Your Selection The Book

Transcription

1 Your Selection The Book 1

2 Copyright Authentic Sound Company owned by Wim Winters bvba All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to, photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below. info@authenticsound.be Photograph cover 2

3 In loving memory of my father Jean Winters ( ) I wouldn t be a musician if it wasn t because of him. 3

4 What people say Your channel is one of the most amazing YouTube channels I ve ever seen. it is the combination of the best things in YouTube: it is self produced, interesting, unique and incredibly high quality work Daniel Borbely IAbsolutely divine! Nigel Long You play so lyrically that I could dance to this, amazing work!!! Antionio Valentini This is amazing!!! My God Now I just want to play clavichord!! music_pillow This is incredible... GamingReviews Wow... I can t say anything else... fantastic... AP Wim you are amazing. That SOUND!!! So lush! You re playing is fabulous as ever. Ted Forbes The Art of Photography You re on to something quite unique Jeff Moore Beautiful beyond words. Kresimir Cindric Once again you have demonstrated a lightness and clarity of articulation seldom heard by performers on any keyboard instrument. Rollinglenn 4

5 You manage to clarify and expound Bach s music for me, through your playing, phrasing and emphases, aided by your wonderful instrument. Long may you continue Bill Huband An amazing performance of an amazing piece by an amazing and talented man. Adrian Leal Nice piece, nice performance, nice recording, nice video: you re spoiling us all the time Scozio Stunning beauty. David Rothschild It s amazing how mighty your clavichord sounds. I m rapidly becoming a big fan of your work. Eavan Rommes Votre video m a mit les larmes aux yeux. Merci. Simon Carrier OMG, wow, I m speechless, thank you! Benjamin Wand I ll never get tired of listening to you play David Rodgers 5

6 About this book Why a book and not a booklet? At some point, rather early, I started to write some text in what You- Tube calls the description box. It is the perfect spot to give a brief summary of the video, and in the case of my channel, it makes sense to give some background information on the composition that I played. Soon however, I started to improvise a bit with texts that reflected some more personal aspects of the performance (my view), or gave just a reflection of what crossed my mind in that moment of writing. People responded to those texts in a way that there was no escaping from which led to doing it with every music recording. Soon I started to write some kind of fiction with silly phone calls by Mozart or weird visits from Clementi. I enjoy writing almost as much as I do playing music, and so, many of those moments of writing are amongst the best memories I have on the channel. And so... almost 100 blog texts, some of them almost 2 pages...just leave them out? And moreover: there would be no other way to present you with an index of all 100 music recordings as well as over seventy relevant spoken videos! So, one of the key aspects of this book is to present you with a searchable index of the videos I have created. As many thanks as we have for the digital revolution, making a hard copy available was high on my priority list. An e-book is great, but a real book is better... at the minimum: more relaxing to read (I think). As for the use of the English language: the introduction is corrected by David Rodgers, American piano builder and restorer. The blogs remained unchanged from their appearances on YouTube, some spelling corrections aside. So, all of them are written in the hyper-modern Euro speak English that came directly off my pen. I hope you don t mind. It is an aspect that is intertwined with this channel. Perhaps, someday, Google will provide the world with a modern version of the Star Trek Universal Translator, with perfect, real-time translations in any language. Imagine that: wearing an advanced version of the Google glass, that transmits and translates in the most fluent and 6

7 correct way what one person is saying to another. THAT would make the world small at once! And Star Trek old fashioned :-). What I would say if this were a video If this introduction were a video I would close it as follows: So, that was it for today. I hope you enjoyed the idea of having a book like this to go along with the celebration CD s, and I certainly do hope you will enjoy reading it and listening to the recordings, whether it is your first time or whether you are returning to some recordings you already know. And to really close this introduction, I hope from the bottom of my heart that this will bring the clavichord closer to you all and that your souls will be sprinkled with uncountable drops of deep musical beauty and artful emotion. I thank you all for watching reading, please don t forget to subscribe to our channel and share this with all your friends important for You- Tube s algorithms and... we ll see each other very soon again. Bye! 7

