This is a reissue of a delightful 1982 LP that should reside on the reference shelf of any keyboard-music enthusiast. Richard Burnett, a British pianist, opened his collection of historical keyboard instruments to the public as a museum (called Finchcocks) in 1977, and shortly thereafter recorded this album as a demonstration of some of the instruments in the collection. The program is organized more or less chronologically, beginning with a virginal, spinet, clavichord, and harpsichord. One fascinating aspect of the ...
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This is a reissue of a delightful 1982 LP that should reside on the reference shelf of any keyboard-music enthusiast. Richard Burnett, a British pianist, opened his collection of historical keyboard instruments to the public as a museum (called Finchcocks) in 1977, and shortly thereafter recorded this album as a demonstration of some of the instruments in the collection. The program is organized more or less chronologically, beginning with a virginal, spinet, clavichord, and harpsichord. One fascinating aspect of the recording is that it is not equalized dynamically; the listener can experience the absolute increase in indoor musical volume over the centuries. (The first four tracks are very quiet indeed, and this doesn't signal a problem with your equipment.) Some Haydn mechanical-clock pieces (check out "Der Kaffeeklatsch," the third of the five short pieces on track 6) and the Mozart Adagio for Glass Harmonica, K. 617, are played on small home organs. Then Burnett comes to the pianos, which are the...
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