In the second half of the last century, private initiative in the form of col-
lecting becomes noticeable in many areas of art and culture, As far as
the musical instruments of the past are concerned, the purpose of col:
lection was not simply to gather together a number of aesthetically pleas-
ing pieces; old instruments, after all, do not necessarily make any great
claims to beauty, even though they perhaps do not achieve that pitch of
ugliness peculiar to some modern instruments, The main aim was rather
to become more familiar with the way music of earlier centuries actually
sounded.
Noteworthy among the private collections in Nuremberg is the Ruck col
lection. Its beginnings go back to about the year 1880 when Wilhelm
Ruck (teacher, organist and later proprietor of a piano business) began
to collect musical instruments in a systematic way. He passed the whole
on to his two sons Hans (1876—1940) and Ulrich (1882—1962) who, by
purchasing some other private collections, increased Its size. In Sep-
tember 1962, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, with the
help of the Volkswagen Foundation was able to acquire the “Dr. Dr, h. c,
Ulrich RUck Collection of Historical Musical Instruments”. In the follow:
ing years, by means of gifts from Herrn Dipl.-Ing. Otto Bess, Erlangen,
the collection was still further enlarged.
The keyboard-instruments are a main feature of the collection and pre-
sent us with a broad picture of the construction of such instruments in
Europe from the late Renaissance to the Biedermeyer period.
It is graduallybecoming clear to musicologists that their work Is not finish-
ed when they have reconstructed musical texts which are as philologic-
ally exact as possible. One of the important aims of their discipline —
which, even though it may never be completely achieved, continues to
direct their research — is to reconstruct the sound of the music of
earlier centuries, Greater interest is now being taken in that intermediate
step which lies between the completed manuscript and the live perform:
ancé. In instrumental music this step concerns among other things the
historical musical instruments themselves; and this is why a museum
collection such as that of Ruck is of such extraordinary scientific signifi-
cance.
The artistic value, however, of such a collection is no less important.
Only someone who still upheld a completely out-dated evolutionistic
theory could claim that we do not need the historical instruments for
practical purposeg since the modern instruments are better, Not every
development (or every change, for that matter), is an absolute improve-
ment. Modern research Is slowly realising that, as long as instrument-
bullding was conducted as a craft, certain natural principles of construc:
tion were employed; these were abandoned for the sake of different
principles after the business was industrialised. As a result, historical
instruments possess a tone which is beautiful in a quite special way. It
was forgotten and passed from the knowledge of later musicians, but for
this very reason it can be experienced as something new. Important,
too, is the fact that composers of instrumental music in earlier centuries
did not compose for modern instruments but for the instruments of their
own time, and these sometimes offered more rather than less possibili-
ties than modern instruments. At the very least they were different. The
performance of old instrumental music on historical instruments con-
tains therefore not only an element of surprise; it has the advantage of
being faithful to the intentions of the masters.
itis the alm of this record to give the listener an adequate idea of now
harpsichord compositions of the past sounded and still sound when played
On instruments taken from the area in which the composer lived. The
tone of the harpsichord may not swim in sentimental colours, but it is
clear and transparent; the instrument continued to play an important
role until the days wnen Beethoven began composing,
Rendo lieti in un tempo gli occhi el core — | delight at the one time both
the eyes and the heart. This motto is found on one of the preserved
Italian instruments and contradicts the usual sentiment that the heart is
touched through the ears. It is a motto for almost all similar harpsichords
of the peninsula. What a piece of beauty is the harpsichord by Carlo Gri-
maidi, Messina 1697! Its magnificent tone has typical Italian nobility —
well-balanced, a little sober and restrained, yet with a darkly giinting
clarity. It has always been a matter of wonder to Europeans north of the
Alps how a somewhat dry fundamental tone over the whole compass
can be paired with glowing overtone qualities; a combination which
makes the use of a four-foot stop superfluous. This harpsichord, which
possesses a tone of great richness in spite of the few mechanical aids at
its disposal, was the type for which Italian composers wrote their music
over a period of three hundred years, Very probably it was also played in
the southern part of German-speaking lands, where the Italian influence
in the 17th and 18th centuries was considerable. Musica laetitiae comes,
medicina dolorum — Music is the companion of joy and the remedy of
pain. This motto, which is found on several Flemish harpsichords, is typi-
cal of the bourgeois optimism in the Netherlands of the 17th century.
