Based in the Netherlands, the remarkable Butter Quartet research and perform music from the late 18th and early 19th c., with rewarding adventures into modern works — all on period instruments. Their latest album includes string quartets by Haydn and Caroline Shaw.
Drama, Humor, Technicolor from the Butter Quartet Read More »
With two new recordings this year, the lautenwerk — an obscure, gut-stringed, mellow keyboard instrument sometimes called a “lute-harpsichord” — is having its moment. J.S. Bach owned two of them. Wolfgang Rübsam’s latest recording, of Bach’s didactic Inventions and Sinfonias, is a natural fit.
A Lautenwerk Revival Takes Shape Read More »
A fascinating new book aims to understand the “inventive” musical forgery: not a counterfeit, per se, but a newly created composition that is falsely attributed to someone else. The author investigates not only why forgers may be attracted to such deceptions but, as authentication has shifted from stylistic concerns to source documentation, why we are repulsed when the truth is revealed.
Changing Attitudes About Musical Counterfeits Read More »
Berkeley-born harpsichordist Lillian Gordis’ powerful new Bach recording dwells on sixes: the Partita No. 6 and English Suite No. 6, separated by six preludes and fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier. With a unique voice and confrontational attitude, Gordis is a master of this repertoire.
A Six-Pack of Bach from Lillian Gordis Read More »
An imaginative new album is devoted to music by Heinrich von Meissen, a minstrel poet from Saxony, known as Frauenlob for his praise of the Virgin Mary. Harpist and soprano Anna O’Connell and friends offer his spiritual, often mystical works alongside religious music from other German sources including Hildegard and Oswald von Wolkenstein.
Frauenlob and Medieval Marian Song Read More »
