Harpsichord News

Larry Palmer is harpsichord editor of THE DIAPASON.

Nunc Dimittis

Denise Restout died on March 9, 2004, in Hartford, Connecticut. Born November 24, 1915, in Paris, she came to the United States in 1941 as assistant to Wanda Landowska. Upon the great harpsichordist's death in 1959 Restout inherited their home in Lakeville, maintaining it as The Landowska Center, conceived both as a shrine and a venue for the study of early music. For many years Denise Restout served St. Mary's Catholic Church, Lakeville, as secretary of the parish council, religious instructor, and organist. Her burial mass was celebrated there on March 13.

SEHKS

Featuring the Aliénor Awards for Contemporary Harpsichord Composition, the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society held its annual meeting at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, March 11-13. Officers elected for the coming year include Larry Palmer, president; Dana Ragsdale, vice-president; Douglas Maple, secretary; Martha Clinkscale, treasurer; and new board members Robert Parkins and Ann Marie Rigler, who join continuing members Ardyth Lohuis, Charlotte Mattox, Karen Jacob, Elaine Funaro, Gene Jarvis, and Genevieve Soly. Harpsichord maker Richard Kingston was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the business meeting and banquet on Saturday afternoon. SEHKS' next meeting will take place at Stetson University, Deland, Florida, March 3-5, 2005.

The Baritone Wore Chiffon: A Liturgical Mystery

by Mark Schweizer (St. James Music Press, 2004; $10)

Hayden Konig, organist-choirmaster of St. Barnabas in St. Germaine, North Carolina, is also the town's police chief, an amateur detective, and a putative author. Following the Christmas goings-on detailed in Schweizer's The Alto Wore Tweed, Hayden is involved this time in Lenten shenanigans at St. Barnabas. The fictional detective's parallel literary work, inspired by and executed upon Raymond Chandler's very own typewriter, adds a second layer of madcap mystery to this hilarious crime novel.

Musical references abound, although not quite so extensively as in Schweizer's earlier offering. Nevertheless the reader encounters Penderecki's St. Luke Passion, Orlando Gibbons' Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, Britten's War Requiem, and Handel's Messiah, as well as the musical portions of a clown Eucharist and an Edible Last Supper, both added to St. Barnabas' schedule of Lenten services by a zany interim priest ("Clown Imperial" as processional, for example).

With a significant part of the action set at England's York Minster, a steadily expanding cast of Hungarian expatriates, including a dwarf verger named Wenceslaus, and the complete text of Schweizer's Weasel Cantata (see pages 149-150), this second Konig mystery is another page-turner. Copies are available from or St. James Music Press, P. O. Box 1009, Hopkinsville, KY 42241-1009.

Last year I suggested that the first volume of this series was the perfect Christmas gift. Number two is recommended as enhancement for any festive occasion, to enliven a plane flight, or as that unique gift for a literate church musician friend.

Send news items or comments about Harpsichord News to Dr. Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275;

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Larry Palmer is harpsichord editor of THE DIAPASON.

The best medicine
Sing Alleluias forth (or seventh, to be exact!). This summer’s light-hearted read to top all others has arrived in the pages of Mark Schweizer’s latest liturgical mystery, The Diva Wore Diamonds, just published by St. James Music Press (ISBN 978-0-9721211-5-6; www.sjmp books.com). Following the uproarious goings-on in The Alto Wore Tweed, The Baritone Wore Chiffon, The Tenor Wore Tapshoes, The Soprano Wore Falsettos, The Bass Wore Scales, and The Mezzo Wore Mink, skullduggery continues unabated at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in the little town of Beth . . ., er . . . St. Germaine, North Carolina!
Police chief and organist-choirmaster Hayden Konig, now happily married to his longtime companion Meg, is looking forward to the dedication of a rebuilt church and its splendid new organ (replacing structure and instrument lost in a disastrous fire). He also continues to keep his choir in reading material with yet another faux-Raymond Chandler gumshoe mystery tale, typed on Chandler’s original Remington typewriter (for those of you too young to know what that machine is, try googling the word). This story-within-a-story, cleverly related thematically to the primary plot, appears in typewriter-script throughout the book.
Musical references abound: I noted mentions of Elgar, Harris, Bach, Karg-Elert, Mahler, Mark Isham, Erich Korngold, Reger, Marcello, Purcell, Handel, and nearly the whole choral output of John Rutter. All these while sputtering with laughter at Schweizer’s madcap inventions, including an International Thurifer Invitational, his engaging retelling of the biblical creation story, an unknown Purcell cantata (Elisha and the Two Bears), and a shady character named Picket the Fence!
For the more scholarly among us I refer you to the July issue of Hymns and Hers magazine (see page 49), as well as to the sly digs at popular television shows (page 29), or the descriptions of pipe organ embellishments Zimbelstern and Nachtigall (page 97). And, just to keep this column slightly thematic, I am grateful for the harpsichord references on pages 138 and 141.
So lads and lassies, hie thee to an order source (electronic, manual, or vocal) and procure this bit of fun as quickly as possible. Better yet, order all seven of these liturgical mysteries. You will be better for it, if laughter truly is the “best medicine.”

