Historical keyboard societies to meet in Cincinnati March 21-25

From Thursday March 7 through Saturday March 9, 2002, two concurrent events at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania vied for the attention of early-keyboard enthusiasts. In one of them, the fifteen semi-finalists of the fifth international harpsichord competition organized by the Southeastern Historic Keyboard Society competed for a place in the final round and more than $9,000 in prize money.

Throughout the competition the absence of the fifth judge, Kenneth Gilbert (who withdrew only days before the event began), may have accounted for several seemingly-split decisions. Rather than three finalists, four were advanced to the finals, resulting in a four-hour harpsichord-playing mara-thon. Each contestant was heard in Couperin (Ordre 25 or 27), Bach (Partita in A minor), Scarlatti (Sonatas K 298-299 or 435-436), plus a work of choice (pieces by Buxtehude, Milán, Cabezón, Froberger, or additional works by Bach and Scarlatti). Judges Arthur Haas, Charlotte Mattax Moersch, Davitt Moroney, and Jacques Ogg deliberated for quite a long time to determine the order of prizes.

For this auditor, Michael Sponseller's canny ability in producing particularly beautiful sounds from Willard Martin's Saxon-style harpsichord elevated his playing to a higher plane. While there was little doubt about the musical gifts of young Martin Robidoux, his playing had far too many technical glitches for a prizewinner in this competition.

The second event, a joint meeting of the Southeastern and Midwestern Historical Keyboard Societies, began Thursday evening with a bi-sited, festive recital. Fortepianist Richard Fuller started the evening in Moravian College's Peter Hall, playing a "fuller-sounding" instrument by Keith Hill in Sonatas in d and f-sharp of Moravian composer Christian Latrobe and Italianate Londoner Muzio Clementi.

Continuing the program (in Foy Concert Hall), Funaro gave rhythmically-irresistible performances of dance-inspired pieces by Stephen Dodgson, and, from prize-winning Aliénor Competition works by Timothy Brown, Dimitri Cervo, Sally Mosher, and Kent Hollday, who additionally had been commissioned to write a Toccata as the required new work for the semi-final round of the Jurow Competition.

As a highlight of Friday's banquet at the 1758 Sun Tavern (graced with original engravings of "His Excellency" George Washington and "Lady" Washington, as well as a truly historic straight "bent-sided" Zuckermann kit harpsichord), Bethlehem native Willard Martin, one of America's most insightful and important harpsichord builders, was honored with career achievement awards from both societies.

SEHKS past-president Karen Jacob included two hymns to be sung by the audience in her aptly-chosen organ recital, which began a very long evening of Moravian music. The hard benches in Peter Hall (former chapel of the Women's Seminary) made one admire both physical stamina and patience of Moravians past. Pennsylvania chamber music ensemble Satori, using modern strings, flute, and guitar, gave devoted readings of an interminable number of works by John Antes, Haynack Otto C. Zinck, Johann Christian Till, and Johann Baptist Wendling, interspersed with Paul Larson's readings from early Moravian church diaries.

Another 18th-century organ, a single-manual instrument built by David Tannenberg in 1776, was heard in a short program played by Philip Cooper during a Saturday morning excursion to the George Whitefield House Museum in nearby Nazareth. This gentle four-stop instrument, almost surely originally built for the Moravians of the Bethlehem Brothers House, is an unaltered example of a Moravian organ, used primarily for hymns and as "continuo" with other instruments. The Thuringian-styled 8-foot Viola da Gamba, wooden 8-foot Flauto Amabile, 4-foot open wood Flaut, and 2-foot Principal played individually and in various combinations, showed the full range of the instrument's capabilities.

Many papers and mini-recitals overfilled all remaining time slots, with concurrent sessions programmed for Friday afternoon, and a further double booking necessitated by one presenter's late arrival early Saturday afternoon. For the complete listing of all events, see the SEHKS website <www.sehks.org&gt;.

A few presentations that stand out in memory include two clavichord programs (Bach beautifully rendered by Harvey Hinshaw, Moravian devotional music played by Judith Conrad); Geneviève Soly's fleet-fingered and enthusiastic presentation of harpsichord works by the Bach-contemporary Christophe Graupner; David Chung's brilliant performance of Buxtehude's Praeludium in g as example of the stylus phantasticus; Edward Parmentier's insightful session on formal structures in Bach's second volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier. (He surely deserved an audience prize for the largest-sized handout!) And yes, there was considerable interest in my presentation on Richard Strauss' Capriccio Suite for Harpsichord, especially at the opportunity to hear a (non-issued) recorded performance by the work's dedicatee, Isolde Ahlgrimm.

Providing historical background and considerable insight into important early examples of piano making in the Pennsylvania Moravian communities, Laurence Libin and keynote speaker Michael Cole detailed the construction of several instruments from the collection  of the Whitefield House during the group visit there.

