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Review: Early KeyboardAuthor(s): Howard SchottSource: The Musical Times, Vol. 125, No. 1693 (Mar., 1984), pp. 159+161Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/963029.

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is somewhatvariable,a few pages being a littlesmudgywhile others seeminadequatelynked.The facsimile itself, however, is handsomelypresented.Blow and Purcell between them providedabouta quarterof the works in the collection.The othercomposers epresented renotof theirstature,but theirmusic notonlyprovidesa con-text in which the achievements of Blow andPurcellcan bebetterunderstood,butfrequentlydisplaysconsiderable harmandtunefulnessofa distinctivelyEnglish character.This projectasawhole, aswell asmakingavailable omeat-tractivemusic,shouldenableus to becomemoreawareof animportant spectofouroftenunder-rated heritage. MARGARET AURIE

EarlykeyboardJohn Ward's edition of the 30 secular 16th-centurykeyboardpiecesinMsD.3.30/i in Trin-ity College Library, Dublin, was originallypublishedalmost 30 yearsago.It has nowbeencompletelyre-editedandfarmorehandsomelyproduced n a newversion Schott,?7)thatdoesfull justice o this important ource,dating romc1570. Happily, the originalnote values havebeenrestoredbecause the reducedvaluesof theearlier ditionsgave he music overall oojauntyanappearance,ndobscured tylisticdistinctionsbetween genres'. One hopes that this salutaryreturn o soundprinciplesof transcriptionwillbewidely mitated.The critical pparatus, hichaddsmanycognateworksto the anthology,hasbeenexpanded nd akes ull accountofthe mostrecentscholarship.This importantedition willbe welcome n itsnewimproved ormbyplayersand scholarsalike.In the late 16th andearly 17th centuries thecourtof theSpanishNetherlands tBrusselswasthe focus of greatmusicalactivity,much of itconnectedwith the Tridentine liturgy. ChristChurch(Oxford)Music Ms89 is a vast collec-tion of keyboardpieces, dating from c1620,believedoncircumstantialvidence o havebeencopied in Brussels,possibly by Richard Deer-ing, andvirtuallyall for liturgicaluse. Most ofthe piecesareunattributed. he new well-editedandclearlyprintedcollection(SpanishNether-lands KeyboardMusic, vol.i; Brennan,?3.75)offers one credited o PeterPhilips (aten-versesettingof Veni ancte piritus)and two to PieterCornet(fourlong versetson Reginacaeli and afantasia)owhomitseditor,RichardVendome,also ascribes he unsignedfinal incomplete TeDeum on stylistic grounds.In spite of their in-tendeduse asliturgicalorganmusic,the piecessoundwellonstringed i.e. secular)keyboardn-struments; ndeed, the Philips workimpressesas a kind of extendedcycle of galliards.The notion of a keyboard anthology puttogether merely to exemplify contemporaryfingerings n various sourcesmaystrikeone asbizarre, f not downrightcrankish.But it is in-structive oworkone'sway hrough he 14piecesof Early KeyboardFingerings:an Anthology,

edited by Mark Lindley and Maria Boxall(Schott, ?4.50). Some are presented n two orthreeversions,and it is curious to observethevaryingdegreeof consistency n the fingeringsgivenin piecesof differentnational chools andperiods,composedwithavarietyof instrumentsin view.Whether t is desirable oraharpsichor-dist to discardmore modernand,by now, auto-matic ingeringpatternsn theattempt o achievean 'authentic'echniquebasedonwhatwaswrit-ten into some keyboardmusic of the time isdebatable f only becausetoday's playersmustdealwith sowide-ranging repertory.Emphasisoughtto be placedon musical ends rather hanmeans, after all. The editors'annotationsareuseful andthe graphicpresentation,using nor-malblackstavesandnotation for the principalsource and a lighter grey shade for secondaryones, is ingenious.ChristopherKite's new edition of Purcell'skeyboardmusic(Chester, wovols., ?4.85 each)with itsunusually argeandclearlyprintednota-tion is sure o simplify heplayer's ask.The textis virtually identical to that established byHowardFergusonn his 1964edition.The editordoes not attemptto match his predecessor n

