The Art of Gustav Leonhardt

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

This looks like a nice sampler of CPE's orchestral music. Can anyone give feedback on it?

[Karl Henning]

Parenthetically, I wonder if I have some CPEB in a Leonhardt box ....

[Mookalafalas]

Is this supposed to be OOP? I just picked it up at my shop or regular price, but Amazon lists it for $110 now
I have it on now. Old Gustav really does kick ass.  It reminds me more of old Helmut Walcha's bold, free-wheeling version than Leonhardt's own students, who, surprising to me anyway, seem rather more cautious than their teacher.

EDIT: Sorry, apparently I simply forgot to put in the tags
   And I'm getting weird parallel universe syndrome at Amazon.  Today the price is back to normal.  It still seems to be listed as though it is only available from 3rd parties, but now the prices are what you would expect.

[asin]B007AR7QQC[/asin]

[Marc]

Is this supposed to be OOP? I just picked it up at my shop or regular price, but Amazon lists it for $110 now
I have it on now. Old Gustav really does kick ass.  It reminds me more of old Helmut Walcha's bold, free-wheeling version than Leonhardt's own students, who, surprising to me anyway, seem rather more cautious than their teacher.

Are you referring to the CPE Bach twofer?
Because I see some used and new copies at Amazon.com for $10 and up.

Anyway, those Virgin Veritas x2 sets are mostly 'officially' OOP, as far as I know.
The CPEB/Bylsma/Leonhardt recordings are now part of a Warner 13-cd boxset.



http://www.amazon.com/C-P-E-Bach-Collection-Various/dp/B00H87JXYM/?tag=goodmusicguideco

[Mandryka]

Are you referring to the CPE Bach twofer?
Because I see some used and new copies at Amazon.com for $10 and up.

Anyway, those Virgin Veritas x2 sets are mostly 'officially' OOP, as far as I know.
The CPEB/Bylsma/Leonhardt recordings are now part of a Warner 13-cd boxset.



http://www.amazon.com/C-P-E-Bach-Collection-Various/dp/B00H87JXYM/?tag=goodmusicguideco

If the sonatas are OOP and anyone's interested in them then let me know and I'll put them onto symphonyshare. I think they're as good as CPEB recordings ever get.

[Marc]

If the sonatas are OOP and anyone's interested in them then let me know and I'll put them onto symphonyshare. I think they're as good as CPEB recordings ever get.

Pro Arte?
Seon?
RCA?
Philips?



Uhh .... please do!

[Mookalafalas]

Sorry, i simply forgot to post the Amazon link.

   And today the prices have made a full recovery, for whatever weird Amazon reason.  There are even a couple of cheaper second-hand ones listed. 

[Mandryka]

Pro Arte?
Seon?
RCA?
Philips?



Uhh .... please do!

Seon. It's uploading to symphonyshare as I type.

[Mandryka]

Here's a Leonhardt bibliography

1950

J. S. Bach's ternäre Notation. Teilstudie von Bach's rhythmischer Notation (unpublished thesis; typescript, Basel 1950).
1952

The Art of Fugue. Bach's Last Harpsichord Work. An Argument (The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1952).
   French translation, abridged *): L'Art de la Fugue, dernière œuvre de Bach pour le clavecin. Argumentation. Traduit par Jacques Drillon (Paris, Editions Van de Velde, 1985).
   *) "À la demande expresse de Gustav Leonhardt, la version française a été amputée des deux dernières parties, plus historiques et esthétiques, et ne comporte donc que la section purement «argumentative»." (Jacques Drillon, Sur Leonhardt [Paris, Gallimard, 2009], 103 n. 1)
1957

Francesco Turini: 6 Sonate per 2 violini, violoncello e continuo. Herausgegeben von Gustav Leonhardt. – Reihe Continuo, Sammlung alter Spielmusik. U.E. 12749/12750 (Wien, Universal Edition, 1957).
1958

Sleeve notes for Telefunken LT-6609: Johann Sebastian Bach, Sonate in d kl. t. (BWV 964), Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo (BWV 992), Fantasie en fuga in a kl. t. (BWV 904) [1958].
    — Brief notes (in Dutch) on the music and on the 1766 Jacobus Kirkman harpsichord in Amerongen Castle.
1959

Johann Heinrich Schmelzer: Zwei Sonaten für Violine, 2 Altgamben (2 Bratschen), Tenorgambe (Cello) und Orgel (Cembalo). Herausgegeben von Gustav Leonhardt. – Reihe Continuo, Sammlung alter Spielmusik. U.E. 12757/12758 (Wien, Universal Edition, 1959).