Comments and news items for these pages are always welcome. Send them to Dr. Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275; [email protected].

Larry Palmer is harpsichord editor of THE DIAPASON.

Guilty Pleasures: Reading, Listening, and Viewing

Recreational reading and several reissued recordings from the middle of the 20th century are recommended for pleasure, guilty or innocent:

The Soprano Wore Falsettos by Mark Schweizer (Hopkinsville, KY: St. James Music Press, 2006; ISBN 0-9721211-6-1)
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The fourth in Schweizer’s madcap series of liturgical mysteries regales readers with another adroit mingling of a Raymond Chandleresque typewritten tale presented within the story of churchly shenanigans at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in St. Germaine, North Carolina.
The current volume includes shoe polishing for Maundy Thursday (a contemporary worship successor to traditional foot washing); a Pirate Eucharist in which “Arrgh! Alleluia’s” abound; a restaurant called Buxtehooters; references to compositions by Scarlatti, Rachmaninov, Mozart, Fauré, Froberger, Beethoven, and Casals, with German beer, Fräuleins, AND a three-manual Flentrop organ [page 112!] for “local” color. Not to be overlooked is a fortuitously named character, the substitute organist Mrs. Agnes Day. Highly recommended for readers struggling with the demands of the Lenten season. And others.

Choices: A Novel by Paul Wolfe (Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 2006; ISBN 0-86534-485-X) (telephone: 800/243-5644 for orders).
During several conversations with the author of Choices, he described his forthcoming book as “Jane Austen with sex,” and this entertainingly wicked publication delivers on this promise. Wolfe’s story is set in Italy, primarily at the international music festival of “Lospello,” where devoted manager Ricardo Ricci keeps things on an even keel. Keeping a relationship with his longtime companion and love Katherine presents the other major challenge of Ricardo’s life. Adding George, a young and comely narcissist, to the festival’s management staff stirs the erotic mix to boiling, and beyond. Sly commentaries on the music festival scene vie with various steamy couplings to keep readers turning the pages. A harpsichordist, the fresh toy for the festival’s maestro Gianfranco Connery, makes a timely appearance [page 368]. Recommended for mature readers only.
Paul Wolfe, Texas born, studied harpsichord with Wanda Landowska together with compadre Rafael Puyana from 1955 until Madame’s death in 1959. During these years he recorded a number of solo harpsichord discs for the Experiences Anonymes label. A few years later, upon the closing of the recording company, these tapes were purchased by Lyrichord Records. Wolfe’s discs, offering splendid playing on an early, pre-Landowska-model Pleyel harpsichord and on his Rutkowski and Robinette nine-foot instrument with sub-unison stop, have been reissued by Lyrichord in two compact disc albums entitled When They Had Pedals, comprising works by Frescobaldi along with English keyboard music from the Tudor Age to the Restoration [LEMS-8033] and six Handel Suites (numbers 3, 8, 11, 13, 14, and 15) [LEMS-8034].

