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BERNARD
BRAUCHLI THE CLAVICHORD |
“It is said that C. P. E. Bach
played it in an inimitable manner and that he preferred it to the harpsichord. Mozart
and Haydn each owned one. The clavichord is, quite simply, unique and
different, which should suffice to protect it and justify its presence today.
Its dimensions call for small halls where it cultivates confidence, the ear
thus sharpens, perception becomes keen, this world of the infinitely delicate
opens on to the infinitely great”.
Journal de Genève (Switzerland), Daniel Robellaz
Beginning with Sebastian Virdung in his treatise
Musica Getutscht published in 1511, and continuing for the next three centuries,
theorist and mentors insisted on the importance of the clavichord as
fundamental for the study of keyboard technique. As late as the early
nineteenth century Beethoven affirmed that it was on this instrument that one
could best judge the musicality of a performer. Thanks to its extremely precise
and direct mechanism, the clavichord allows a unique control of the sound
quality and presents unequalled expressive possibilities.
Since the early 1970’s, Bernard Brauchli has devoted
himself to the revival of the clavichord, performing, lecturing, publishing,
recording and teaching on both the American and European continents. His
appearances have generated numerous centres of interest, culminating in the
establishment of a bi-annual, international clavichord symposium which he and
Christopher Hogwood first established in 1993 in Magnano, Italy.
Performing on a variety of clavichords, which
represent the various stages of development of the instrument, Bernard Brauchli
presents historically informed interpretations of keyboard music spanning more
than three centuries.
copy of a south-German fretted clavichord circa 1680
LECTURE-RECITALS
o
The History of the Clavichord
A general introduction to the history of the
clavichord, illustrated with music performed on four instruments from different
periods in the clavichord’s evolution.
Instruments:
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Copy of an anonymous Italian clavichord, circa 1540 (Museum of the Karl
Marx University, Leipzig)
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Copy of a south-German fretted clavichord circa 1680 (Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna)
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Copy of a fretted clavichord by C. G. Hubert, 1782 (Historisches Museum,
Basle)
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Original unfretted German clavichord by E. Heyne, 1781
Duration: 80 mn. (20 mn. lecture + 60 mn. music)
o
The Clavichord in the Musical and
Social Life of the XVth to XVIIIth Centuries
A brief history of the clavichord followed by a
description of the musical and social role it played in the various countries
of Europe. Documents from literary sources and slides.
Instrument: Copy of an 18th-century clavichord.
Duration: 75 mn. (60 mn. lecture + 15 mn. music)
o
A History of the Clavichord and
its Evolution as seen through Iconographical Documents
A one-hour slide presentation of nearly all the
iconographical documentation depicting the clavichord that is known to date.
RECITALS
o
The Clavichord from the 16th to
the 18th Century
Works by A. Gabrieli, H. Aston, A. Valente, M. R.
Coelho, P. Bruna, G. Frescobaldi, J. J. Froberger, J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach,
W. A. Mozart
o
18th-Century Keyboard Music
Works by J. S. Bach, G. F. Haendel, C. P. E. Bach, J.
Haydn, W. A. Mozart
o
18th Century German Keyboard Music
Works by J. Kuhnau, J. Chr. Fr. Bach, J. S. Bach, J. G. Müthel, C. P.
E. Bach, D. E. Grothuss
o
J. S. Bach and the Clavichord
o
The Bach Family
Works by J. S. Bach, J. Chr. Fr. Bach, C. P. E. Bach
o
Mozart and the Clavichord
o
Mozart and His Italian
Contemporaries
Works by D. Cimarosa, B. Galuppi, W. A. Mozart
o
Mozart and His Portuguese
Contemporaries
Works by J. de Sousa Carvalho, Fr. X. Bachixa, J. do
Sacramento, W. A. Mozart
o
The Art of the Variation
Works by A. Valente, J. P. Sweelinck/S. Scheidt, G.
Frescobaldi, D. Buxtehude, C. P. E. Bach, G. Fr. Haendel, J. Haydn
o
C. P. E. Bach and the Clavichord
o
C. P. E. Bach and His
Contemporaries
Works by J. G. Müthel, G. Benda, Fr. Seydelmann, D. G.
Türk, C. P. E Bach, J. Haydn
o
From Baroque to Classicism
Works by J. S. Bach, G. Fr. Haendel, J. Haydn, W. A.
Mozart, C. P. E. Bach, D. E. Grothuss
o
Portuguese Keyboard Music from the
16th to the 18th Century
Works by A. Carreira, M. R. Coelho, P. de Araújo, J.
Sousa Carvalho, J. do Sacramento, M. de Santo Elías, J. da Madre de Deus, C.
Seixas, Fr. X. Bachixa, J. J. Baldi
o
Iberian Keyboard Music from the
16th to 18th Century
Works by S. de Alberto, C. Seixas, A. Soler
o
Iberian Keyboard Music from the
18th Century
Works by M. R. Coelho, P. de Araújo, P. Bruna, V.
Hervas, J. Cabanilles, P. Nassarre, C. Seixas, A. Soler
copy of fretted clavichord
by C. G. Hubert, 1782
The performance of the six sonatas
which Brauchli selected were absolutely marvellous, glistening with delicate
nuances, rhythmically supple and free, with interpretative effects always
carefully gauged to the maximum that the music will allow but no more. His use
of vibrato in the slow movements (the clavichord alone among keyboard
instruments permits such an effect) was always discreet and always underlined
something in the music that benefited from emphasis, and the tone itself,
which, from unskilled hands, can be a pitiful, tinny moan, was far more pungent
than one might have expected and rich with a hundred hues between soft and
softer.
Boston
Globe (U.S.A.), David St. George
There was something deeply
moving about the concentrated silence of the audience in the cavernous church,
listening to his delicate sounds. Brauchli projected an amazingly subtle
variety in the music, including echo effects and playful articulations.
Express (San Francisco, U.S.A.)
The artist, as much at ease and clear in his lecturing
as in his playing, captivated the public. In little time one was able to
admire the charm, the nuances and the
expression of the clavichord, especially when this music is played with the
mastery, delicacy and warm enthusiasm of Bernard Brauchli.
24 Heures (Lausanne, Switzerland),
George Creux
Brauchli is not only a knowledgeable musicologist. He
is a stupendous musician who illustrated his talk with admirable
interpretations of a series of works of great value which he knew how to
express with immense talent and musical finesse.
Heraldo de Aragón (Zaragoza, Spain),
J. Aranda
Bernard Brauchli knows how to speak with simplicity
and to play with refinement. Out of modesty, he hides the difficulties that
this Pandora’s box can pose for a performer. I was seduced like the romantic
poet who wrote that “the clavichord breathes as sweetly as my heart”.
24 Heures
(Lausanne, Switzerland), Jean-Jacques Huber
