Old Musical Instruments & Modern Reproductions!

[Antoine Marchand]

Concerning the dates & pics posted; in the liner notes Kuijken states that 'his' instrument was completed in 2004; the recordings on this 2-CD set were made in 2006-7 - I'm assuming that the picture of him holding his 'shoulder-cello' is the one used for these recordings, but not sure if the instrument in various views (and labelled as made in 2005) is the same one?  Dave 

Finally, I did read Kuijken's liner notes. It is an interesting reading, but more complete information can be found in the 25-pages Badiarov's article entitled "The Violoncello, Viola da Spalla and Viola Pomposa in Theory and Practice". If you sign up for news on his blog, that article is sent as a gift.

As Dave recalled in his last post, there Kuijken says: "In spring 2004 the instrument was ready – I could not have wished for a more delightful present for my sixtieth birthday. The maker Dmitry Badiarov (also violinist himself), and I found the result very convincing and enlightening, and that was for me (and not only for me) the start of a new adventure, which, for several years now, has met with some response in the Early Music World".

That was, therefore, Sigiswald's violoncello da spalla number one.

The process is remembered for Badiarov in the following terms: "The history of my reconstruction goes back to the concert tour of La Petite Bande in 2003 when Sigiswald Kuijken, the conductor, asked me if such an instrument - a viola pomposa as we called it then - could be made. After a moment of reflection I told that theoretically it must be possible". He adds: "I worked on several instruments simultaneously: one for Sigiswald Kuijken and one for Samantha Montgomery. The next instrument was made for Ryo Terakado". 

In the entry of Badiarov's blog on March 23, 2009, it is said: "This is the second violoncello da spalla I made for Sigiswald roughly a year ago. The instrument can be heard on this CD" and an hyperlink conducts to ours discs.

Apparently the problem would be solved: The violoncello da spalla played by Sigiswald is the second one made for him by Badiarov.

But one problem of dates arises: Kuijken recorded his discs in two different dates: 4-7 December 2006 and 26 and 30 December 2007. If the second cello da spalla was made "roughly a year ago", as Badiarov states, it could not be used in 2006.

Another possibility: Badiarov has an awful memory and he finished the second cello in 2005 and that is the instrument showed in the artwork by Kuijken.

Or two different instruments are used?

Below Sigiswald and the so-called (for me  ) second violoncello da spalla:

[SonicMan46]

Antoine - thanks for the additional information and the pics which better show the strap around his neck to help support and instrument - barely seen on the album photo of him.  Dave

[Que]

Dave, just posting this cover that I came accross, when browsing for CD's by the viols ensemble Fretwork. Some impressive and intriguing looking instruments!



Q

[SonicMan46]

Dave, just posting this cover that I came accross, when browsing for CD's by the viols ensemble Fretwork. Some impressive and intriguing looking instruments!

Q - thanks for that 'cover art' of the beautiful viols!  I love Fretwork and own a number of their discs (and just added the one you posted on in the listening thread to my 'wish list'!) - 

Gurn referred me yesterday to a luthier website HERE that I had not visited before; out of the UK - below is just one set of lute images, but there are dozens of pics of different kinds of string instruments for those who love to look at beautifully hand-crafted wooden objects!

[SonicMan46]

Although I posted the pics below in Gurn's Classical thread, I thought that re-posting here would be appropriate - 

Last few days I've been listening to the 3-CD Brilliant set of Mauro Giuliani's (1781-1829) Complete Guitar Duos performed by Claudio Maccari & Paolo Pugliese (Website HERE) - these are about as HIP as possible!  Six different original guitars are used on the recordings, which belonged to Giuliani or Paganini (one shown below was owned by Giuliani); gut strings were used and all done by historical criteria known.  Half of the booklet includes 3 pages about the making of guitars at that time and the specific shops/individuals who constructed the instruments.

 

[SonicMan46]

Today, I was listening to a new acquisition (below, left) - The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (description HERE on Amazon) - this is a 2-CD collection of 'keyboard' works of English Renaissance composers, mainly William Byrd & Peter Philips; instruments used include harpsichord, clavichord, organ, and virginal.

Pertinent to this thread for me was the virginal(s), either spelling is correct for a single instrument; the second disc of this set is mainly Byrd's music played on a reproduced virginal made by David Law in 1983; however, no pics are provided in the brief liner notes of this recording nor can I find much information on the web.  The virginal uses the same mechanism as a harpsichord, i.e. plucked metal strings - but the strings are struck more in their middle giving a different sound, almost like a plucked hand-held instrument; plus, the sound recording on this disc is just superb - really sounds like the performer is in your listening room! 