With so many fine, well-prepared harpsichordists on site for the competition, it seemed almost perverse not to utilize the non-finalists as demonstrators of the instruments during the builders' showcase time slot. If the Societies hope to enroll a new generation of players as members in their organizations every effort should be made to involve these younger talents. In yet another instance of how two concurrent events seemed to have little congruence, there were no scheduled public presentations from members of the competition jury (although they were available for comments to the competitors). With artists of such distinction, this was a decided disappointment to many, especially since Moroney and Ogg were making their first visits to a SEHKS or MHKS event.

At another level of involvement, members of the Societies' executive boards scurried to meetings, often during meal times, and drafted resolutions at all hours of the day and night. At separate annual business meetings, SEHKS elevated Ardyth Lohuis to its Presidency with Dana Ragsdale assuming the Vice-Presidential post; MHKS  retained President Nina Key and Vice-President Martha Folts in their positions.

Bethlehem, a small city with a well-preserved 18th-century core, provided an engaging historic setting for early music events. Several outstanding restaurants were situated within this central core. Staying at the downtown Radisson Bethlehem Hotel, conveniently only a block from the Moravian College music venues, meant that all events were within easy walking distance. We were not the only conventioneers at the Hotel, however: collegiate wrestling teams from Harvard and Lehigh were in town, providing muscle to complement our music. (Too bad the planners hadn't known in advance: potential harpsichord movers, perhaps!)

As an especially appreciated gesture, multiple copies of The Square Piano in Rural Pennsylvania 1760-1830, the catalog from a 2000 exhibition, were provided to attendees by Paul Larson, editor of the volume.

A stroll on Sunday morning (made somewhat challenging by the sudden return of a blustery cold wind) took me past the Moravian Book Shop (established in 1745) to walk by the offices of the Bethlehem Bach Choir, founded in 1898 (quite modern, though, in relation to Moravian College, dating from 1742!). An historic marker at the edge of the campus remembers John Frederick Wolle (1863-1933), "organist, composer, and conductor, born and raised in Main Hall [of Moravian College], founder and conductor of the Bach Choir, 1895-1905 and 1911-1932."

Also observed, a 1911 fountain at Main and Market Streets, with this inscription:

Drink, Pilgrim/ Here And if/ Thy Heart Be/ Innocent/ Here too shalt/ Thou refresh/ Thy spirit.

Even for those of us long past innocence, there was nourishing musical refreshment to be found in Bethlehem.

July 24–August 7, 2004

Karyl Louwenaar Lueck holds degrees in piano from Wheaton College, Illinois (BM), the University of Illinois (MM), and the East- man School of Music (DMA); she also holds a certificate in harpsichord from the Musikhochschule in Cologne, Germany. In 1972 she joined the faculty of the Florida State University School of Music, where she teaches piano, harpsichord, fortepiano and continuo, and serves as Keyboard Area Coordinator. In addition to regular performances with Baroque Southeast, the Tallahassee Bach Parley and FSU colleagues, she performs on occasion with other period soloists and groups.

We have printed reports on most of the Bruges harpsichord competitions since I wrote an article about the second triennial event for The Diapason of October 1968. That year there were 34 competitors; the jury included Isolde Ahlgrimm and Gustav Leonhardt; and, continuing a standard set at the first competition, no first prize was awarded in the solo harpsichord category.

For the October 1971 issue of the magazine, Bruges made the front page with news that American Scott Ross had become the first harpsichordist to achieve a first prize. The fourth competition, in 1974, again made the first page of our October issue, but this time, alas, none of the 33 competitors equaled Ross' high achievement.

And so it continued. For the following ten competitions we have had various reporters: Dale Carr wrote of the 1977 one, in which the highest award was a third prize, while the competitors numbered 52. In 1980, Bruce Gustafson counted 74 competing harpsichordists, but not until 1983 would Karyl Louwenaar be able to describe the excitement of another top prize winner as Christophe Rousset won his first place in solo playing, to become the second person crowned by the jury in this exacting event. It was also the year that the undersubscribed continuo competition was replaced by a fortepiano contest.

This month we are delighted to have Dr. Louwenaar Lueck's report on the fourteenth playing of the Bruges events. A distinguished contributor to the world of early keyboard, she is a professor at Florida State University, and has served as president of the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society and chair of its Jurow Harpsichord Competition. When I learned that she planned to go to Bruges this past summer, I invited her to submit her impressions to The Diapason. After her initial response of "Phooey, I wanted to enjoy myself," this article shows that she was able to find enjoyment in her writing as well as in her visit to Belgium.