By the legendary Landowska herself, two recordings from her American years have been combined in one compact disc for the Testament label (SBT 1380): Wanda Landowska: Dances of Poland and A Treasury of Harpsichord Music. Originally entitledLandowska Plays for Paderewski (the noted pianist was, late in life, prime minister of Poland), Landowska’s program includes a wide-ranging variety of unusual pieces: short works by Michal Kleofas Oginski, Jacob le Polonais, Diomedes Cato, Landowska herself, and the iconic national composer Fryderyk Chopin (Mazurka in C, opus 56, number 2). If there were ever any doubt about the harpsichordist’s Polish roots, her magisterial rhythmic control in these essential ethnic offerings would squelch any possible argument to the contrary.
Not the least part of the enjoyment provided by this compilation comes from new and original comments in an essay by British harpsichordist Jane Clark. She presents a fresh perspective on two selections by Rameau (Air grave pour les deux Polonois) and François Couperin (Air dans le goût Polonois), noting that the 18th-century French did not think highly of their neighbor nation’s chivalric etiquette, thus suggesting that these short pieces might be satirical rather than adulatory.
The second program on this disc was issued originally in 1957 as a collection of short works recorded at various venues during the year 1946. Highlights include Couperin’s Les Barricades Mistérieuses and L’Arlequine, Handel’s “Harmonious Blacksmith” Variations from the Great Suite in E Major, two welcome Mozart miniatures, plus the longer Rondo in D, K. 485 (splendid reminders of Landowska’s lovely way with the Salzburg master, more often played by her on the piano than the harpsichord), and ending with a signature performance of Bach’s Vivaldi arrangement (Concerto in D, BWV 972), at the end of which, loathe to depart, she iterates again and again, in descending registers, the third movement’s signature motive—an idiosyncratic and unforgettable addition to Bach’s transcription.

Viewing Landowska: Uncommon Visionary, a 57-minute documentary by Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater, and Diane Pontius first issued on video tape in 1997, should be required of all who prize the harpsichord revival. Now available in DVD format (VAI DVD 4246), the new issue has more than 50 minutes of additional material, including all the extant footage of Landowska playing the harpsichord, and an audio-only reissue of her November 1933 first recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (made in Paris). The reminiscences from several now-departed major figures who knew Landowska intimately—especially her longtime companion Denise Restout; friend, Polish singer Doda Conrad; and recording engineer John Pfeiffer—are irreplaceable and especially illuminating as the great 20th-century harpsichordist’s life recedes ever further into history. It is delightful, as well, to see some younger images of other commentators in the documentary—Alice Cash, Skip Sempé, Willard Martin, and, yes, this writer—as we appeared and sounded in the waning years of the past millennium. But the major impact of this video disc stems from Landowska’s inimitable playing, reminding us again and again why she became (and, for many, remains) the preferred exponent of that strange and wonderful instrument she toiled so assiduously to revive, THE HARPSICHORD.

Send news items or comments about Harpsichord News to Dr. Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275; .

A Silent H

Another H went silent two years ago when Harold (Hal) Haney
(born May 23, 1926) died in Denver, Colorado, on July 30, 2001. Creator of the
International Society of Harpsichord Builders (later The International
Harpsichord Society) and publisher of a quarterly journal, The Harpsichord,
Haney preserved a rich slice of harpsichord revival history that otherwise
might have been lost.

Haney's career was in advertising, but his several avocations
brought him special reknown. In 1970 he became the first chairman of the board
for "Historic Denver, Inc" and continued as a leader in that city's
efforts at historic preservation. The proud owner of a classic Harley, he
enjoyed riding it, and, at his death, he willed it to the Rocky Mountain
Motorcycle Club. With the eight-year run of The Harpsichord (1968-1976) Haney
combined an amateur's enthusiasm and an advertiser's expertise in the
dissemination of information about the expanding harpsichord scene in the
United States.

Toting his trusty tape recorder he trotted off to interview
builders John Challis (spelled Challas in the first issue of the magazine),
William Dowd, Frank Hubbard, Sigurd Sabathil, and David Way. Noted players who
shared reminiscences on tape for his editing included Lady Susi Jeans, Sylvia
Kind, Isolde Ahlgrimm, Fernando Valenti, Igor Kipnis, E. Power Biggs, Sylvia
Marlowe, Malcolm Hamilton, Claude Jean Chiasson, Alice Ehlers, Rosalyn Tureck,
Hilda Jonas, and Denise Restout, recounting her association with Wanda
Landowska.

Hal didn't always get it exactly right. There were, often
enough, strange phonetic renderings of proper names. Several figures of little
import to the musical scene made surprisingly lengthy appearances in the pages
of his magazine, but, all in all, there was an abundance of useful information
to be found in these thirty-two issues of The Harpsichord.

When the Midwestern Historical Keyboard Society presented
Haney with a special citation during its 16th annual meeting (in Boulder, 20
May 2000) he shared wide-ranging memories with the group, noting that there
were further interviews as yet unpublished. These additional biographies
"will appear later in a comprehensive book covering both early and current
performers and builders," he announced. Since Hal did not live to complete
this project, we must remain grateful for the legacy that does exist, while
regretting those ephemeral tapes, unedited and unpublished.

Thanks to Seattle's David Calhoun for reporting Haney's
demise, and for scouting out his elusive birth and death dates.

