About two weeks ago I bought a Harpsichord (Jørgen Bengaard). Of cause it wasn´t new and I consider it more to be a donation since it was very cheap. It wasn´t the harpsichord I was looking for either. I needed one that I could bring with me at any concert I might do. But this was unlike any Harpsichord I have ever seen before. There were foot-pedals (toggles) and 16´-stops and was as heavy as any grand piano (it held an iron frame). But I had to buy it!!! and now I found out that there is absolutely no information saying anything about this kind of instrument. It seems that most early musicians (of our time) would rather that it had never existed! So in the future you will find many posts regarding this particular kind of harpsichord that must have been the obvious choice of instrument for the not-quite-so-early Harpsichordist. My first priority will be to find a recording of the instrument from the time it was build…

Listen to original recordings of early music. That´s a dream we all share, because we will never be able to know exactly how old music was played in its time. This is not possible - but I´ve just discovered a homepage where it is possible to listen to very early music. Both wax cylinders an tinfoil recordings gathered right here at tinfoil.com. Interesting to hear how people sang and played around 1890-1913; in the years just before the sinking of Titanic (yes! it is possible to hear a recording of ´Nearer My God to Thee´ from those years!) Well, have a listen (and a laugh). Cylinders of the month!

Wanting to get a different sound from my cornetto, an oboe playing friend of mine and I mounted a reed instead of the regular mouth piece on it. I wanted more of a crumhorn sound but ended up with something that sounded fantastic on every 20th try and otherwise was really hard to play. Lots of strange sounds coming as well. But I like the idea. Here are the photos. First the reed, then two full-length versions of my Moeck cornetto with the reed and finally the normal mouthpiece.

We already know that Mattheson disliked French singers, but he doesn’t spare the British either. Quoting chapter 9 in Der Vollkommene Capellmeister paragraph 13-14: ...Germans generally produce more basses and tenors but the Italians more altos and sopranos than all other regions: together with the more rugged climate and lifestyle also beer drinking contributes to this in the case of the Germans; but the Italians are the opposite in both respects, and in addition there is the frequent castration.

Thus it is also certain that for example in England there are not by a long shot as many well-trained voices, and in France everyone sings mroe out of the throat and not from the chest as in Italy, where the voices are more sonorous, clear, pure and expansive