8 Contents What people say... 4 About this book... 6 Why a book and not a booklet?... 6 What I would say if this were a video... 7 On the accompanying CD s and the selection The Story of Authentic Sound A bright moon What s in a name : Authentic Sound Evolution of the channel The queen of this project: my Clavichord The type of clavichord I play About the clavichord in the 18th century THE 100 RECORDINGS 1. Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 880 (WK II) Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 882 (WK II) Ludwig van Beethoven SONATA IN E FLAT MAJOR OPUS 27/ Johann Sebastian Bach CHROMATIC FANTASY & FUGUE BWV Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA IN A MINOR KV Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA IN C MAJOR KV Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN C MAJOR, BWV 870 (WK II) Muzio Clementi SONATA F SHARP MINOR OPUS 26/

9 9. Joseph Haydn FANTASY IN C MAJOR HOB. XVII/ Ludwig van Beethoven SONATA OPUS 10/2 IN F-MAJOR Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN C MAJOR, BWV 846 (WK I) Johann Sebastian Bach ENGLISH SUITE N 3 IN G MINOR BWV Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA IN A MAJOR KV A. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart RONDO ALLA TURCA (TURKISH MARCH) KV Joseph Haydn SONATA N 54 IN G MAJOR (HOB. XVI/40) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart VARIATIONS G-MAJOR V 455 (GLUCK) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA IN F MAJOR KV Johann Sebastian Bach SONATA A MAJOR OPUS 17 N Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN C# MAJOR BWV 848 (WK I) Ludwig van Beethoven SONATA PATHETIQUE OPUS Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart VARIATIONS C-MAJOR AH VOUS DIRAI-JE MAMAN KV Live Concert, Peer Deusterconcerten Live Concert at Castle Le Paige Herentals Jacques van Oortmerssen & Wim Winters LIVE AT T WOUDT (FULL CONCERT, 85 MINUTES) Johann Sebastian Bach DUETTO S BWV 802/ X1. Frédéric Chopin BALLADE N 4 IN F-MINOR OPUS

10 25. Johann Sebastian Bach O GOTT DU FROMMER GOTT BWV Georg Friederich Händel SUITE D-MINOR HWV A. Georg Friederich Händel SARABANDE HWV Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN E FLAT MINOR BWV 853 (WKI) Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN C MINOR BWV 847 (WKI) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart PRELUDE AND FUGUE KV Johann Sebastian Bach PARTITA N 2 BWV Joseph Haydn SONATA N 47 HOB XVI/ Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN E MAJOR BWV 878 (WK II) Joseph Haydn SONATA F MAJOR N 44 IN HOB. XVI/ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR KV Johann Sebastian Bach SONATA IN BB MAJOR OPUS Johann Sebastian Bach PARTITA N 3 BWV Joseph Haydn SONATA N 36 IN C MAJOR HOB XVI/ Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MINOR BWV 857 (WK I) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA N 16 IN C MAJOR KV Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN BB MINOR BWV 867 (WK I)

11 41. Joseph Haydn SONATA N 53 IN E MINOR HOB XVI/ Joseph Haydn SONATA N 55 IN B FLAT MAJOR HOB. XVI/ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ADAGIO KV Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN D MAJOR BWV 850 (WK I) Joseph Haydn SONATA N 38 IN F MAJOR HOB 16/ Kostas Papazafeiropoulos SONATA (2010) IN C MINOR (WORLD PREMIERE) Muzio Clementi SONATA OPUS 2/2 IN A MAJOR (1782) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA N 15 IN F MAJOR KV 533/ Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN AB MAJOR BWV 862 (WK I) Joseph Haydn SONATA N 37 IN E MAJOR HOB. XVI/ Pietro Domenico Paradies SONATA IN A MAJOR Muzio Clementi SONATA OPUS 14 N 3 IN F MINOR Franz Schubert ERLKÖNIG (SOLO) Kostas Papazafeiropoulos RONDO IN A MINOR (2015) (WORLD PREMIERE) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart VARIATIONS F MAJOR KV Franz Schubert GRETCHEN AM SPINNRADE (SOLO) Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 856 (WKI)

