Harpsichord in America A Twentieth-Century Revival / Larry Palmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Palmer, Larry, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Harpsichord.

Muziekinstrumentenbouw.

Klavecinisten.

Klavecimbels.

Harpsichordists.

Harpsichord makers.

Facteurs de clavecins--États-Unis.

Facteurs de clavecins.

Clavecinistes--États-Unis.

Clavecinistes.

Clavecin.

Harpsichord makers--United States.

Harpsichordists--United States.

United States.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 online resource xiv, 202 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Indiana University Press 1989

Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 1989.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

After its eclipse by the piano, the harpsichord survived primarily as a museum curiosity until the end of the nineteenth century. But early in the new century the player and builder Arnold Dolmetsch found a ready market for his harpsichords, clavichords, and virginals and an eager audience for his chamber concerts featuring these new/old instruments. In 1923 the incomparable Wanda Landowska made her American debut. This tiny woman, almost a cult figure, was to exert a powerful influence on the course of harpsichord playing for the next half century. Among her students were Putnam Aldrich, the harpsichord duo of Philip Manuel and Gavin Williamson, Alice Ehlers, and, for a short time, Ralph Kirkpatrick. Landowska's instrument was the heavy, durable Pleyel. As the harpsichord and authentic instrument revival progressed, American builders started to produce lighter instruments, and in recent years do-it-yourself builders have been buying harpsichord kits. Sylvia Marlowe is famous for playing jazz on the harpsichord, and in a reversal of past practice, harpsichordists are now borrowing the music of the piano and making it their own. The harpsichord has come a long way from the days when reviewers patronizingly described it as "quaint," "tinkling," or sounding like "a regiment of mice." It can be powerful and tender, dramatic and delicate, and in the minds of many, the only medium for the performance of early music.

Contents:

A passion for collecting

An explorer arrives: Arnold Dolmetsch

Dolmetsch's American legacy

The incomparable Wanda Landowska

Lewis Richards, American harpsichordist

Landowska's American circle

Made in America: harpsichords?

New generation, new aesthetic: Ralph Kirkpatrick

Two "first ladies of the harpsichord"

A golden age: Landowska returns

The past is future

Marathon man: Fernando Valenti

Kits, records, and all that jazz.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-253-05572-5

OCLC:

1259586643