discussing he sourcesandhe doesnot offerquiteso manyalternativeersionsofparticular ieces,which s regrettableince heyoftensuggestwaysin which repeatsmaybe stylishlyvaried. Therecently ediscoveredPrelude or hefingering'is included n theundogmaticandpracticaldis-cussion of the subject n the introduction.Theeditoralsooffers sound and sensible counselonornaments,tempo, rhythmicconventions andharpsichord ouch. But why did he feel com-pelledto include he incipitsof fiveorganpiecesin anedition of Purcell'scomplete harpsichordmusic?Andto printWilliamCroft'sGround nC minor theopeningmovement fhisSuiteno.3inthe editionbyFerguson ndHogwood) mongthe 'piecesof doubtfulauthenticity'with onlythe barestmention of the well-foundedattribu-tion to Croft is strangerstill, especiallyafterlisting 'a number of spuriousworksassociatedwith [Purcell's]name hathavenot had hegoodfortuneofJeremiahClarke'sTrumpetVoluntaryin beingrestored otheirrightful omposer' thereference,of course,should be to Clarke's ThePrince fDenmark'sMarch).But, n spiteofsuchminor laws, he newedition seminently ervice-able and highly recommended,especially forteachingpurposes.Three innocent ittlepiecesby Richard ones,extracted romhis fourthsetpublished n 1732,aretechnicallyundemandingandthus suitablefor use as novel and tastefulteachingmaterial(ed. Gwilym Beechey;Banks,90p).The text ispresentedwithoutalterationradditions utwithbriefnotes aboutthe composerand the originaledition.Strangely,nomention s madeof Stod-dardLincoln's 1974editionofJones'scompletekeyboardmusic to whichthe playerofthis tinyselectionmightwell wish to turnif he knew ofits existence.

Daquin'sharpsichordmusic wascertainly ongoverdue for reissuein a good modernedition;

except for the inevitable Coucou found incountlessanthologies, t has beenundeservedlyforgotten.Anincompleteand naccurate ditionthatappearedn France60 and moreyearsago,was quitedeservedly orgotten,evenby Chris-topher Hogwood, the diligenteditor of a newprinting Faber,?7.95),who makesnomentionof it. Whenoriginallyssued n 1735,thevolumewasoptimistically alledDaquin'sPremierivredepieces eclavecin ut t remainedhisonlyone.The introductorymatter romthatoriginaledi-tion,beautifullyeproducednfacsimile, resentsthe originalFrench text. Idiomaticbut faithfulEnglishand Germantranslationsarealsopro-vided. The music is clearlyengraved,but onewishes hat hemanyornamentymbolshadbeenprinted omewhatarger ndblacker.Hogwood'sintroductions thoroughandhelpfully nforma-tive to aplayernotyet fullyconversantwiththeperformingconventionsof Daquin's time.The Minkoff series of keyboardmusic facsi-miles haslongbeendeservedlypopular.Clean-ly reproducedwith, one suspects, heightenedgraphic ontrast, heyoffer heplayeravaluableopportunity o take n the musicvisuallyasdidthe composer'scontemporaries.Once one isfamiliarwith some of the notational onventionsof thetime, such asvaryingclefsto avoid eger-lines, it is not difficult to play fromfacsimilesof thisquality.The 13pieces n PancraceRoyer'sPiecesdeclavecin, remierivre 25 S fr.)of 1746(another premiervolume' thatproved o be theonly one) include some drawn from Royer'soperas,notablyLaZaide,a rondeauromhismostsuccessful stage work. But unlike Rameau'sreworkings,hesekeyboard ersionsof operatictunes were the later of the two. In addition topieces of more conventionalcut, therearetwodeliciouslydecadent xamples:Levertigo, lmostin a class with Kalkbrenner'sLefou, and Lamarche es cythes, bit ofpureclavecinisteamp.Since the facsimile edition issued in 1969,playershavebeen able odispensewiththe rathercooked 1879 Pauer version of Arne's eightsonatas. But it now appears hat this facsimilereproducedwhatChristopherHogwood, ntheintroduction o his new edition(Faber,?3.95),describesas 'somethingof a "rogue"example'of the original 1756 print. So we should begratefulthat these delightful, not over-taxingworksarenowavailablen model orm,beautifully engravedwith naryan awkwardpage-turn.The sonatasoffer Arneat his best, includingavarietyof movements n theprevailingcontem-pory moulds and even some quite respectablefugalwriting.Anyone n searchof music fortherecreationof the spirit need look no further.In addition to being an Americancomposer