A little more on the 'virginal' in this Wiki Article, for those interested.  This instrument was often built as a 'smaller' and more rectangular version of the harpsichord, some even w/o stands (a pic added below right, but many variations) - kind of reminds me of the analogy of pianos, i.e. grands, 'baby' grands, and uprights!  Susan (i.e. Harpo) has an 'upright' piano (Mason & Hamlin) in our living room; has a vertical 'baby' grand piano frame, so sounds great - she actually took piano lessons on this instrument as a youngster - given to us by her parents many years ago (50+ yrs old and sounds beautiful!).

Bottom line - this is a wonderful 2-CD set of English Renaissance keyboard music; the recording is just superb; and the virginal instrument is a revelation to me, just sounds beautiful, intimate, and a perfect choice for this music - can't ask for much more! 

[Franco]

Today, I was listening to a new acquisition (below, left) - The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (description HERE on Amazon) - this is a 2-CD collection of 'keyboard' works of English Renaissance composers, mainly William Byrd & Peter Philips; instruments used include harpsichord, clavichord, organ, and virginal.

I have these works on a LP performed by Christopher Hogwood, who uses the full compliment of instruments; a virginal from 1642 made by Thomas White, London.

I agree they are delightful.

[DavidW]

That's a very petite instrument Dave!

Which reminds me, sometime I would like to hear some of Bach's keyboard works on one of those little clavichords that he liked to play on.

[SonicMan46]

The last few days, I've been playing the Felix Mendelssohn CD below - Piano Trio & Sextet played on 'period' instruments, including a restored Conrad Graf (Vienna, 1835) fortepiano (Penelope Crawford, keyboardist) - an Antoine recommendation which is on the Musica Omnia label. 

The instrument was restored by Edward Swenson - check the link for some interesting 'before & after' appearances of these various types of pianos.  The CD booklet is excellent (about 18 pages, English only) and includes a couple of pages by Swenson on the restoration of the fortepiano; the piano is in the Opus 2148 line w/ triple-strung strings and a 6 1/2 octave range - four pedals are present and the hammers can be shifted to strike 1, 2, or 3 strings.

Below are several additional pics of Crawford and her restored fortepiano - I've already ordered another disc of this group's Mendelssohn, i.e. the other Piano Trio by Felix and the one by his sister, Fanny - well also the 200th year of his birth (not to mention that of Darwin & Lincoln; and the death of Haydn - momentous!). 




 

[DavidW]

Mendelssohn played on a fortepiano!?   When was the modern piano invented anyway?  I've heard that the piano unlike some of the other instruments, was really finalized in the 19th century but still saw improvements throughout the 20th century.  Still that's so ridiculous!  Romantic music on a fortepiano!

[SonicMan46]

Mendelssohn played on a fortepiano!?  When was the modern piano invented anyway?  I've heard that the piano unlike some of the other instruments, was really finalized in the 19th century but still saw improvements throughout the 20th century.  Still that's so ridiculous!  Romantic music on a fortepiano!

Well, although many innovations were involved w/ the evolution of the 'modern' piano, I usually think of the latter as being constructed w/ a metal frame, particularly a single-forged one - these did not start appearing until the mid-19th century and were adopted and perfected after that time (below is a short quote from a Wiki Article); of course, Mendelssohn died in 1847, so he would of been brought up using the keyboard instruments of the early 19th century based on wood frames, and certainly would have composed for those instruments; hopefully, some of our more 'piano-oriented' members might provide more detailed discussion - Dave  

The single piece cast iron frame was patented in 1825 in Boston by Alpheus Babcock, combining the metal hitch pin plate (1821, claimed by Broadwood on behalf of Samuel Hervé) and resisting bars (Thom and Allen, 1820, but also claimed by Broadwood and Érard). Babcock later worked for the Chickering & Mackays firm who patented the first full iron frame for grand pianos in 1843. Composite forged metal frames were preferred by many European makers until the American system was fully adopted by the early 20th century.

[Antoine Marchand]

The last few days, I've been playing the Felix Mendelssohn CD below - Piano Trio & Sextet played on 'period' instruments, including a restored Conrad Graf (Vienna, 1835) fortepiano (Penelope Crawford, keyboardist) - an Antoine recommendation which is on the Musica Omnia label. 