--Larry Palmer

The fair city of Brugge held its 41st Early Music Festival July 24-August 7, featuring triennial competitions for harpsichord (the fourteenth held since 1965) and pianoforte (the eighth since 1983). Given this year's very large field of ninety harpsichordists, the first-round playing lasted a full 3-1/2 days, at the close of which the jury chose nineteen semi-finalists, four of which later advanced into the final round. The pianoforte competition's four finalists were chosen directly from the thirty-nine preliminary round players, as no semi-final round had been planned.

For only the fifth time in the long history of the harpsichord competition the jury declared a First Prize winner: 19-year-old Benjamin Alard from France, who captivated the audience with his confident, well-shaped reading of the Ricercare à 3 from the Musikalisches Opfer, and an exhilarating performance of Bach's Concerto in D minor with Paul Dombrecht's ensemble "Il Fondamento." Alard's victory was sweetened further when he received the audience prize as well. The judges (Blandine Rannou, Ketil Haugsand, Johan Huys [president], Gustav Leonhardt, Davitt Moroney and Ludger Rémy) awarded second prize to Maria Uspenskaya from Russia, who made Bruges competition history by being chosen as a finalist also for the pianoforte competition and winning a co-equal third prize there. Co-equal third prizes in harpsichord were awarded to American Adam Pearl (a student of Webb Wiggins and "Promising Non-Finalist" award winner in the 2002 Jurow Competition) and to Mikhail Yarzhembovskiy from Russia.

Pianoforte competition judges Wolfgang Brunner, Johan Huys (president), Linda Nicholson, Alexei Lubimov, Ludger Rémy and Bart van Oort awarded no first prize this year. Second prize winner was Keiko Shichijo (Japan); third prize winner, co-equal with Maria Uspenskaya, was Irina Zahharenkova (Estonia); and winner of both fourth and audience prizes was Nicoleta Ion (Romania). In addition to these major prizes, honorable mentions were awarded to eight fortepianists and fifteen harpsichordists; among the latter was Joseph Gascho, another student of Webb Wiggins and winner of the 2002 Jurow Competition. The total value of all prizes awarded in both competitions was 24,900 euros (approximately $31,000).

While the annual competitions provide large blocks of daytime programming for the Flanders Festival, they are set within the rich context of many other events, including an array of midday and evening concerts, a large and impressive exhibition, and some smaller lectures, presentations and demonstrations.  Event venues range from the Provinciaal Hof on the main square (competitions) to the nearby Hallen Belfort (exhibition), to beautiful historic churches such as the Sint-Annakerk (concerts and recitals) and the modern Concertgebouw (midday recitals in the chamber music hall, evening concerts in the large hall).

Some of the musical highlights for this listener were Gustav Leonhardt's splendid performance of works by Buxtehude, Ritter, Pachelbel, L. Couperin, J. S. Bach and Forqueray, played on a one-day-old harpsichord by J. G. Karman (The Netherlands); Alexei Lubimov playing Glinka, Dussek and Schubert on a four-day-old early Graf copy by Paul McNulty; Davitt Moroney's revealing performance of works by William Byrd; the stunning Baroque trumpet playing in I Barocchisti's performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2; the uniquely beautiful music of Swedish composer Johan Helmich Roman [1694-1758] performed by the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra; and Ensemble Arte-Musica Milano's very fine performances of Domenico Scarlatti harpsichord sonatas, mandolin concerti, and cantatas for soprano and strings.

Denzil Wraight's discussion of "Cristofori's gravicembalo che fa il piano e il forte" was most illuminating, especially as enhanced by Aline Zylberjach's fine Scarlatti playing on Wraight's own Cristofori piano "copy" with its brass strings and cypress soundboard.

Finally, the exhibition was almost overwhelming with its 60+ exhibitors displaying dozens of old and new keyboard instruments as well as scores and facsimiles, books, CDs, tools and supplies. In one corner a caterer served lunch, snacks and beverages--a friendly and welcome touch.

While local citizens and tourists reveled in the warm sun and lack of rain, this visitor, for one, had hoped for cooler weather. Some of the venues became quite uncomfortable by late afternoon; but at least outdoors the evenings were always pleasantly cool. Two real heroes of the festival were Edmund Handy and Andrew Wooderson, official tuners for the competitions and concerts, who did amazingly fine work under sometimes challenging conditions. Also deserving of special mention and thanks are the many builders who provided harpsichords and pianos for the competitions and other events; unfortunately they were seldom identified by name.

Kudos go also to competitions coordinator Stefan Dewitte and his very fine staff, all of whom worked hard and long hours, always remaining friendly and helpful.  Finally, the esteemed--and now retiring--director of the Flanders Festival, Robrecht Dewitte (Stefan's father), was specially honored at the competition award ceremony for his long and distinguished service.  Although it may be difficult to imagine this event without Mr. and Mrs. Dewitte, the festival surely has a very bright future because of their outstanding leadership. Long live the Festival van Vlaanderen Brugge!

