Prayers and Dances: Music for the German Harpsichord

The Church of the Epiphany, 1393 York Ave. at 74th St.

Roman harpsichordist Giuseppe Schinaia performs sacred and secular works of Christian Ritter, Johann Pachelbel, Georg Böhm, Johann Kuhnau and JS Bach.

Program Notes

The harpsichord was for centuries the main keyboard instrument in private houses, courts, dining halls and theaters in the Western World, only occasionally surpassed by the pipe organ when sacred music was involved. Its decline at the end of the XVIII century in favor of the fortepiano was due both to the changes in musical taste and to the larger sound required by the increasing number of people attending public performances.

However, the sound of the harpsichord still retains its fascination in the execution of musical compositions expressly conceived for it. The harpsichord music repertoire varies greatly according to its geographical origins and to the style of each composition. Strict counterpoint, solemn celebrations, court entertainments, mourning meditations, dances, improvisation-like preludes: all of these and more can be found among the inumerable compositions for the instrument in both sacred and secular repertoire.

Squeezed between the powerhouses of Italy and France with their peculiar national styles, only later did Germany develop keyboard music of an idiosyncratic regional style, mostly prompted by the necessities of the protestant liturgical rites. By the end of the XVII century the German harpsichord music still retained an amalgam of French and Italian styles merged with a more rigorous counterpointal treatment of its compositions, which made possible the frequent exchanges between the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord as performing instruments, under the heading of “klavier” in most of the manuscripts and the early editions.

The compositions included in this program offer a view of a musical territory which may well be listed as meditative, half way between the sacred and the secular character of the German pietism, a peculiar religious movement which also influenced secular music and private home performances. This pietism made it possible for dance suites and sonatas to infuse sacred and meditative compositions such as biblical narrations and works for mourning occasions.

–Giuseppe Schinaia











When: Sun., Mar. 22, 2015 at 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

The Church of the Epiphany, 1393 York Ave. at 74th St.

Roman harpsichordist Giuseppe Schinaia performs sacred and secular works of Christian Ritter, Johann Pachelbel, Georg Böhm, Johann Kuhnau and JS Bach.

Program Notes

The harpsichord was for centuries the main keyboard instrument in private houses, courts, dining halls and theaters in the Western World, only occasionally surpassed by the pipe organ when sacred music was involved. Its decline at the end of the XVIII century in favor of the fortepiano was due both to the changes in musical taste and to the larger sound required by the increasing number of people attending public performances.

However, the sound of the harpsichord still retains its fascination in the execution of musical compositions expressly conceived for it. The harpsichord music repertoire varies greatly according to its geographical origins and to the style of each composition. Strict counterpoint, solemn celebrations, court entertainments, mourning meditations, dances, improvisation-like preludes: all of these and more can be found among the inumerable compositions for the instrument in both sacred and secular repertoire.

Squeezed between the powerhouses of Italy and France with their peculiar national styles, only later did Germany develop keyboard music of an idiosyncratic regional style, mostly prompted by the necessities of the protestant liturgical rites. By the end of the XVII century the German harpsichord music still retained an amalgam of French and Italian styles merged with a more rigorous counterpointal treatment of its compositions, which made possible the frequent exchanges between the organ, the harpsichord and the clavichord as performing instruments, under the heading of “klavier” in most of the manuscripts and the early editions.

The compositions included in this program offer a view of a musical territory which may well be listed as meditative, half way between the sacred and the secular character of the German pietism, a peculiar religious movement which also influenced secular music and private home performances. This pietism made it possible for dance suites and sonatas to infuse sacred and meditative compositions such as biblical narrations and works for mourning occasions.

–Giuseppe Schinaia

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