Christmas in July:

The Alto Wore Tweed (A
Liturgical Mystery) by Mark Schweizer

Here is the answer to all your gift needs: buy a copy of
this slim paperback for every person on your Christmas list. Any 144-page book
that manages to include references to Charles Wood, Charpentier, Mendelssohn,
Hugo Distler, bagpipes, an anthem text in which "Holy Jesus" rhymes
with "moldy cheeses," and "Martin Luther's Diet of Wurms
("the only Diet of Wurms with the International Congress of Church
Musicians Seal of Approval") gets my vote for book of the year.

Combining a Raymond Chandler-style novel-in-progress with an
organist-choirmaster's church-related murder mystery, author Mark Schweizer
(his wildly-varied professional background includes waiting tables, earning
several music degrees, raising hedgehogs and potbellied pigs [as detailed in
"About the Author"]) has written a madcap page-turner that keeps the
reader in suspense as to "whodunit" while frequently causing an
explosion of laughter. It's definitely a bargain at $10 (from St. James Music
Press, P.O. Box 1009, Hopkinsville, KY 42241-1009; <www.sjmp.com&gt;). While
visiting their website, be sure to sample Schweizer's Weasel Cantata (the only
anthem based on the dietary laws of Leviticus)!

Send news items or comments about Harpsichord News to Dr.
Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
75229;

<[email protected]>.

A mystery, a cautionary tale, and a little advice

A new “liturgical mystery” from author Mark Schweizer

The Maestro Wore Mohair is the twelfth addition to his rib-tickling series of books featuring Hayden Konig, the doubly employed Episcopal organist-choirmaster and police chief of fictional St. Germaine, North Carolina, abetted by his memorable group of choristers, bizarre townspeople, and the highest per capita number of murder victims of any choir and congregation known to literary history!  Joining the riotous series of zany (but compelling) page turners The Alto Wore Tweed, The Baritone Wore Chiffon, The Tenor Wore Tapshoes, The Soprano Wore Falsettos, The Bass Wore Scales, The Mezzo Wore Mink, The Diva Wore Diamonds, The Organist Wore Pumps, The Countertenor Wore Garlic, The Treble Wore Trouble, and The Cantor Wore Crinolines, this latest volume continues the laugh-out-loud-inducing portrayal of contemporary church goings-on and small-town political skullduggery that we have come to expect from the talented Mr. Schweizer. By the time I had perused the first third of the book I had noted accurate references to composers Arthur Baynon, Max Reger, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, Robert Lehman, and J. S. Bach, and been introduced to the developing “Cuddling Ministry” at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church (with predictable results for
the parish).

Need I write more to whet the appetite for this must-have book? To those of us who are hooked on the series, each new addition is the year’s standout literary event. And should any reader be seeking the perfect Christmas gift(s), forget the partridge-in-a-pear-tree and go for the dead-body-in-St.-Germaine! For those truly special ones on your gift list, why not a set of all twelve? [Or thirteen: the touching, but much shorter, Christmas Cantata (A St.-Germaine Christmas Entertainment)—is only 96 pages as compared to the 200-plus pages comprising each of the twelve liturgical mysteries—but is sometimes included by the author in his numbering of the series.] Published by SJMP Books, and available from St. James Music Press, P. O. Box 249, Tryon, NC 28782 (www.sjmpbooks.com). Not recommended, however, for music committee members, who would almost certainly lobby for a Pirate Eucharist or a staged performance of Elisha and the Two Bears. (Yes, dear reader, printed scores to these, and other madcap liturgical adventures, are available. See the website).

A cautionary tale

In mid-May my former Southern Methodist University (SMU) Artist Certificate organ and harpsichord student Simon Menges (born 1982), now employed as an organist in Arbon, Switzerland, made his first return visit to Dallas since his student days. We had a lovely reunion, but shortly after his return to Europe, I received this quite startling e-mail from Simon. He wrote:

“When one travels to play recitals, there is much to tell! I played a concert in Düsseldorf on Monday evening (June 1). My wife Eun-hye and I traveled there on Sunday afternoon. Before I went to the church to practice, my wife and I plus a school friend went to a restaurant to have dinner together. When I reached for my backpack to retrieve my wallet and pay for the food, I discovered that it [the backpack] was not there anymore. Someone had stolen it. I know that it was done on purpose, because the thief took out my umbrella and left it there for me, which was nice since it rained very hard that night.