The instrument was restored by Edward Swenson - check the link for some interesting 'before & after' appearances of these various types of pianos.  The CD booklet is excellent (about 18 pages, English only) and includes a couple of pages by Swenson on the restoration of the fortepiano; the piano is in the Opus 2148 line w/ triple-strung strings and a 6 1/2 octave range - four pedals are present and the hammers can be shifted to strike 1, 2, or 3 strings.

Penelope Crawford is a charming fortepianist. I even like her resounding and evocative name. 

I have her Schubert's Winterreise in the same label, with Max van Egmond, and it is a recording to die for,  IMO superior to van Egmond/Immerseel on Channel Classics and by far superior to Mammel/Schoonderwoerd on Alpha, just to mention two another HIP versions. For the first time I have felt the keyboard -the same Conrad Graf's grand piano Opus 2148- as an equal emotional partner of the singer, full of shades, different timbres and colors.

well also the 200th year of his birth (not to mention that of Darwin & Lincoln; and the death of Haydn - momentous!). 

And the next year is the 200th anniversary of Robert Schumann, who was born in 1810.

[SonicMan46]

Haydn, Joseph - Keyboard Sonatas et al performed by Derek Adlam on the clavichord, an instrument he built in 1982; description quoted below from HERE; includes the full liner notes!

I own little clavichord music but love the sound of the instrument when recorded well - this disc (a Gurn recommendation IIRC) is a good representative - 

The clavichord was made by Derek Adlam in 1982. It is a copy of an instrument of 1763 by Johann Adolph Hass, Hamburg, Russell Collection, Edinburgh. Strung throughout in brass, the clavichord has a five-octave compass of FF to f3, unfretted, with an additional 4 foot string in the bass. The pitch is a1 = 405Hz, an approximation of mid-18th century Hamburg pitch. It is tuned in a sixth-comma system (Young 2), allowing free modulation but retaining a sense of key and chord colour.

   

 

[jochanaan]

Rebuilding An Instrument By Leonardo's Design (NPR story)

[SonicMan46]

Below is a part of my OP to this thread on old instruments and modern reproductions; well I just obtained the second volume of Jakob Lindberg playing the lute music of Silvius Weiss (1687-1750); on the first volume an old/restored Rauwolf lute was used which has 11-courses of strings (all of which can be fretted); for the second volume, a modern reproduction lute was used (Michael Lowe, 1982) which has 13-courses w/ a number of the bass strings extended from the fretboard, i.e. a Baroque lute - Weiss wrote music throughout his career for both of these instruments from different eras, so Lindberg's decision to use the lute w/ more strings was largely dependent on the compositions chosen for the performances.

Of course, the interesting part are the differences in sound, and I've been listening to these two discs back-to-back; the Rauwolf lute does have a 'lighter and less vibrant' sound, likely related to many factors, including the lack of the additional bass strings; the Lowe reproduction sounds 'deeper and brighter' - Lindberg as usual is superb on both of these instruments and both discs are worth owning not only for having some music by Weiss in your lute collection (the guy was the MOST prolific lute composer of all time!) but also to hear the differences between these two instruments; some more information HERE on the BIS website! 

But, I'll make a first discussion post on the lute, an ancient instrument likely introduced into Europe by the Iberian invasion of the Moors, and modified for many centuries peaking in popularity in the 16th & early 17th centuries; I own a lot of stringed instrument music, including many recordings on the lute, but just received the one below in the mail:

Jakob Lindberg playing Weiss lute compositions on the 'Sixtus Rauwolf lute', an instrument dating from 1590 and beautifully restored - an abbreviated description (more details in the CD booklet) of the lute is quoted below from Lindberg's website -

In 1991 I bought a very rare original lute at Sotheby's in London by Sixtus Rauwolf, a prolific luthier who lived and worked in Augsburg. Only three other lutes by him have survived; one is in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, one in the Claudius Collection in Copenhagen and one in a private collection in England. My instrument is from c 1590 and was originally a 7 or 8 course lute. Inside there is a repair label by Leonard Mausiel, dated Nuremberg 1715 and the present neck, which allows for ten or eleven courses, is probably made by him. Dendochronology confirms that the soundboard is original and dates it 1423-1560. This instrument is thus to my knowledge the oldest lute in playing condition with its original soundboard.

 

[SonicMan46]

Beethoven, LV - Cello Works w/ Lambert Orkis on a Steinway piano and 3 different fortepianos (that span the eras that these works were written) & David Hardy on a Carlo Testore 1694 cello strung w/ steel & with gut strings; a recommendation of Brian (thanks, buddy!) - on the Dorian label.