Girolamo Frescobaldi: 6 Canzoni (1628) für 3 und 4 Spieler. Herausgegeben von Gustav Leonhardt. – Reihe Continuo, Sammlung alter Spielmusik. U.E. 12771/12772 (Wien, Universal Edition, 1959).

Carolus Hacquart: Sonata (1686) für 2 Violinen, Altgambe (Bratsche), Tenorgambe (Bassgambe oder Cello) und Orgel (Cembalo). Herausgegeben von Gustav Leonhardt. – Reihe Continuo, Sammlung alter Spielmusik. U.E. 13064/13065 (Wien, Universal Edition, 1959).

1961

"Ten geleide", in: J.F. Obermayr et al. (ed.), Nederlandse orgelpracht. [Uitgegeven] onder auspiciën van de Commissie Internationaal Orgelconcours te Haarlem (Haarlem, H.D. Tjeenk Willink & Zoon N.V., 1961), ix–x.

1962

William Young: 19 Tanzsätze für 2 Violinen, Gamba (Cello) und Basso Continuo. Mit Vorwort und Continuo-Aussetzung herausgegeben von Gustav Leonhardt. U.E. 13097/13098 (Wien, Universal Edition, 1962).

1965

Sleeve notes for Disco-Nederland Documenta DN 650708: Gustav Leonhardt bespeelt het orgel van de Waalse Kerk in Amsterdam [1965].
    — Notes (in Dutch) on the Christiaan Müller organ in the Eglise Wallonne in Amsterdam.
1967

"Der Dreifaltigkeits-Orgel von Karl Joseph Riepp". Sleeve notes (on insert) for Harmonia Mundi HMS 30 855: Historische Orgeln: Ottobeuren [1967].
"Sic transit gloria mundi". Sleeve notes for Harmonia Mundi HMS 30 860: Alte Cembali aus Italien, Deutschland und den Niederlanden [1967].
Sleeve notes for Telefunken Das Alte Werk SAWT 9512-B: Cembalomusik auf Originalinstrumenten aus den Niederlanden, Italien, Deutschland und England um 1650-1750 [1967].
    — Notes on the instruments.
1968

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. Opera Omnia, Vol. I: The Instrumental Works — Fascicle 1: Keyboard Works: Fantasias and Toccatas. Edited by Gustav Leonhardt (Amsterdam, Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 1968).
   Second, revised edition, 1974.

"Johann Jakob Froberger and His Music", in: L'Organo. Rivista di cultura organaria e organistica Vol. VI No. 1 (1968), 15–38 (with summaries in Italian, French, and German, pp. 38–40).

"Alte und neue Cembali", in: HiFi Stereophonie 5 (1968), 945–946.
    — In response to Martin Skowroneck, "Probleme des Cembalobaus aus historischer Sicht", ibid., 700–711, 781–784, 875–878.

Orgelbrief/Organ Leaflet [insert] for Telefunken Das Alte Werk SAWT 9521-B: Die Alte Orgel/The Historic Organ: Holland. Christiaan-Müller-Orgel der Waalse Kerk in Amsterdam. Arp-Schnitger-Orgel der Hervormde Kerk in Noordbroek/Groningen [1968].
1969

Introductory essay for Harmonia Mundi HM 30 950 XK: Johann Sebastian Bach, Die Kunst der Fuge [1969], 3–8.
    — An extensive summary of Leonhardt's The Art of Fugue (1952).
1971

"In Praise of Flemish Virginals of the Seventeenth Century", in: Edwin M. Ripin (ed.), Keyboard Instruments. Studies in Keyboard Organology (Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1971), 43–46.
   Second edition, revised and enlarged: Keyboard Instruments. Studies in Keyboard Organology, 1500—1800 (New York, Dover Publications, 1977), 45–48.
   Dutch translation: "Ter ere van Vlaamse virginalen in de zeventiende eeuw", in: Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562—1621), De orgel- en klavecimbelwerken I. Het Sweelinck Monument: Complete werken, Deel IV A (Heidelberg, Note 1 Music, 2013), 70–75.
1973

Sleeve notes for Philips SEON 6775 002: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Klaviersonaten I [1973].
    — Notes on playing Mozart on the Viennese fortepiano.
Sleeve notes for Philips SEON 6575 017: Jacques Duphly, Pièces de Clavecin [1973].
1974

"Bij het bespelen van historische instrumenten", in: Ruckers Genootschap Antwerpen 1969–1974 [Gedenkboek gewijd aan het eerste lustrum] (Amsterdam/Buren, Frits Knuf, 1974) = The Brussels Museum of Musical Instruments Bulletin, Vol. IV Nos. 1/2 (1974), 7.
1976

Sleeve notes for BASF Harmonia Mundi 20 22618-2: Johann Sebastian Bach, Partien in e-moll, g-moll und A-dur für Cembalo (Fassungen von Gustav Leonhardt nach den Werken für Violine solo) [1976].