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PERFORMANCES

The Historical Keyboard Society of North America (HKSNA) and the Schulich School of Music of McGill University (Montreal, Canada) are pleased to invite submissions of proposals for the Fourth Annual Meeting of HKSNA:

“French Connections: Networks of Influence and Modes of Transmission of French Baroque Keyboard Music”

The conference will be held at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, from May 21 to 24, 2015.

On August 15, Sante Fe harpsichordist Virginia Mackie joins the very exclusive club of centenarian harpsichordists; indeed, the only other one known to me is retired Paris Conservatoire Professor Marcelle de Lacour, who turned one hundred on November 6, 1996, celebrating the event by playing a recital for the residents of her retirement home!

After earning her BA at Wellesley College (Phi Beta Kappa), Mrs. Mackie did her Master's work at Columbia University, and spent several summers in France studying with Nadia Boulanger. Her teaching career in music theory and performance took her to Kansas City Junior College (as head of the music department), Yale University, and to the University of Missouri at Kansas City (where she served as Haag Distinguished Professor of Music). When UMKC later conferred on her its first honorary doctorate given to a woman, in lieu of an acceptance speech Mrs. Mackie gave an acceptance harpsichord recital, as well as a series of master classes.

Following a stint at the University of Arizona, Mrs. Mackie moved to Sante Fe, where she has been designated a "Santa Fe Living Treasure." Here she continues to share her keen analytical skills and love of music with a small number of students. She is especially devoted to the music of Haydn, and, of course, to the masterworks of J.S. Bach, who, I am certain, is happy to share the kudos of his own high-profile year with such a distinguished colleague.

Thanks to Dr. Charles Mize for providing information used in this report.

Women, Men, and Harpsichords in Colorado

More than fifty registrants assembled in Boulder, Colorado, for the Midwestern Historical Keyboard Society's 16th annual meeting, May 18-20. Subtitled "A Conference in Early Music," program chair Theresa Bogard's agenda was much more than that, for it included Elaine Funaro's fascinating program of 20th-century harpsichord music by women (ranging from Wanda Landowska, 1951, through Sondra Clark, 1999), Susanne Skyrm's premiere of composer Sarah Dawson's new work for fortepiano, Dumuzi's Dream, and my own illustrated talk on Swiss patroness Antoinette Vischer's many avant garde harpsichord commissions. Denver resident Hal Haney, venerable editor of The Harpsichord, spoke about some of his experiences while interviewing major and minor figures of the harpsichord revival during the journal's years of publication, 1968-1976.

The conference theme was well served by two evening recitals: supremely communicative soprano Julianne Baird presented a concert of music from author Jane Austen's music collection, elegantly partnered by fortepianist Theresa Bogard, the program heightened by readings from Austen's novels presented by Baird's husband and the highly expressive Marion Paton. The closing concert, presented by Cecilia's Circle (Janet Youngdahl, soprano; Julie Andrijeski, baroque violin; Vivian Montgomery, harpsichord; and Julie Elhard, viola da gamba), consisted of a series of lovely excerpts from the music of Barbara Strozzi and Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre.

The conference opened with Elizabeth Farr playing all six of J.S. Bach's Trio Sonatas on her Keith Hill pedal harpsichord. Fleet fingered and footed, she dealt ably with a sticking pedal note, but as a program, this seemed to me rather like reading an encyclopedia; I lasted only through volumes A-L, the first three.

Novel scholarly presentations were given by Arthur Haas (suggesting that François Couperin's second Ordre for harpsichord might be a tribute to Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre); Catherine Gordon-Seifert (similarities between some melodic models in Louis Couperin's allemandes and those in the mid-17th-century French serious air); and Martha Novak Clinkscale (Women's Role in the Piano Business of the late 18th and early 19th centuries). Edward Kottick paid a sly tribute to John Barnes' tongue-in-cheek take on Italian harpsichords, in his paper "The ‘Specious Uniformity' of 18th-Century German Harpsichords."

Instruments by Thomas Bailey, Dana Ciul, Thomas Ciul, Douglas Maple, Peter O'Donnell, and Ted Robertson were demonstrated by Nanette Lunde and Max Yount, former presidents of MHKS. At the group's annual business meeting, Lilian Pruett, retiring editor of The Early Keyboard Journal (jointly published by SEHKS and MHKS) was honored for her twenty years of service; Carol Henry Bates was welcomed as the new editor.

Cool, sunny, and springlike, Boulder's weather was ideal, allowing inspiring views of snow-capped mountains. Social events, especially the evening receptions, provided good food and the all-important times to share talk with friends and colleagues.