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Harpsichords and Related Topics

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Subject:
From:
Bradley P Lehman <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Harpsichords and Related Topics <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 19 Nov 1994 10:21:40 -0500
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On Fri, 18 Nov 1994, Joseph Spencer wrote:
 
> Toughest clavichord job I ever had was tuning one for Oscar Peterson in
> a recording of songs from Porgy & Bess with guitarist Joe Pass. (It's
> still in the Pablo catalog.)  Oscar had bought a Morley clavichord out
> of a shop window in London because he liked its looks, and didn't have a
> clue or a care about clavv. technique.  His technique was simply to mash
> the key until it rested on something solid, i.e. the bottom board. (He's
> got big hands.) I had to retune after every take, and was frequently
> wincing by the end of the first chorus. But it was fun, and we got the
> job done.
 
 
I bought this CD as a novelty about six years ago.  Oscar Peterson
playing clavichord?  No way!
 
The album is fun just because of what it is: a neat instrumental
combination.  But Peterson's playing lacks his usual subtlety and freedom:
he sounds terrified of the instrument, frankly, and that inhibits his
skills.  He doesn't take chances.  Pass holds back, too.  As for mashing
keys, it somehow seems more tolerable in Peterson's Gershwin than in Glenn
Gould's bash through Handel suites on a harpsichord.
 
 |\      _,,,--,,_  ,)          Bradley Lehman, [log in to unmask]
 /,`.-'`'   -,  ;-;;'       personal nutrition tip #107:
|,4-  ) )-,_ ) /\       I have better things to do than count out the exact
'---''(_/--' (_/-'   recommended serving size of Cheez-Its or Tootsie Rolls.

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