre Hancock is survived by his wife, Dr. Judith Hancock of Austin, Texas, his daughters Deborah Hancock of Brooklyn, New York and Lisa Hancock of New York City, as well as his brother, the Reverend James Hancock, of Savannah, Texas. A memorial service took place February 4 at St. Thomas Church, New York City. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the University of Texas at Austin Organ Department with an emphasis on Sacred Music.

—Karen McFarlane

Alice Yost Jordan died January 15 at the age of 95 at the Bright Kavanagh House. Born in Davenport, Iowa, December 31, 1916, she moved with her family to Des Moines, where she attended Hubbell, Callanan, and Roosevelt public schools, and graduated from Drake University. She pursued graduate studies at Drake, Columbia University, and Union Theological Seminary. Drake honored her during their centennial year as “One in a Hundred.”

In 1986, Grand View University conferred the honorary degree, Doctor of Letters, upon her, and in 2006 Drake bestowed the honorary degree Doctor of Fine Arts. Mrs. Jordan was listed in the first edition of Who’s Who in American Women, and in Women in American Music. She was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002.

As a composer, she was best known for more than 250 published choral and organ works; one of her best-known arrangements, “America the Beautiful,” was sung many times by the Iowa All-state Chorus. Sherrill Milnes of Metropolitan Opera fame, and Jon Spong, his accompanist, chose her “Take Joy Home,” as a closing work on many of their worldwide concerts, including a White House concert. Over 40 of her works had been commissioned by churches, universities, and other organizations across the United States.

Alice Jordan served on the boards of the Des Moines Symphony Association, the Des Moines Women’s Club, and the Drake Alumnae Association, and was president of the Des Moines Civic Music Association when it had 4,200 members. Memberships also included ASCAP, Kappa Alpha Theta, PEO, and Mu Phi Epsilon, which honored her with the Orah Ashley Lamke Distinguished Alumni Award at its triennial national convention. For many years she was a member of the Des Moines Club. A long-time member of First United Methodist Church, she was also an elder in the Presbyterian Church.

Alice Jordan was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Lawrence, and her husband, Dr. Frank B. Jordan, an accomplished organist and a longtime Professor of Music and Dean of Drake University’s College of Fine Arts.

—Robert Speed

Dutch harpsichordist, organist, and conductor Gustav Leonhardt, a pioneer in period instrument performance and Baroque performance research, died January 16 at his home in Amsterdam. He was 83. Born in the Netherlands on May 30, 1928, Leonhardt began studying piano at age 6, and the cello when he was 10. His parents and his brother and sister were avid chamber music players, and when he was a teenager his parents bought a harpsichord for Baroque music performances; he made it his specialty. In 1949 he enrolled at the Schola Cantorum, in Basel, Switzerland, to study organ and harpsichord with Eduard Müller, moving the following year to Vienna to study conducting and musicology, where he made his debut as a harpsichordist in 1950, performing Bach’s Art of the Fugue. He also met Nikolaus Harnoncourt and began playing with his group. 

Among his first recordings were collaborations with the countertenor Alfred Deller on music by Bach, Purcell, Matthew Locke, John Jenkins and Elizabethans. As a keyboard soloist and founder and director of the Leonhardt Consort, Leonhardt made hundreds of recordings in the 1950s and ’60s that helped establish historical performance practice. He founded the Leonhardt Consort in 1955, for performance of Baroque repertoire, first concentrating on then little-known composers like Biber and Scheidt, and later including works by Rameau, Lully, Campra, and other Baroque composers. The group collaborated with Harnoncourt’s Concentus Musicus Wien to record, beginning in 1971, all of Bach’s church cantatas for the Telefunken (later Teldec) Das Alte Werk series. The recordings took nearly two decades to complete, and were released in boxed sets that included full scores of the cantatas. Leonhardt also recorded Bach’s keyboard music, sometimes revisiting works—he recorded the Goldberg Variations in 1952, 1965, and 1979.

Leonhardt taught harpsichord at conservatories in Vienna and Amsterdam, and also taught at Harvard in 1969 and 1970. His students included Richard Egarr, Philippe Herreweghe, Christopher Hogwood, Ton Koopman, Bob van Asperen, Alan Curtis, Pierre Hantaï, Francesco Cera, Andreas Staier, and Skip Sempé. He was also the founding music director of the New York Collegium. In Amsterdam, Gustav Leonhardt was appointed organist of the Waasle Kerk and later the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), both of which have historic instruments. He continued to teach, and he edited the Fantasies and Toccatas of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck for the complete edition of Sweelinck’s works, published in 1968. That year he also portrayed Bach in Jean-Marie Straub’s film Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, a non-speaking role that required him to perform, in period costume and wig, in locations where Bach worked. He gave his last public performance on December 12, 2011 at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris.