"Woonhuisramen in Amsterdam", in: De Lamp. Uitgave van de Vereniging Vrienden van de Amsterdamse Binnenstad Vol. 10 No. 36 (February 1976), 1–4.

1977

"Preface", in: Kees Rosenhart, The Amsterdam Harpsichord Tutor Vol. I (Amsterdam, Muziekuitgeverij Saul B. Groen, 1977), [iii].
    — The preface is also printed in Vol. II (1978).
"Zur Interpretation auf Originalinstrumenten", in sleeve notes (on insert) for Philips SEON 6775 025 Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburgische Konzerte 1-6 [1977].

1979

Het huis Bartolotti en zijn bewoners (Amsterdam, Meulenhoff, 1979).

"Introduction", in: Early Music Vol. 7 No. 1 = Keyboard issue 1 (October 1979), 452.

1980

"Die Aufnahmen der Bachkantaten", sleeve note for Telefunken Das Alte Werk 6.42664 AQ: Johann Sebastian Bach, Kantaten BWV 73 & 94 [1980].
    — Also in English and French. Record issued on the occasion of the awarding of the Praemium Erasmianum 1980 to Gustav Leonhardt and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
1981

"Dankrede/Dankeswort", in: G. Leonhardt & N. Harnoncourt, Aussagen anläszlich der Verleihung des Erasmuspreises 1980 (Amsterdam, Muziekuitgeverij Saul B. Groen, 1981), [7]–[10].
   Also published in: Praemium Erasmianum MCMLXXX (Amsterdam, Stichting Praemium Erasmianum, [1981]), 40–44.

1983

"Zum 50. Geburtstag der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis" [Grusswort], in: Peter Reidemeister & Veronika Gutmann (ed.), Alte Musik: Praxis und Reflexion. Sonderband der Reihe "Basler Jahrbuch für Historische Musikpraxis" zum 50. Jubiläum der Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Winterthur, Amadeus Verlag, 1983), 28.
1984

"Ten geleide", in: Hans Brandts Buys, Het Wohltemperirte Clavier van Johann Sebastian Bach. Een herdruk van de derde herziene uitgave. Met een inleiding van Gustav Leonhardt (Utrecht/Antwerpen, Bohn, Scheltema & Holkema, 1984), v–vi.
    — Reprint of the third, revised edition (Arnhem, Van Loghum Slaterus, 1955).
"Preface", in: Howard Schott (ed.), The Historical Harpsichord. A Monograph Series in Honor of Frank Hubbard, Vol. 1 (Hillsdale, NY, Pendragon Press, 1984), vii.

1985

Het zand onzer wensen. Over ons beeld van Johann Sebastian Bach. Rede, uitgesproken op 19 maart 1985 te Groningen ter gelegenheid van de 300e geboortedag van Bach. Met een houtsnede en drie initialen gesneden door Pam G. Rueter (Amsterdam, Phoenix Editions, 1985).
   French translation: "Si bémol – La – Do – Si bécarre", in: Silences 2 (Paris, Editions de la Différence, 1985), 7–15.

"Scarlatti's ongewone klanken", in: 1685 – Europa en de muziek. Deel [3]: Scarlatti (Amsterdam, Uniepers/Zutphen, Terra, 1985), 73–76.

1995

"Zu umstreitende Stellen bei Froberger", in: Pio Pellizzari (ed.), Musicus Perfectus. Studi in onore di Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini. Prattico e specolativo nella ricorrenza del LXV° compleano (Bologna, Pàtron Editore, 1995), 137–145.

1996

Amsterdams Onvoltooid Verleden. Met photo's van Maarten Brinkgreve (Amsterdam, Architectura & Natura, 1996).

"Préface", in: Hervé Lacombe (ed.), Le mouvement en musique à l'époque baroque. Collection "La lyre moderne" (Metz, Editions Serpenoise, 1996), [v].

1997

"Préface", in: Michel Verschaeve, Le traité de chant et mise en scène baroques (Bourg-la-Reine, Aug. Zurfluh, 1997, 2007²), 5–6.
   Third printing Charnay-lès-Mâcon, Éditions Robert Martin, 2013.