12 X2. Franz Liszt JEUX D EAU A LA VILLA D ESTE Joseph Haydn SONATA IN A FLAT MAJOR HOB XVI/ Ludwig van Beethoven SONATA OPUS 2 N 1 IN F MINOR Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR KV Muzio Clementi SONATA IN C MAJOR OP. 2 N 1 (1781) Johann Baptist Cramer ETUDES (1) PLAYED FROM BEETHOVEN S COPY Johann Sebastian Bach INVENTIONS N 1-3 BWV Johann Baptist Cramer ETUDES (2) PLAYED FROM BEETHOVEN S COPY Johann Baptist Cramer ETUDES (3) PLAYED FROM BEETHOVEN S COPY Johann Sebastian Bach INVENTIONS N 4-6 BWV Johann Sebastian Bach INVENTIONS N 7-9 BWV Kostas Papazafeiropoulos SONATA IN G DUR (2015) Johann Sebastian Bach INVENTIONS N BWV Johann Sebastian Bach INVENTIONS N BWV Johann Sebastian Bach PARTITA N 5, BWV Johann Baptist Cramer ETUDES (4) PLAYED FROM BEETHOVEN S COPY Carl Czerny PRELUDE & FUGUE IN G MAJOR (OPUS 822)

13 74. Carl Czerny PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN F#MINOR OPUS Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SECHS DEUTSCHE TÄNZE KV Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart NOTEBOOK KV 15 (SELECTION) KLAVIERSTUCK IN F MAJOR, KV 33B X3. Louis Vierne SYMPHONY N 6, OPUS Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA N 5 IN G MAJOR KV Johann Sebastian Bach PARTITA N 4 BWV Johann Baptist Cramer ETUDES (5) PLAYED FROM BEETHOVEN S COPY Kostas Papazafeiropoulos SONATE IN F MAJOR (2016) Johann Sebastian Bach PARTITA N I BWV Muzio Clementi FUGUE IN C MAJOR (GRAD.AD PARNASSUM) Dietrich Buxtehude SUITE IN E MINOR BUXWV Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach ABSCHIED VON MEINEM SILBERMANNISCHEN CLAVIERE Domenico Scarlatti SONATA K D.E.Von Grotthuss FREUDE ÜBER DEM EMPFANG DES SILBERM.CLAVIERS Kostas Papazafeiropoulos SONATA OP. 87 (2011) Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach WÜRTTEMBERG SONATA I WQ 49/

14 89. Johann Sebastian Bach PARTITA VI BWV Johann Christian Bach SONATA IN C MINOR OP.17/ Kostas Papazafeiropoulos (2016) VARIATIONS ON W.A. MOZART, DER VOGELFÄNGER / THE BIRD CATCHER Johann Pachelbel CIACONNA IN F MINOR Ludwig van Beethoven SONATA OPUS 53 (WALDSTEIN) Johann Pachelbel ARIA SECUNDA Joseph Haydn SONATA IN G MINOR, HOB XVI/ Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN E MAJOR BWV 854 (WKI) X4. Michael Anton ( 2001) SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR (2016) Johann Pachelbel ARIA SEBALDINA EVELIEN DANCE Kostas Papazafeiropoulos SONATA OP. 113 (2015) Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN E MAJOR (2) BWV 854 (WKI) Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN B MINOR BWV To talk or to only play? To be a musicologist or not? The series MORE ABOUT MUSIC 1. PRACTISING BACH S SINFONIAS WITH YOU (PART 7)! PRACTISING BACH S SINFONIAS WITH YOU (PART 6)!