Gustav Leonhardt is survived by his wife, Marie Leonhardt, a noted Baroque violinist and concertmaster of the Leonhardt Consort, three daughters, and a sister, the fortepianist Trudelies Leonhardt.

Kay Arthur McAbee died January 8, after a month-long illness. He was born in Joliet, Illinois on November 17, 1930, and had been a resident of Albuquerque since 1986. He started his professional career as staff organist for the W. W. Kimball Company in 1952. After completing his musical education at the Chicago Musical College and the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, he went on to become a featured soloist in at least five national conventions for the American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS), and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1985. He was a pioneer in the theatre organ world and well remembered for the series of concerts he performed at the Rialto Theater in Joliet, Illinois and the Aurora Paramount in Aurora, Illinois, and more recently at the Phil Maloof Roxy Organ at the Albuquerque Ramada Classic, Fred Hermes residence organ in Racine, Wisconsin, and concert series for the St. Louis Theater Organ Society. 

McAbee taught up to fifty students per week in Joliet for years at the World of Music. He was member of the American Guild of Organists for 50 years, choirmaster and organist at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Frankfort, Illinois for 23 years, and most recently organist for Covenant United Methodist Church.

—Larry Chace

Comments and news items are always welcome. Address them to Dr. Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275. E-mail: <[email protected]>.

Harpsichordists in the news

What with the recent multi-million-dollar endowment of the Juilliard School’s early music program, New York City steadily increases its profile as an emerging major center for historically informed performance. And that has meant an unusually high New York Times profile for our favorite instrument. In case some of our readers have not noticed several recent news or review items of special interest to harpsichordists, here are a few favorite citings encountered during the first months of the year.

In the edition of Tuesday, April 3, 2012 (page C7), critic Vivian Schweitzer’s cogent review of Mahan Esfahani’s Sunday afternoon recital at the Frick Collection was illustrated with a dramatic chiaroscuro photograph of the artist about to take his seat at the spotlighted harpsichord. Schweitzer began with a reference to Wanda Landowska, who gave her last public recital on the Frick’s stage in 1954, and then mentioned Esfahani’s currently unique place among today’s solo performers as the first harpsichordist to be appointed a New Generation Artist by the BBC. Mahan’s wide-ranging program included music by William Byrd, Scarlatti, Bach’s “English” Suite in G Minor, and Mel Powell’s rarely heard Recitative and Toccata Percossa (composed in 1951 for Fernando Valenti). Schweitzer particularly lauded Esfahani’s choice of encores: the Gavotte and Variations in A Minor by Rameau and William Croft’s Ground in C Minor. Iranian-born Esfahani studied harpsichord with Elaine Thornburgh at California’s Stanford University and with Peter Watchorn in Boston. 

In an opera review (Friday March 2, 2012, page C3) the Times’ chief music critic Anthony Tommasini praised a sensational production of George Frideric Handel’s Rinaldo at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The following sentence certainly captured my attention: “At Armida’s word a huge harpsichord descends from above: literally her instrument of enchantment . . .” [For a picture of this faux instrument, see the June 2012 issue of Opera News, page 44.] 

Later, in the concluding paragraph of his four-column critique, Tommasini wrote:

As Armida, the bright-voiced, fearless soprano Elza van den Heever stole every scene she was in, especially the end of Act II, in which the thwarted Armida sings a fiery aria of defiance, “Vo’ far guerra.” The music has a virtuosic harpsichord part, played brilliantly by Jory Vinikour. Onstage a dancer pretends to play the gargantuan harpsichord. The real battle is between [the soprano], who sends chilling phrases flying, and Mr. Vinikour, in the pit. He wins. A diva put in her place by a harpsichordist! Chalk one up for the period-instrument movement.

Hooray and hearty congratulations Jory! At last here is a review truly worth quoting in future publicity releases!  

While in Chicago the busy Mr. Vinikour also participated in performances of another rarely heard baroque opera, La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers (Orpheus’s Descent into the Underworld) by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Chicago Tribune classical music critic John von Rhein wrote that the Haymarket Opera’s   “able, nine-piece ensemble of violins, recorders, viols and theorbo included the expert contributions of harpsichordist Jory Vinikour, moonlighting from his Rinaldo duties over at the Lyric.” [February 25, 2012]

North of Chicago, at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, the centerpiece among the new Regional Arts Center spaces for the Music Department is the Frances Bedford Concert Hall, named in honor of the well-known Professor Emerita and author. A naming ceremony and gala reception took place as part of the two sold-out December performances of Handel’s Messiah. On these occasions Bedford played harpsichord continuo, as she has done since 1993 for each of the triennial presentations of this beloved work. Also participating in the orchestra were three additional family members: oboists Monte Bedford and Leslie Outland Michelic, and Matt Michelic, viola.