Four (4) discs in a fold-out wallet w/ a 24 page booklet; the cello/keyboard works played both on modern instruments and on period ones - I'm playing the discs of the different instruments back-to-back; now on the second set - will deserve a longer post in the 'old instrument' thread, but really a unique approach to the issue of works played on modern vs. period instruments - enjoying!    P.S. - $25 from Dorian!

Above is a post that I just left in the 'listening thread' that warrants further discussion here for those who may be interested not only in Beethoven's Cello Works but also in the question of period vs. modern instrument performances; this is a unique offering by Dorian of two experienced performers on their respective instruments, i.e. keyboard & cello playing these compositions w/ both a modern and period approach, hence the need for 4 discs (at really a bargain price!).

The cello used in these recordings was made by Carlo Giuseppe Testore in 1694 out of Milan, Italy; the instrument was strung w/ steel strings for the modern interpretations, and w/ gut strings for the period recordings; the gut strings were made by Damian Dlugolecki (Website HERE).  Not sure if different bows and/or bowing techniques were used?

The pianos varied; a Steinway Model C recently manufactured in Hamburg, Germany was used for the modern recordings, while three (3) different fortepianos were played for the period performances; these 'matched' the time periods of the compositions of the pieces and included a Wolf-Dulcken, Wolf-Streicher, & a Regier 'Grafendorfer'; the liner notes go into considerable detail on the features and differences of these various fortepianos, and the reasons that Orkis chose one over the other in the period performances; he also discussed the advantages and limitations (and the interaction w/ the cello) of the various selection of instruments.  A listing of the works on Dorian HERE - 

[Szykneij]

Well, since my earlier post today on the Glass (H)Armonica, I was curious whether other recordings might be available - certainly the link provided previously showed a handful of offerings - my searching found another WEBSITE HERE, and a performer named William Zeitler - check out the 'Video' section of the home menu for a bunch of YouTube performances!

Plus, he has recorded a number of CDs (some of original music for the instrument!) - just two are shown below - anyone know these offerings?  Both received 5* ratings on Amazon:

Last week, a local musician who plays the glass harmonica came to our school to demonstrate her instrument and kindly spent the entire day with us playing and talking about it to our students. The kids were impressed with the presentation, especially after I told them that this was an instrument most people will never see and hear (let alone touch) in person during their lifetimes. Her website is here:

www.myspace.com/verameyer

It was interesting that some of the kids reported some discomfort from the notes being played. I'm sure there are overtones produced that can only be heard by young ears, and this effect may be party responsible for the 18th century belief that the glass harmonica caused insanity. (Possibly the lead absorbed by the player's fingers from the leaded glass would be a more plausible explanation.)

Coincidentally, a high school buddy of mine worked for the company that produces glass harmonicas (Finkenbeiner Inc., of Waltham, Massachusetts) and probably helped make the one brought to the demonstration before he left to start his own firm after the company founder, Gerhard B. Finkenbeiner, mysteriously disappeared in his airplane.

(If you know where he is, you can get a $10,000 reward:  http://www.finkenbeiner.com/reward.htm   )

These are two recordings I have and enjoy:

[SonicMan46]

Last week, a local musician who plays the glass harmonica came to our school to demonstrate her instrument and kindly spent the entire day with us playing and talking about it to our students. The kids were impressed with the presentation, especially after I told them that this was an instrument most people will never see and hear (let alone touch) in person during their lifetimes............................

Tony - thanks for that great story about the glass harmonica - kids must have loved the experience - I was planning to purchase some more discs of this instrument, but was side-tracked, I guess - 

I'm still quite interested in the CDs asked about on my earlier post and the performer mentioned, but will certainly take a look at those of your visiting musician and your other links - seems to be more available recordings than I had imagined!  Dave 

[Szykneij]

I'm still quite interested in the CDs asked about on my earlier post and the performer mentioned, but will certainly take a look at those of your visiting musician and your other links - seems to be more available recordings than I had imagined!  Dave 

Yes, there is a surprising amount. There is a CD link at this Finkenbeiner site, also:

http://www.finkenbeiner.com/GLASSHARMONICA.htm

[Antoine Marchand]

Sigiswald Kuijken plays Suite nr BWV1007 prelude on the viola da spalla:

http://www.youtube.com/v/VFZ0HHMIMn0