1998

"Foreword", in: Thomas Donahue (ed.), Gerhard Brunzema: His Work and His Influence (Lanham, Md., Scarecrow Press, 1998), xv.

1999

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. Opera Omnia, Vol. I: The Instrumental Works — Fascicle 1: Keyboard Works: Fantasias and Toccatas. Edited by Gustav Leonhardt. Second, revised edition, reissued with corrections by Gustav Leonhardt and Pieter Dirksen (Amsterdam, Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 1999).
"Schon wieder eine Matthäus-Passion!... Anlass zu erneuten praktischen Überlegungen", in: Christoph Wolff (ed.), Die Gegenwart der musikalischen Vergangenheit. Meisterwerke in der Dirigenten-Werkstatt. Nikolaus Harnoncourt zu seinem 70. Geburtstag am 6. Dezember 1999 (Salzburg, Residenz Verlag, 1999), 21–32.
   Dutch translation: "Alweer een Matthäus-Passion!... alle reden om nog eens over een aantal praktische kwesties na te denken", in: Pieter Dirksen (ed.), De geheimen van de Matthäus-Passion. Ambacht en mystiek van een meesterwerk (Amsterdam, De Nederlandse Bachvereniging/Uitgeverij Balans, 2010), 139–151.

"Prefacio", in: Gustavo Delgado Parra & Ofelia Gòmez Castellanos, Órganos históricos de Oaxana. Estudio y catalogación (Mexico, Conaculta-INAH/Fomento Cultural Banamex, 1999), 15.

2002

"The Principle of Varietas in Sweelinck's Variation Works", in: Pieter Dirksen (ed.), Sweelinck Studies. Proceedings of the International Sweelinck Symposium Utrecht 1999 (Utrecht, STIMU Foundation for Historical Performance Practice, 2002), 57–64.
"Preambulum", in: Peter van Dijk and Pieter Dirksen, booklet accompanying the CD box Sweelinck – The Complete Keyboard Works, NM Classics 92119.
    — Also in English, French, German and Spanish.

2004

Girolamo Frescobaldi. Opere complete, Vol. 9: Recercari et canzoni franzese, fatte sopra diversi oblighi in partitura. Libro primo (1615). A cura di Gustav Leonhardt, con il contributo di Etienne Darbellay e Christine Jeanneret. – Monumenti musicali italiani, Vol. 24 (Milano, Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, 2004).

2006

Alphabetisch-chronologische lijst van Portretten van Beeldende Kunstenaars en Architecten tot ca. 1800 / verzameld door Gustav Leonhardt. [Amsterdam], 2006.
    — 151 pp.; privately circulated.

2007

"Rede anlässlich der Verleihung der Ehrendoktor-Würde an Jean-Claude Zehnder im Januar 2002 an der Universität Dortmund", in: Luigi Collarile & Alexandra Nigito (ed.), In organo pleno. Festschrift für Jean-Claude Zehnder zum 65. Geburtstag. Publikationen der Schweizerischen Musikforschenden Gesellschaft, Ser. 2, Vol. 48 (Bern/New York, Peter Lang, 2007), 39–45.

"Zum Geleit", in: Siebert Rampe (ed.), Bachs Klavier- und Orgelwerke. Das Handbuch. Teilband 1. Das Bach-Handbuch, Band 4/1 (Laaber, Laaber-Verlag, 2007), 15–17.

2009

"Témoignages: Alfred Deller", in booklet accompanying the DVD Alfred Deller - Portrait d'une voix, a film directed by Benoît Jacquot [1976] (Arles, Harmonia Mundi, 2009), 9.
    — Also in English and German.

[Introductory recommendation*)], in: Tilman Hoppstock, Die Lautenwerke Bachs aus der Sicht des Gitarristen. Vol. I: Suiten 995/996. (Darmstadt, PRIM-Musikverlag, 2009), 3.
   *) "Kommentar von Gustav Leonhardt", a brief letter to the author, signed 2 April 2009. Also in the English translation, Bach's Lute Works from the Guitarist's Perspective Vol. I (Darmstadt 2010), 3.
posthumous, 2017

J. S. Bach, Suiten, Partiten, Sonaten, bearbeitet für Cembalo von Gustav Leonhardt/Suites, Partitas, Sonatas, transcribed for Harpsichord by Gustav Leonhardt. Herausgegeben von/Edited by Siebe Henstra. – BA 11820 (Kassel, Bärenreiter-Verlag, 2017

[Traverso]

You know, later he stopped playing Händel-  and asked why, he answered: Why should I play Händel, when I can play the best?