One of the more memorable declarations from centuries of comments about musical instruments comes from Giovanni Maria Trabaci, who wrote in the Preface to Book II of his pieces “per ogni strumenti, ma ispecialmente per i Cimbali e gli Organi” (1615): “the harpsichord is the lord of all instruments in the world, and on it everything may be played with ease.” [“il Cimbalo è Signor di tutti l’istromenti del mondo, et in lei si possono sonare ogni cosa con facilità.”] While I am not always convinced about the “ease” involved, it does seem quite evident that, despite an ever-increasing overabundance of baroque music played on the piano, the lordly harpsichord continues to garner the attention of writers on music as it provides tonal sustenance and aural enjoyment to its own special audience.

Sally Cherrington Beggs, chair of the music department and college organist at Newberry College, Newberry, South Carolina, died March 17. Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania
in 1959, she received her undergraduate education at Susquehanna University, and master’s and doctoral degrees at Yale University, where she studied with Thomas Murray and Charles Krigbaum. While at Yale she won the Charles Ives Organ Prize and the Faculty Award from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and was named the Frank Bozyan Organ Scholar from 1989 to 1991. An instructor in organ at Yale as well as the minister of music at the First Congregational Church in Wallingford, Connecticut, she had served as staff organist and teacher for the Allen Organ Company.

Cherrington relocated to South Carolina in 2000 from the Chicago area, where she served for ten years as director of music at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, and as college organist and adjunct faculty at Elmhurst College. She served as a substitute organist throughout the Columbia area, including at Aveleigh Presbyterian in Newberry and St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church in Chapin, and as a part-time organist at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Lexington. She had performed recitals and conducted workshops throughout the eastern seaboard and Midwest, including at two OHS conventions, as well as making several concert tours of Europe as a soloist or accompanist. Dr. Cherrington had articles published in The Diapason, Your Church, Grace Notes, and CrossAccent; her article on “Organ Pedagogy” appears in the new International Organ Encyclopedia published by Routledge. Sally Cherrington Beggs is survived by her husband of 19 years, Mike Beggs, sons Zachary and Nathan, and sisters Linda Svok and Peggy Reese.

David Craighead died March 26 in Rochester, New York, at the age of 88, after a long and distinguished career as a recitalist and as professor of organ at the Eastman School of Music. Craighead joined the Eastman faculty in 1955 and served as professor of organ and chair of the organ division of the keyboard department until his retirement in 1992. He was also organist of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Rochester from 1955 to 2003. He was named Professor Emeritus at Eastman and Organist Emeritus at St. Paul’s when he retired. 

A renowned recitalist, David Craighead performed throughout the United States and Europe. He played in seven national conventions of the American Guild of Organists as well as at International Congresses held in London, Philadelphia, and Cambridge, England. He made several recordings, including one with his wife, Marian Reiff Craighead, to whom he was married for 47 years. Until her death in May 1996, they presented concerts for organ duet in numerous cities across the United States.

“David Craighead’s contribution to the music world is incalculable,” said David Higgs, Professor and Chair of Organ and Historical Keyboards. “He was a virtuoso performer, able to make the most difficult technical passages seem easy; he was a tireless champion of new music for our instrument, having played the first performances of many of the pieces that are now in our standard repertoire; and a beloved teacher, mentor, and friend to the legions of students he taught in his 37 years as professor of organ and chair of the organ department here.”

Craighead received both teaching and performance honors. In 1974, the Eastman School of Music awarded him its first Eisenhart Award for Teaching Excellence. The New York City AGO chapter named him International Performer of the Year in 1983. He received honorary doctorates from Lebanon Valley College and Duquesne University, where he also served as adjunct professor of organ. He also was awarded an honorary Fellowship in the Royal College of Organists, London, England.

In 2008, the new organ in Rochester’s Christ Church was inaugurated as the Craighead-Saunders Organ, named in honor of Professor Craighead and Russell Saunders, who was professor of organ at Eastman from 1967 until 1992.

Born on January 24, 1924, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, David Craighead was the son of a Presbyterian minister and received his first music lessons from his mother, an organist. He was awarded his Bachelor of Music degree in 1946 from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he also was the organist of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. While still at Curtis, he was a touring recitalist and taught at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, during his senior year.

In 1944 he was accepted as a touring recitalist by Concert Management Bernard R. LaBerge, which is now Karen McFarlane Artists, making his first transcontinental tour shortly after. 

Craighead was appointed organist at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church, where he helped design the church’s organ and did bi-weekly organ recital broadcasts. He also taught in the music department of Occidental College from 1948 through 1955 before his appointment to the Eastman School of Music.