ON MATTERS OF SOUNDConsult one of Britain's oldest private recordingservices if you require:" Mobile units for a professional recording of yourChoir/Festival/Service/Concert anywhere.* Use of 20' x 30' modern studio with SteinwayConcert Grand. (Video facilities).* Manufacture of records/cassettes in attractivecovers from your Masters or ours - good fund-raisers.Educational Cassettes for Associated BoardExams see p. 173.SOUND NEWS STUDIOS, 18 Blenheim Road,London W4 1ES Tel: 01-995 1661

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of distinction,VincentPersichetti s an accom-plishedkeyboard layer.Smallwonder henthathis Second HarpsichordSonata(Elkan-Vogel/United, ?3.60) is expertlyandknowinglywrit-ten, qualities somewhatrarein contemporaryworksforthe instrument.This four-movementsonata,quite classicalin form, is composedinasparse inear diom thateffectively xploits ex-tures andthedifferentregisters.Becauseof Per-sichetti'spenchant orpolytonality,manyofthechordalpatterns eel familiarunderthe fingerseven if the tonalcombinationsachievedsoundquitefreshandnovel. This sonata houldprovea welcomeaddition o the 20th-centuryharpsi-chord repertory. HOWARD CHOTT

EarlyguitarmethodsGiacomo Merchi Le guide des 6coliers deguitarre;Trait6des agr6mensde la musiqueMinkoff, 40 Swiss fr.

Therehas been someconfusion urroundingheidentity of the Merchi who was the author ofthese twotreatises, or both the brothers osephBernardandGiacomowere activeas musicians.JamesTyler's recent research unlikehis bookon the early guitarand TheNew Grove)nowpoints to Giacomo, who is credited in theMinkoffcatalogue.It is interesting o havebothworks presentedtogether in facsimile as theyreflect he evolution of theguitarduring he lat-terpartofthe 18thcentury.The Guidewaswrit-ten in 1761 and describes a five-courseguitar(sadlynot illustrated),with the fourth and fifthcoursesquiteunambiguously trung n octaves,makingfor re-entrant uning;the Trait6,writ-ten in 1777,optsfor afive-stringguitar.Merchialsorejects ablature, xplaining hat thosewhouse it only 'accompagnentde routine et sansmesure'.Right-hand echnique s not discussedin detail n 1761,apart rom he use of theannu-lar(not auricular) ingersteadying he handonthe tableof the instrument;but in 1777 he ad-vocates the newer 'thumb out' technique andremarks,as manyhavedone before and since,thatnailsproduce dessons secset disgratieux'.In bothbookshe advises heuse ofthe fingeringpppim thumbon the lowerthreestrings, ndexon thesecondandmedialonthechanterelle) utadds hat he indexmaybetrailed cross onsecu-tive strings n batteriesarpeggiated ccompani-ments).Ofmoregeneralnterest s thesectiononorna-ments, apparentlyrare at this time in guitarmethods;among hosediscussedare inmodernterminology) ppoggiaturas, ordents, rillsandvibrato.Merchiheremakes he fascinatingdis-tinction between upper- and lower-registervibrato. The formeris made with a sidewaysmovement f thehand,butthe attersperformedbackand orwards crosshefingerboard,quiva-lent to today's'bending'of strings.The musicprovided n both volumesis not of the highestorder but there are 30 variationson Folia di

Spagnan the Guide ndsomeratherprettyduetsin the Traite' esigned o use all the ornaments.It shouldnotgounremarkedhatonthe lastpageMerchi is granteda copyrightfor some songs- to run for six years. MARYCRISWICK