“The backpack had my wallet with quite a lot of money, all our passports and bank cards, etc. in it, plus the scores for the concert, my organ shoes, and a recording machine. This meant I could not go to practice on Sunday night.

“I had to replace the music for the concert somehow, a task particularly difficult because this was not a very usual program: William Walton’s Crown Imperial, Karg-Elert’s Valse Mignonne, the Liszt Totentanz, Mystique by Widor, and Brünnhilde’s Immolation from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. Luckily I was able to get all the scores from friends. One took pictures of the Karg-Elert piece and sent it to me via e-mail. It took three hours to get all the music, but it worked, something I thought would be impossible. It turned out to be a nice experience, having friends from all over the world sending me the music for my own concert!

“The next morning I just had to buy new organ shoes and then I was all set to prepare for the concert. I missed a few hours of practicing and preparing registrations, but I was able to play the concert. I was not in the best condition after the shock of losing such important items, but still I played OK.”

Simon sent me the link to an online forum review of his concert (in German), and he did, indeed, receive high marks for his sensitive and musically rewarding playing of the organ in St. Lambertus Church, Düsseldorf-Altstadt.

I report this frightening story (albeit one with a positive ending) to serve as a reminder for all of us to guard our belongings with the utmost care, especially when we are traveling to a concert engagement. Today’s communication possibilities worked well for Simon, but in the recent past I have also heard from a longtime friend, now retired, who is enjoying quite a lot of traveling. His camera (with irreplaceable pictures of a dying friend) and passport were stolen during a cruise stopover—certainly an unsettling thing to happen to anyone. I have long made it a habit to carry a photocopy of the data page from my passport in a separate bag, or have it filed with a friend when I am traveling abroad.

A “Little” advice

While clearing my SMU office and trying to organize the glut of papers and memorabilia at home, I came across an obituary from The New York Times (August 3, 2008) that had caught my eye. I had never read anything by the deceased writer Stuart W. Little, but from this Times piece I learned that he had written many articles and books about developments in the theatre from the 1950s through the 1970s. However it was obit author Bruce Weber’s short closing paragraph that made me feel the most empathy with the late Mr. Little: “He was proudest of the fact that he never became a critic,” [his son] Christopher Little said. “He wanted to be liked by people.”

From the Harpsichord Editor’s mailbox

Four recent harpsichord scores 

Carson Cooman (born 1982) is a prolific composer who writes accessible music. He serves currently as Research Associate in Music and Composer-in-Residence at Harvard University’s Memorial Church. A surprise packet containing four elegantly printed scores by Cooman arrived in my mailbox recently. All are “for keyboard” (in the composer’s notes, appropriate instruments are listed as pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, lautenwerk, harmonium, reed organ, piano, or electronic keyboard). All are published by Zimbel Press (www.zimbel.com) and distributed exclusively by Subito Music Corporation (www.subitomusic.com).

All four are well-suited to the harpsichord: textures are consistently spare (ranging from two to four voices), and Cooman indicates that long-held notes should be restruck ad libitum on instruments that have a faster sound decay.

Of the four pieces my personal favorites are Three Renaissance Dances, op. 1079, and Prelude, Fughetta, and Allegro, op. 1064, both composed in 2014. The Dances—Pavane (Adagio), Tordion (Vivace), and Allemande (Andante espressivo)­—are faithful to the rhythms and chords expected in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the order of the movements guarantees both variety and interest. Comprising only five pages of music, these dances will not be boring to an audience.

Cooman’s Prelude, Fughetta, and Allegro is “loosely inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude, Fugue and Allegro, BWV 998—a late composition seemingly intended for harpsichord, lute, or most especially, the lautenwerk [a ‘lute harpsichord’]—apparently a personal favorite instrument of Bach,” to quote the composer’s introductory notes. Dedicated to the instrument maker Steven Sørli, these three movements in E-flat major, C minor, and E-flat major are beautifully crafted and could make an interesting pairing with Bach’s work. Use of the harpsichord’s buff stop would suggest the sound of the gut-strung “lute-harpsichord.” Cooman also mentions that “equal temperament is neither expected nor required” for this music.

The two additional scores in the packet are Ricercari, op. 1014 (2013), “inspired by the keyboard music of the early and mid-17th century.” The work consists of one page (3-voice texture) dedicated to Kimberly Marshall, two pages (2 voices) for James Woodman, and a final two pages (4 voices) for Peter Sykes.