15 3. A COMPOSER WORKING AT MY CLAVICHORD! PRACTISING BACH S SINFONIAS WITH YOU (PART 5)! TO OVERDOT OR NOT? :: J.S.BACH PARTITA 2, SINFONIA :: DOUBTS & DECISIONS (3) PRACTISING BACH S SINFONIAS TOGETHER WITH YOU(4)! PRACTICING BACH S SINFONIAS WITH YOU (3)! CLAVICHORDS :: 3 SOUNDS! SOME SERIOUSLY UNDOCUMENTED THOUGHTS ON INSTRUMENT CHOICE (AMONG OTHER THINGS) PRACTICING BACH S SINFONIAS WITH YOU! :: PART C.P.E.BACH WOULD EMBRACE SOCIAL MEDIA! PRACTICING BACH S SINFONIAS WITH YOU! :: PART J.S.BACH S E MAJOR FUGUE (WKI): A TRICKY ONE TO PLAY :: AFTERTHOUGHTS C.P.E.BACH :: A REMARKABLE POST SCRIPTUM IN MUSIC! MOST NOBLE EXPRESSION OF MELANCHOLY :: THOUGHTS ON HAYDN S G MINOR SONATA (PART 2) HAYDN :: SONATA IN G MINOR :: MY THOUGHTS (PART 1) THE LETTERS OF C.P.E.BACH :: ED. CLARK :: BOOK REVIEW MAIN OR UPPER NOTE TRILLS? :: AFTERTHOUGHTS ON J. PACHELBEL :: ARIA SECUNDA MY CLAVICHORD S CATHEDRAL: SYMPATHETIC STRINGS: Q&A YOUR TIME DOUBTS & DECISIONS : JSBACH PARTITA 2 (2) : CAPRICCIO BEETHOVEN WALDSTEIN :: NOTATION AND CHANGES :: AFTERTHOUGHTS (2) ON MY RECORDING FINALLY: THE EDGE OF MY CLAVICHORD : BEETHOVEN WALDSTEIN :: AFTERTHOUGHTS (1) MY CLAVICHORD IN A NUTSHELL :: Q&A YOUR TIME AFTERTHOUGHTS ON J. PACHELBEL :: CIACONA IN F MINOR DOUBTS & DECISIONS : JSBACH PARTITA 2 : 15

16 FUGUE-INVENTION THE BEBUNG ON CLAVICHORD: A PERSONAL VIEW:: Q&A EP CHRISTIAN BACH COMPARED TO A VERY FAMOUS PIECE OF MUSIC :: AFTERTHOUGHTS TWO BOOKS I D RECOMMEND :: CPEBACH AND TÜRK :: Q&A - YOUR TIME :: EP Q&A :: EP.7 ::PITCH OF MY CLAVICHORD AFTERTHOUGHTS ON CPEBACH :: WÜRTTEMBERG SONATA I WQ 49/ YOUR TIME :: Q&A :: EP.5 :: BEETHOVEN OP.2/1 ALLEGROOR PRESTO? AFTERTHOUGHTS ON GROTTHUSS: RONDO C MAJOR AFTERTHOUGHTS ON KOSTAS SONATA OPUS 87 (2011) OUR VISIT TO RECORD INDUSTRY, ONE OF WORLD S LARGEST VINYL PRESSING PLANTS! YOUR TIME :: Q&A :: EP.3: MY EARLY MUSIC INFLUENCERS THE MAKING OF SCARLATTI, OR : THE WOMAN BEHIND IT ALL AFTERTHOUGHTS ON SCARLATTI :: SONATA K IT MUST HAVE HURT...LIVE ON C.PH.E.BACH S ABSCHIED - FAREWELL (SESSION , 9PM) HIS CLAVICHORD TOOK FORTISSIMOS THAT WOULD DESTROY ANOTHER INSTRUMENT... :: ON CPEBACH AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MY RECORDING OF CLEMENTI S FUGUE IN C MAJOR AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MY RECORDING OF BACH S PARTITA I BWV 825 ON CLAVICHORD AFTERTHOUGHTS: BENIFITS OF TALKING TO A LIVING COMPOSER! AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MY RECORDING OF CRAMER S ETUDES (PART 5) AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MY RECORDING OF 16

