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Harspichord & Fortepiano

Terence Charlston’s latest recording was inspired by an interesting new instrument, as were his fairly recent ‘Mersenne’s Clavichord’ and ‘The Harmonious Thuringian’, which used a copy of a small harpsichord in the Eisanach Bachhaus. For the Froberger recording the inspiration was Andreas Hermert’s 2009 reconstruction of the original state of a much-altered 17^th century German clavichord. Charlston writes that when he first saw and played this instrument he ‘was immediately smitten’; he felt that it was the ideal instrument for Froberger, especially the contrapuntal music.

This CD is the first recording on clavichord of the complete fantasias and canzonas. All but one of the pieces (a two-part fantasia) are four-part fugues from Froberger’s Libro Secondo of 1649; a presentation copy, the music beautifully written out by Froberger, with fanciful calligraphic decorations by the court scribe. The recording aims to reproduce, as far as possible, what the performer hears, including some quiet action noise. The clear and transparent sound of this clavichord focuses our attention on the interplay of the musical lines. The canzonas are in general more lively than the fantasias, but in all these pieces there is a great variety of mood and structure, and inventive transformations and variations of the themes. Charlston is a very fine clavichordist, sensitive to the nuances of the music and the character of the clavichord; it sings in the fantasias, and it sings and dances in the canzonas. Some ornamentation is added, and the structure of each piece is made clear. Charlston;s depp understanding of the music is manifest, and in all respects this is an extremely fine recording, strongly recommended.  The 20-page CD booklet is full of useful information and insights.