Number four, Toccata sequenziale sopra “ut re mi fa,” op. 1063, dedicated to the New England instrument maker Allan Winkler, is a contemporary work inspired by the early Italian keyboard toccatas of Frescobaldi and his followers. In the style of the 17th century, this six-page piece is meant to be played freely, and it comprises both the longest and most harmonically adventurous of these Cooman compositions.

A musicological detective story

Knowing my deep appreciation for well-plotted mystery stories, dear colleague and longtime friend harpsichordist Jane Clark sent me the journal of The British Music Society (aptly named British Music, Volume 38, 2016, #2) in which John Turner’s article “Thank you, Norman Dello Joio! A Voyage of Discovery” appeared in print (pages 24–32). Turner traces the twists and turns that led to his finding of a major musical score by Alan Rawsthorne (1905–1971). The composer’s manuscript was destroyed together with many other pieces and musical instruments during the November 1940 Luftwaffe bombing of his lodgings in Bristol. Unexpectedly, a copy of Rawsthorne’s Chamber Cantata for Voice, Strings, and Harpsichord (1937) was found among the papers of Southern California composer Halsey Stevens (1908–1989), whose legacy is now archived at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

The link between the UK and the United States must have been the harpsichordist Alice Ehlers (1887–1981) who played the keyboard part at the premiere of the Chamber Cantata in 1937. Ehlers, an early student of Wanda Landowska, immigrated to the United States in 1938, where she was, for many years, a fellow faculty member together with Stevens at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Turner surmises that it must have been she who brought her copy of the cantata score to the United States, where, somehow, it became part of the Stevens Collection. (My quick look at Frances Bedford’s Harpsichord and Clavichord Music of the 20th Century provided the information that Stevens composed a two-minute solo harpsichord work for Ehlers—La quarte-vingtaine—in 1967, the year of her 80th birthday!)

There is much more concerning this exciting rediscovery of a “lost” Raws-thorne composition as well as a reference to Walter Leigh’s delightful Concertino for Harpsichord and Strings, which Turner posits may well have been familiar to the cantata’s composer. The connection to American composer Norman Dello Joio is also explained in his article, together with a reference to this American composer’s 1980 solo harpsichord work Salute to Scarlatti and the welcome news that “the first modern performance of the rediscovered Rawsthorne work took place on October 29, 2016, at the Royal Northern College of Music, with Harvey Davis at the harpsichord.”

Mark Schweizer’s 14th
liturgical mystery

It was The Diapason’s editor Jerome Butera who sent me a review copy of Mark Schweizer’s first liturgical mystery, The Alto Wore Tweed. It was, I suppose, not surprising since I had written several columns concerning “Murder at the Harpsichord” (citing mystery novels with a harpsichord connection, not referring to recitals by students or colleagues). My Schweizer review was published in the July 2003 issue of our favorite magazine (on pages 8 and 10), from which I quote:

Here is the answer to all your gift needs: buy a copy of this slim paperback for every person on your Christmas list. Any 144-page book that manages to include references to Charles Wood, Charpentier, Mendelssohn, Hugo Distler, bagpipes, an anthem text in which “Holy Jesus” rhymes with “moldy Cheeses” and “Martin Luther’s Diet of Wurms (the only Diet of Wurms with the International Congress of Church Musicians Seal of Approval)” gets my vote for book of the year.

Well, here we are, 14 years later, at liturgical mystery number 14, and I have read every one of the intervening volumes, each of which has produced a similar (or greater) sense of euphoria, merriment, and admiration for the author’s continued droll sense of humor, ability to create madcap plots, and sheer ability both to instruct and to entertain.

The newest, The Lyric Wore Lycra, which clocks in at 192 pages (like most of us, it has added a little extra heft around its middle), still maintains the Raymond Chandler sub-story set in distinctive typewriter script, is still replete with welcome musical references, and still displays the author’s ability to poke gentle barbs at liturgical matters, the current ones involving Fat Tuesday and Lent, all side by side with several dead bodies and, thus, enough crimes to be solved by sleuth Hayden Konig, police chief of St. Germaine, North Carolina, and part-time organist-choirmaster of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in that small village.

And yes, it is gift-worthy in the extreme, available directly from St. James Music Press (www.sjmpbooks.com). (Request an autographed copy if you wish.) My package of two copies arrived within three days, so the book accompanied me to Santa Fe, where I shared news of its July publication with my hosts, also devoted Schweizer fans. They rushed away from our dinner table to place their order immediately, and they, too, had their books in hand, ready to be read while on their vacation.