17 BACH S PARTITA N 4 BWV AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MOZART: SONATA N 5 IN G MAJOR, KV THE ORGAN : A GUIDED TOUR! AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MOZART S SECHS DEUTSCHE TÄNZE KV AFTERHTOUGTHS ON MY RECORDING OF MOZART KV 15 AND KV IDEAS ON CZERNY: PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN F#MINOR (AFTERTHOUGHTS) AFTERTHOUGHTS ON CZERNY PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN G MAJOR MOZART - CLEMENTI: TWO GIANTS MEET: CHRISTMAS EVE A PERSONAL VIEW AFTERTHOUGHTS ON BACH S PARTITA N V, BWV WHAT S THE THING ABOUT A NEW MOZART OR NOT? AFTERTHOUGHTS ON KOSTAS PAPAZAFEIROPOULOS SONATA IN G BACH S INVENTIONS OR THE ULTIMATE POLYPHONIC FEEL (5): AFTERTHOUGHTS BACH S INVENTIONS OR THE ULTIMATE POLYPHONIC FEEL (4): AFTERTHOUGHTS BACH S INVENTIONS OR THE ULTIMATE POLYPHONIC FEEL (3): AFTERTHOUGHTS AFTERTHOUGTHS (PT 3) ON CRAMERS ETUDES AFTERTHOUGHTS ON EARLY RUBATO... AND MUCH MORE: CRAMER ETUDES, PART REFLECTIONS (2) ON BACH S INVENTIONS: AFTERTHOUGHTS AFTERTHOUGHTS (2) ON CRAMERS ETUDES REFLECTIONS ON BACH S INVENTIONS (1): AFTERTHOUGHTS REFLECTIONS ON CRAMER S ETUDES ON CLAVICHORD (PART 1)

18 63. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON CLEMENTI SONATA IN C MAJOR, OPUS 2 N 1 (1781) AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MOZART S SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR, KV BEETHOVEN OP. 2/1, WHAT ABOUT THE B FLAT IN BAR 15...? AND MORE LET THERE BE SOUND!! PHILIP NEWELL, THE INTERVIEW TALKING ABOUT TRILLS, METRICAL MOVEMENT, AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THIS WONDERFUL HAYDN SONATA AFTERTHOUGHTS ON BACH S PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN F MAJOR (WKI) AFTERTOUGHTS ON MY RECORDING OF SCHUBERT S GRETCHEN AM SPINNRADE AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MOZART VARIATIONS IN F MAJOR KV AFTERTHOUGHTS ON COSTAS PAPAZAFEIROPOULOS RONDO IN A MINOR AFTERTHOUGHTS: SEARCHING THE LIMITS WITH SCHUBERT AFTERTHOUGHTS: CLEMENTI WHISPERED TO BEETHOVEN... AND MORE AFTERTHOUGHTS ON PARADIES SONATA IN A MAJOR AFTERTHOUGHTS ON HAYDN S SONATA N 37 IN E MAJOR AFTERTHOUGHTS ON BACH S PR&F IN AB MAJOR (WKI) Future plans Recording label Vinyl project Series CPEBach in pieces etc Scores Pianoforte project Building of the studio Authentic Sound Radio Patreon A thank you Special thanks to

19 On the accompanying CD s and the selection This book is published both as E-book and hard copy along with the release of three CD s containing a selection of the 100 music recordings I ve made for the Authentic Sound YouTube channel between February 2014 and November The selection is made by the community that surrounds Authentic Sound, hence it s title: Your Selection. Since these CD s feature a selection from the 100 recordings made in the past two years, you will notice differences in sound because of different setups, different recording equipment, and even different rooms. All recordings though, have in common, that they have been made with a stereo setup with no additional reverb. Even the reverb you ll hear in the recording of Beethoven s Pathetique is pure and alone the natural reflection of that impressive 18th Imperial Hall in Sint-Truiden (B), where this piece was recorded. The equipment we used for the first recordings was very basic, but served its purpose well: 2 Mic AKG C Tascam field recorder Camera : Fuji X-Pro 1 Today, recordings are made with: 2 Mic Neumann TML-170 Presonus ADL 600 Preamp (Tube, Dual Mono) Benchmark ADC1 Benchmark DAC1 HDR Samplitude Pro as editing software Current cameras : 2x Panasonic Lumix Lx100 19

20 As for the last 6 months, (almost) all recordings are recorded on a fully restored STUDER A80r Tape recorder and afterwards digitised. What a tape recorder of that quality does with the sound of a recording is impossible to describe accurately. Even compared to a high quality AD convertor as our Benchmark is, set in High Res, the sound opens and clarifies in a way you should experience if you had the chance. Even after being converted to digital, a good part of that initial sound is to be heard. And even... on YouTube after who knows how many conversions and down samplings. At least five people sent me a message after releasing the first so called ADD recording online, to ask what I did with the sound (Clementi s G Major Prelude and Fugue, included on the CD s). All tracks on the CD are the unaltered version of their counterparts on YouTube. Of course, contrary to the sound quality on YouTube, you ll hear those recordings through their original WAV (CD quality) sound. Here is the index of the CD s: 20