Both in construction and in external appearance Flemish harpsichords
are simpler, perhaps even cruder than the nobler Italian Instruments.
This is illustrated by the instrument by Andreas Ruckers, 1637. He lived
in the last quarter of the 16th and first half of the 17th century and be-
longed to the famous Antwerp dynasty of harpsichord- makers. The tone
of such instruments is less well-balanced. The bass is rather colourless,
but the treble sparkles and has great vigour. This brilliance can be in-
creased still further by the use of the four-foot stop which is almost al-
ways present. On such an instrument the dances and airs with variations
of the 17th century Netherlands sound excellent, as do even the more
ambitious pieces of Sweelinck and his German pupils.
The Kielklavier (the older German name for harpsichord; k/e = quill)
produced by the instrument-makers of Saxony, has a tone which opens
up a completely new world of harpsichords. Their tone is not so vigorous
as that of the Flemish instruments though they share the same sparkling
brilliance. And they are superior in delicacy and precision. Since it is
certain that J. S. Bach was familiar with the Saxon school of harpsichord-
makers, it is appropriate to perform his works on an instrument like that
of Carl August Grabner, Dresden, 1782. But the works of C. P. E. Bach,
too, — at least the early ones — were composed with a Kielklavier in
mind. The six Wurttemberg sonates, dedicated to Duke Karl Eugen of
Wurttemberg and printed in 1744, are expressly intended “per
cembalo”, |, e, for the harpsichord. It was only much later, about 1780,
that Johann Sebastian's most illustrious son turned to the pianoforte.
May the new sounds of the old keyboard-instruments, loved and ad-
mired by the masters and starting-point of their composing, reach the
nearts of listeners with greater effect than ever before.
Tis Is the Motto on the lid of the harpsichord by Andreas Ruckers which
we have used in our recording. Have the improvements continued?
Apart from the sustaining-power, we must deny it. The beauties of well:
preserved old harpsichords have not for the most part been equalled by
modern harpsichord-makers; they have not even been acknowledged
by some. Only a few have succeeded in coming near to the mark, following
carefully the old shining examples. The best harpsichord- makers of the
past fulfilled the wishes of the composers of their time and place and some-
times even stimulated their imagination.
For the player, old harpsichords are a source of delight and distress.
The former is due to the instrument, the latter to the player. The delight
lies in the sound, made up of a solid fundamental tone and rich overtone
colouring. (The fundamental tone is the most important thing here and is
supported by the resonance in the casing.) It is something active and
immediately after the note has been sounded it seems to develop still
more and then to decrease in an arch-like movement. Its duration is by
no means long when actually measured, and this means that when the
key is released the work of the dampers has a less abrupt effect, (It is in
my view a mistake to aim at too long duration of tone in a harpsichord;
and, certainly, one is doing old music no service in this way; it was
reckoning with an exactly defined dynamic reduction.) It is a tone which
is wonderfully consistent and homogeneous, where it is difficult to separ-
ate roundness and distinctness.
They are, however, tricky to play — hence the distress mentioned above.
Everything responds so easily. Sometimes signs of age have to be over-
come; a key, for example, struck in a certain way, might take the next
one with it, The latter is something which can be repaired; the very light
touch, on the other hand, has to be treated as a positive quality. This
requires maximum control with minimum movement — which is precisely
in accordance with old directions to the player. We can appreciate from
this that the art of playing was based entirely on subtle articulation and
that the art of registration (a modern term) did not enter into it. This is
borne out by the unpractical positioning of the stops on old instruments.
Old instruments ought to be something more than interesting specimens.
This recording is not a performance just for the historically-minded; it is
a concert for lovers of music.
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