SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews
The Great Transcriptions - WEISS: Suite of 8 Dances; REINCKEN-J.S. BACH: Sonata in A Minor BWV 965; GEMINIANI: Pieces de Clavecin - Olga Martynova, harpsichord - Caro Mitis SACD
Transcriptions for harpsichord - often by the composers themselves - of their chamber and orchestral works
Published on July 06, 2005
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The Great Transcriptions - WEISS: Suite of 8 Dances;
REINCKEN-J.S. BACH: Sonata in A Minor BWV 965; GEMINIANI: Pieces de
Clavecin - Olga Martynova, harpsichord - Caro Mitis CM 0072004, 62:30
****:
Keyboard instruments, but primarily the harpsichord, had great popularity in the 18th century. Orchestral and chamber works were transcribed for keyboard performance by amateurs. Often new works were offered in two versions: one for ensemble and one for harpsichord. Geminiani, for example, didn’t even write works for harpsichord, but published keyboard versions of some of his violin sonatas, and the closing selections on this disc are four such movements. Weiss was a prolific composer of music for the lute, usually written in tablature form rather than on the normal musical staff. He created over 600 such works, and since both the lute and harpsichord are plucked instruments transcription to the keyboard involves very little effort. All eight movements are dance forms such as Courante, Gavotte and Gigue. The longest is the majestic and meditative Allemande.
The reproduction of the William Dowd American-made copy of a French harpsichord is very detailed and transparent, but without emphasizing the sounds of the action as do many harpsichord recordings. The advantages of multichannel reproduction on this instrument are just as strong as they are with regard to a grand piano. Just mute the surround channels and note how much more flat and two-dimensional the sound becomes.
- John Sunier
Keyboard instruments, but primarily the harpsichord, had great popularity in the 18th century. Orchestral and chamber works were transcribed for keyboard performance by amateurs. Often new works were offered in two versions: one for ensemble and one for harpsichord. Geminiani, for example, didn’t even write works for harpsichord, but published keyboard versions of some of his violin sonatas, and the closing selections on this disc are four such movements. Weiss was a prolific composer of music for the lute, usually written in tablature form rather than on the normal musical staff. He created over 600 such works, and since both the lute and harpsichord are plucked instruments transcription to the keyboard involves very little effort. All eight movements are dance forms such as Courante, Gavotte and Gigue. The longest is the majestic and meditative Allemande.
The reproduction of the William Dowd American-made copy of a French harpsichord is very detailed and transparent, but without emphasizing the sounds of the action as do many harpsichord recordings. The advantages of multichannel reproduction on this instrument are just as strong as they are with regard to a grand piano. Just mute the surround channels and note how much more flat and two-dimensional the sound becomes.
- John Sunier
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