21 CD Dietrich Buxtehude ( ) :: Suite in E minor, BuxWV 236 Allemande Courant- Saraband- Gigue 5 Johann Pachelbel ( ):: Ciaconna in F Minor 6-8 George Friedrich Händel ( ) :: Suite D-Minor HWV 437 Allemande Courante Sarabande Johann Sebastian Bach ( ) 9-11 Invention n 7-9, BWV Prelude & Fugue in E Major (WTK I), BWV Partita in B flat Major, BWV 825 Praeambulum Allemande - Courante Sarabande Menuet Gigue 20 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach ( ) Abschied von meinem Silbermannischen Claviere Johann Christian Bach ( ) :: Sonata in C Minor Op.17/2 Allegro Andante Prestissimo CD Joseph Haydn ( ) :: Sonata in A flat Major, Hob. XVI/46 Allegro Moderato - Adagio - Presto 4 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( ) :: Variations in F Major, KV Muzio Clementi ( ) :: Sonata in F sharp Minor, opus 26/2 Piu tosto Allegro con Espressione - Lente e pathetic Presto 8-9 Joseph Haydn :: Sonata in B flat Major, Hob. XVI/41 Allegro - Allegro di molto 10 W.A. Mozart :: Adagio in B Minor, KV W.A. Mozart:: Sechs Deutsche Tänze, KV

22 CD Ludwig van Beethoven ( ) :: Sonata Pathetique, opus 13 in C Minor Grave - Allegro Molto e con brio - Andante cantabile - Rondo Allegro 4 Franz Schubert ( ) :: Gretchen Am Spinnrade (klavier solo) Johann Baptist Cramer ( ):: Etudes played from Beethoven s copy 5 Etude n 16 in F Minor 6 Etude n 18 in D Minor 7 Etude n 21 in G Major 8 Etude n 24 in D Minor 9-10 Carl Czerny ( ) :: Prelude & Fugue in G Major 11 Kostas Papazafeiropoulos ( ) :: Rondo in A Minor (2015) Dedicated to Wim Winters Kostas Papazafeiropoulos :: Sonate in C Minor, opus 113 (2015) Allegro Adagio - Menuet/Trio - Rondo Allegro Dedicated to Constantine P. Carambelas - Sgourdas Buy the CD s on: 22

23 The Story of Authentic Sound A bright moon Imagine a late winter night, dark and cold outside, the wind blowing through naked threes, their silhouettes drawn black in the bright moon light. One man still up, sitting cosily warm inside, all lights switched off except one candle light that lights the score on his clavichord. The moment we enter the room, he just released the last note of a Bach fugue that enhanced the silence as only a clavichord can do. You would see that man s back sag a bit, and if you would be able to read his mind, it would tell you thousands of feelings related to that one moment, whispering thoughts that would fly in the electrified air of the room. One of those thoughts would be the wish to share this moment of beauty with others, not so surprisingly for an artist, because isn t that what they essentially do: sharing beauty? The date must have been December 11 th That was the moment on which Authentic Sound YouTube channel was born. Now, three years later, that channel has become a platform with 100 clavichord recordings, and 150 spoken videos. Each month, about 30,000 people find something of interest; maybe even beauty, and it s community (called subscribers in YouTube s world) of almost 3,000 is now growing by an average of 15 a day. 23