So he harboured strong - and sometimes provocative - opinions.

He once said, "the music of Handel is a beautiful facade with nothing behind it".

I do not know if it is posted already,it is very interesting anyway.

https://westfield.org/public/newsletters/Westfield%20Newsletter%2023-1a%20%28Gustav%20Leonhardt%29.pdf

[Mandryka]

He once said, "the music of Handel is a beautiful facade with nothing behind it".

I do not know if it is posted already,it is very interesting anyway.

https://westfield.org/public/newsletters/Westfield%20Newsletter%2023-1a%20%28Gustav%20Leonhardt%29.pdf

Thank you for this, which is rather moving and well expressed. It reminds me of a speech I heard by Bob van Asperen shortly after Leonhardt died, which expressed a similar sentiment.

Listening today to Leonhardt's two recordings of the 6th English suite, I couldn't help thinking that the collaboration between Leonhardt and van Asperen was a fruitful one -- I just sensed some of Asperen's influence in the second recording.

[Traverso]

Thank you for this, which is rather moving and well expressed. It reminds me of a speech I heard by Bob van Asperen shortly after Leonhardt died, which expressed a similar sentiment.

Listening today to Leonhardt's two recordings of the 6th English suite, I couldn't help thinking that the collaboration between Leonhardt and van Asperen was a fruitful one -- I just sensed some of Asperen's influence in the second recording.

Do you have a link to that interview with van Asperen?

[Mandryka]

Do you have a link to that interview with van Asperen?

No, it was a speech he gave after a concert, I was in the audience.

[Wakefield]

You know, later he stopped playing Händel-  and asked why, he answered: Why should I play Händel, when I can play the best?

So he harboured strong - and sometimes provocative - opinions.

He was a man of strong opinions, no doubt. But here I think he was being just provocative. A richer world is always a better world, and we don't need to despise something to love another thing.

Anyway, I think this was simply a "boutade," an outburst without any importance at all. 

[Wakefield]

He once said, "the music of Handel is a beautiful facade with nothing behind it".

I do not know if it is posted already,it is very interesting anyway.

https://westfield.org/public/newsletters/Westfield%20Newsletter%2023-1a%20%28Gustav%20Leonhardt%29.pdf

Yes, I posted it back in 2012, so many years ago that it's as if it had never happened. 

[prémont]

He was a man of strong opinions, no doubt. But here I think he was being just provocative. A richer world is always a better world, and we don't need to despise something to love another thing.

Anyway, I think this was simply a "boutade," an outburst without any importance at all. 

But on the other hand it seems as if he meant it, for as far as I know, he was un-occupied with Händel for the most of his life.

[Wakefield]

But on the other hand it seems as if he meant it, for as far as I know, he was un-occupied with Händel for the most of his life.

Like me! 

[Traverso]

Yes, I posted it back in 2012, so many years ago that it's as if it had never happened. 

Of all the musicians I know, he is the one who I admire the most. Many recordings he made are authorative , leading and a source of joy.He goes right to the heart of the music with a rear insight and sense of timing.It all sounds so convincing without showing off.

Watch this videos,conducting and inspiring with a result that brings tears to my eyes.

In the first video you have to click again in order to see the video



http://www.youtube.com/v/-aRtgd7El-c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aRtgd7El-c

http://www.youtube.com/v/Mc1Ve0TOF4c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJcJW4234XE

[Traverso]

But on the other hand it seems as if he meant it, for as far as I know, he was un-occupied with Händel for the most of his life.

I think too that he meant it. for obvious reasons  ,he could not accept ( furiously agitated ) that people did put Handel in the same catagory as Bach

[Wakefield]

Of all the musicians I know, he is the one who I admire the most. Many recordings he made are authorative , leading and a source of joy.He goes right to the heart of the music with a rear insight and sense of timing.It all sounds so convincing without showing off.

Watch this videos,conducting and inspiring with a result that brings tears to my eyes.

In the first video you have to click again in order to see the video



http://www.youtube.com/v/-aRtgd7El-c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aRtgd7El-c

http://www.youtube.com/v/Mc1Ve0TOF4c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJcJW4234XE

Thanks for sharing this!

Yes, it's quite my own opinion about him too. I loved, for instance, how in his last years, he controlled without any problem a group so "youthful and disheveled" as Cafe Zimmermann, in order to get perfectly measured and beautiful performances.

Leonhardt (1928), Badura-Skoda (1927), Harnoncourt (1929), Brendel (1931), Bylsma (1934), all of them contemporaries and so amazingly gifted!