The Renaissance Keyboard

During the mid-16th century in Spain, it became increasingly common for collections of music to include tablature that would enable performers of other polyphonic instruments to perform the repertoire. With the recent addition of chromatic strings, the harp was one such mechanism to benefit from this, and its presentation in this beautifully performed compilation of works offers a fascinating glimpse into the rich world of Iberian Renaissance music making.

Thomas Tomkins - Barafostus Dreame - Carole Cerasi (2001) {Metronome MET CD 1049}
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© 2001 Metronome Recordings | MET CD 1049
Classical / Renaissance / Early Baroque / Period Instruments / Harpsichord / Virginals

The sound of plucked-string keyboard instruments, overtone-rich and complex, sometimes brilliant but rarely imposing, is one of the more distinctive and delightful artifacts of the Renaissance and Baroque, and if you enjoy the ringing resonance and sharply defined articulation of harpsichord and virginals, you'll find much pleasure in these performances of keyboard works of 17th-century English composer Thomas Tomkins.

Tasto Solo - Meyster ob allen Meystern: Conrad Paumann and the 15th century German Keyboard School (2009) {Passacaille PASS950}
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© 2009 Passacaille / Musica Vera | PASS 950
Classical / Renaissance / 15th Century / Early Music

The unique mission of this quartet is to perform music written for the keyboards of the Middle Ages on exact replicas of the Medieval clavisimbalum, organetto, and Gothic organ. Not only the content of Renaissance Music has been awarded so often, but the recording done by Jean-Daniel Noir is of very, very high quality. A winner in all respects.

Although harpsichordist Léon Berben's Ramée disc Ich Gieng Einmal Spatieren is credited to the composer "Hassler," it consists of work by two composers by that name, a long keyboard piece by the expected Hans Leo Hassler and all but one of the surviving keyboard pieces by his youngest brother, Jakob Hassler. These are played by Berben on a remarkable period instrument, a Franciscus Patavinus harpsichord built in 1561 and located in the Deutsches Museum in Munich. This keyboard provides just the right shade and color to the music of Jakob Hassler, a Prague-based musician beloved of eccentric Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II whose work culls together the influences of Venice and Germany while retaining some vestige of his own Franco-Flemish heritage.

New expanded 3CD edition of the 2001 Album by Renaissance. Includes to bonus CDs of ‘In the Land of the Rising Sun – Live in Japan 2001’.

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621) was one of the most influential composers of the Late-Renaissance and Early-Baroque. He was organist of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam for 44 years. His influence was enormous, he attracted composers from many European countries to Amsterdam to learn his art. Even the great Johann Sebastian Bach acknowledged his superior craftsmanship. Sweelinck's keyboard music is divided into 4 groups: Fantasias, Toccatas, Chorale variations (sacred works), Variations on Dances (secular works). Traditionally Dances were performed on the harpsichord, Chorale Variations on the organ.

Charlotte Schneider and Guy-Baptiste Jaccottet have been exploring since 2017 the multiple sounds offered by their combined instruments. These curious and playful musicians explore a repertoire stretching from the 16th to the 18th century, transcribing and arranging pieces for their duo. As a result, their music lies at the crossroads of historically informed performance practice and the concrete reality of instruments and places.