Recordings include a 1968 Artisan LP disc of compositions by Franck, Mendelssohn, and Messiaen; and two recordings for the Crystal Record Company (one of works of Samuel Adler, Paul Cooper, and Lou Harrison; the second, The King of Instruments by William Albright and Sonata for Organ by Vincent Persichetti). He also made two recordings for Gothic, one of late nineteenth-century American composers, and the other of Albright’s Organbook I and Organbook III. The most recent recording, for Delos, features Reger’s Second Sonata and Vierne’s Symphony VI.

David Craighead is survived by his children, James R. Craighead and Elizabeth C. Eagan; grandsons Christopher and Jeffrey Eagan; his sister-in-law and three great-granddaughters.

Father Larry Heiman, a member of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood (C.PP.S.), died in his sleep on February 26, in the infirmary at St. Charles Center, Carthagena, Ohio. Born in 1917, he entered his religious community in 1932 and graduated from St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana, in 1940. Soon after ordination, he began teaching music and drama at St. Joseph’s College; he spent most of his life teaching at this institution. In summer 1960, he initiated a summer program that would become the Rensselaer Program of Church Music and Liturgy. Father Heiman completed graduate studies at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, earning his doctorate in 1970, and returned to Rensselaer to establish a similar education program in Gregorian chant and polyphony. 

Father Heiman served the National Association of Pastoral Musicians as a frequent contributor to Pastoral Music, as a speaker at NPM conventions, and as the calendar editor for Pastoral Music from 1976 until his “retirement.” NPM honored Father Heiman with its Jubilate Deo Award in 2002. 

Joseph Johann Karl Ritter II, organbuilder, age 70, died March 19, 2011, at Cape May Court House, New Jersey. Born in Clinton, Illinois, he was trained in structural engineering and industrial mechanics, and his interest in organbuilding began as an outgrowth of these disciplines. In 1973, he took possession of a 1905 II/15 Hinners tracker from a closed Baptist church in Clinton. He disassembled and reassembled the instrument two times in situ, and twice more after relocating to Ft. Pierce, Florida (where he worked for a small marine engineering company) and Green Creek, New Jersey, successively. While maintaining his full-time career in heavy industry, he began the study of organbuilding, with a focus on case design, structural layout, and 20th-century electro-pneumatic windchest design.

After settling in Green Creek in the early 1980s, Ritter converted a large portion of his workshop facilities to organ work, including woodworking, pipe repair, leathering, windchest construction, electrical wiring, and fabrication of structural and winding components. At this time he built a III/12 unit organ in his private studio. This instrument was combined with a full 35mm Simplex movie projector, screen, and seating for eight. In 1997 he began a long association with the firm of Russell Meyer & Associates of Bridgeton, New Jersey, becoming shop foreman, and was involved in the construction and installation of ten of the firm’s instruments.

In retirement, at the time of his death, Ritter was involved in a substantial remodeling of his home, which involved conversion of a room into an organ chamber, into which he was in the process of installing Midmer-Losh Opus 5025, a five-rank unit organ, and had begun work on expanding it to an expected ten ranks. 

Heinz Wunderlich, organ virtuoso, teacher, and composer, died on March 10, 2012, in Großhandsdorf, Germany, at the age of 92. He was predeceased by his first wife, Charlotte, in 1982, and by his second wife, the violinist Nelly Söregi Wunderlich, in 2004. He is survived by three daughters and a stepson.

Wunderlich’s early study was with his father and the local church organist. At the age of sixteen, he was admitted to the Academy of Music in Leipzig, where he was the youngest student. While he was studying with Karl Straube and Johann Nepomuk David, his lifelong interest in the music of Max Reger began. Despite growing up and living in the tumultuous time between the First and Second World Wars, he held prestigious positions and became well known for his many recitals and improvisations. Since he was trapped in the East, his career could not advance until he was able to escape in 1958 with his wife and daughters. He took the position of music director at St. Jacobi in Hamburg, where he oversaw the reconstruction of the well-known Arp Schnitger organ, which had been removed during the war. For many years he was also Professor of Organ and Improvisation at the Hamburg College of Music, where he met his second wife.

As he began to concertize throughout the world, including several tours with his choir, the Kantorei St. Jacobi, his fame grew exponentially. In the United States alone he made twenty-six tours. Students came from all over the world to study with him—many to study the works of Max Reger, as Wunderlich was one of the few musicians who was in a direct line of succession with Reger. 

Wunderlich leaves quite an extensive body of organ works, as well as choral music. He remained active as a recitalist until his 91st year, when he decided not to play any more. (See “Heinz Wunderlich at 90,” by Jay Zoller, The Diapason, April 2009, pp. 19–21; “80th Birthday Tribute—Heinz Wunderlich,” by David Burton Brown, The Diapason, April 1999, p. 18; “Heinz Wunderlich at 74,” by David Burton Brown, The Diapason, April 1994, p. 6; and “The Published Organ Works of Heinz Wunderlich,” by David Burton Brown, The Diapason, April 1994, pp. 12–13.)

—Jay Zoller