ClassicalpianoThe AssociatedBoardhas issued two volumes(?2.50 each)of C.P.E. Bach'skeyboardworks,editedbyHowardFerguson.Volume ii containsfive sonatasdating from various periods andvolume iv the six sonatas made up of 18 'testpieces')published n the firstvolume of the Ver-such (1753). Probably the greatest difficultyyoung pianistswill encounter s the realizationof the ornaments; ll this has beenexplainedbythe editor,clearlyandundogmatically.Foreachornamentaligurehe offersasuggested nterpre-tation,togetherwith guidelines ndicatinghowfar one mayventurefrom t. The earlyauthen-tic printededitions of the sonatasseemto havebeen followedcarefullyexcept in one respect:in attempting o make he music easier o read,the editorhaschanged heclefsandredistributedmaterialbetweenthe two staveswheneverboththeright-and eft-hand arts ieveryhighorverylow. Some performersor scholarsmay preferto see thepartsastheywereoriginally ublished,on the samestaff, in whichcasethe editions ofSteglichandSchenker whichduplicatemostofthe sonatas n volume ii)arepreferable.ButtheAssociated Board have revitalized for youngmusiciansarepertoryof instructive,expressiveand historicallyseminal worksin a thoughtfuland attractiveedition.Each of the new 'performingeditions' ofHaydn's early sonatas(HXVI:6, 46, 20, 23;Leduc/United, ?5.55 or ?7), edited by PaulBadura-Skoda,omes with a booklet in threelanguagesntroducingheuninitiatedo theprob-lems of tacklingthe repertory: rnamentation,phrasing,mplieddynamics, adenzashatseemcalled forby the text, andso on. But the editoris not satisfied- andrightlyso - with givingus yetanotherengthyverbalpreface nClassicalkeyboard nterpretation;o anauthentic ext ofthe music(whichconflates he scholarly ditionsof Christa Landon and Georg Feder),printedin black,he has addeda largenumberof phraseanddynamicmarkings,pedalsigns, suggestions(oftenmultiple) orrealizingornaments, inger-ings,cadenzas nd otherremarks ot often oundin Classicalmusic ('piacevole','con fantasia','typical Haydn ').These have been printed nbrightblue andmaybe clearlyseen as editorialadditions. The productis such a sensible andsensitiveblend ofthe scholarlyandthe practicalthatI warmlyrecommendhese editions oany-oneteachingHaydn oyoungpianists.Onlyonesmall questionaboutinterpretation s left un-answered:f Badura-Skoda'suggesteddynamics(with which I generallyagree)for a piece likethe Partita n G (c1760)rangefrompianissimotopififorte,with all gradationsn between andfrequentuse of crescendoanddecrescendo,whyare we so often remindedby Classicalscholars

thatHaydn'searliestkeyboardonataswerewrit-ten for the harpsichord?Two new Urtext editions from Schott andUniversal omewithcheaplymadebutgenerallyreadable acsimilesof theautographcores.Theautographof Schubert'sImpromptu n A flatD935(op..142no.2;?2.30), describedas an 'ex-tremely tidy faircopy', is interestingnot onlyfor the largecancellationswhich affectedtheregistraldispositionof the openingtheme, butalso for the changes in the bass, which hadoriginallyreinforced he sarabande-likehythmof the otherparts.Neither this change,northesubtle cancellation of the alto e' flat on thedownbeat of bar3, nor even the renumberingof theimpromptus commented nbytheeditorPaul Badura-Skoda.With 11pagesof facsimile eproduction,om-pared with three for the Schubert, Mozart'sSonata n A minorK310/300d,editedbyK. H.Fiissland H. Scholz,represents arbettervaluefor money (?2.95). Here the editors have con-fronted the autograph's entral and most vex-ing problemfor the performer:he interpretation ofMozart'sappoggiaturas. generally greewith their recommendations ut I cannot ollowtheir reasoning:nor am I in accordwith theiranalysisof the melodyin bars 9- 12 of thefirstmovement n termsof consonanceanddisson-ance.Though he editorsdo not discuss t, it maybe of someinterestto Mozartians,particularlythose who senseafalling-offn Mozart's nspira-tion afterthe slow movementof this sonata,toobserve hat he finale s physically eparateromthe first two movements and written on a dif-ferent papertype.As with his editions of C.P.E. Bach,HowardFerguson's learand houghtfulnoteson the textandinterpretation f Schubert's irst set of im-promptusD899op.90(AssociatedBoard,?2.20)will enable heperformero makesensibledeci-sionsinplaceswhere heoriginalnotationsam-biguous.His interesting thougharbitrary)ol-lectionandorderingof 32 waltzesand a minuetrepresentsabouta fifth of Schubert'soutputof

Appointments, wardsGuus Mostart s appointed eputy rtistic irecto(toSirPeterHall)atGlyndebourne.Sir Colin Davis has been awarded he 1984Shakespearerize n Hamburgorhis servicesomusic.George Ewart wontheSaschaLassersonViolin PrizeCompetitiont heWigmore all;ElixabethWexlerwas second and Ian Humphries third.Erika Fox has won the GeraldFinzi CompositionAward or her workKaleidoscope.Laurence Jackson won the Midland ChamberOrchestraString Competition; Claire Miles wassecond and Helen Kamminga third.Peter Stadlen has received the EhrenkreuzfUiWissenschaftund Kunst(firstclass) romtheAustrianAmbassadorn London.

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