24 It might be a world far from many classical musicians, or perhaps even from you as a classical audience. It was certainly a world very far from me when I started on YouTube in February But take away every aspect that potentially could hold you back from these new platforms, be it its mass access, its mass use, its overly clear commercial aspects,... and what remains is, in fact, a unique way of communicating and reaching out to people. It is hard, I can tell you, it requires a lot more than just make some good video s or some decent recordings. It forces you to think more in terms of direct communication, conversation, building a community, and much more. But once behind that massive wall, there is a world that gives you all access to an artist in a way that would have been only a dream fifteen years ago: direct, one-on-one contact with his audience. In fact, however you might think of communication on social platforms, a thank-you sentence in a YouTube comment box, is not so different from a person who shakes your hand after a concert. The tools are different, but in essence, both are the same. The only real difference is the reach. It would be hard, in the niche market of Historically Informed Performance (HIP), to reach, live, the 30,000 people my recording of Beethoven s Pathetique has reached on YouTube. Views are not saying everything, but YouTube s analytics tell me that one out of four of three views, actually watch the entire recording. That means, that the Pathetique has at least 10,000 complete views. Take away the unique cookies, meaning the returning listeners, it would be safe to say that at least 3,000 people on this planet are familiar with the version of Beethoven s famous sonata... on clavichord. With a channel as small as this still is, and knowing the fact that this recording was a very early one, when Authentic Sound only had a few hundred subscribers is a number that would be called a success in the classic CD retail world of my niche. Of course, both numbers are not to be compared. I did not actually sell those recordings. But the new idea of the sharing economy forces you to think differently: that recording reached that many people. You could even say, in much more down to earth marketing terminology: I influenced that many people by that recording. 24

25 Recording labels mostly hold firm to known names and repeat the same concepts, but see numbers dwindling; which is bad for their annual business numbers, but also for the musicians asked to perform the same things again and again. Many will have the feeling that there simply is no place left for them anymore, and certainly not a possibility to make a decent living from what is one of the most demanding and difficult professions of all. What s in a name : Authentic Sound If you ever have wondered if it is hard to find a name that covers your activity or that of your brand, I can tell you: it is. It becomes even harder when you have finally found a name and then must put it to the test to be judged by family and friends... Anyway, one thing I wanted to avoid was opening a YouTube channel that would have my name. It might sound strange, but I cannot see Wim Winters as a brand name. Even a YouTube Channel is ultimately a Brand Name. Authentic Sound was first chosen as a name in It was for a concert I gave at the Exhibition of Instrument Makers held at the MA Festival in Bruges (Belgium). I thought that the clavichord, as important as this instrument was throughout the whole 18th c., could use some extra help in today s world of HIP; still dominated by harpsichords and pianofortes. The term Sound reflected the sound of my clavichord. The word Authentic tied into its voice; which is authentic in every meaning of the word. When thinking about a name for a YouTube channel, it was hard to come up with an alternative to this. I even created a poster for that concert, maybe a wee bit provocative, to attract attention to the Queen of 18 th century keyboard instruments in today s noisy world. I share it here with you, not completely without embarrassment... but : it worked! The beautiful exhibition concert room was packed with people. Beethoven s opus 10/3. In 2015 I played all Bach partitas -with a different 25

26 poster...! - and received a wonderful review in the magazine of the British Clavichord Society. I ll share it here with you (still proud of that!): We will take Authentic Sound as a brand name for future projects, as there will be a recording label, publication of scores, a recording studio, and even Authentic Sound Radio is a project that is under development for launch within the coming years. 26

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28 Evolution of the channel Looking back on those first recordings of February 2014, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing on anything, except maybe (I hope) the clavichord playing. I still lived in the 20 th c. mindset that quality always finds its way and so just uploading a well performed recording would do the trick. Today, I could easily tell that the almost pitch black thumbnail (and video), with no explanation, no personal interactions, and no calls to action would certainly be completely ignored by YouTube; as it most certainly was. I still remember that I was happy when the views went up in one day with an average of three, not even knowing if my own clicks causing that shift in number or not. You will see those first dark days when you start paging through the book: those videos are at the beginning and if it were not for a chronological approach, in terms of branding, they shouldn t be at the beginning. Although I still do like those recordings to this day! If you realise that today and the numbers wouldn t be that much less impressive back in YouTube receives more than 600 hours of recording every... minute, it is not hard to understand that our first videos were not, in importance, even close to one drop in a vast ocean. For one person, it would take up to 60 years (!) to watch the content YouTube receives in a day. Yes, in one day... So, there were the first two preludes and fugues by Bach, played on clavichord. Not on piano, let alone harpsichord. No: clavichord. Even with a million potential viewers remember, there are about 7 billion on this planet, and YouTube receives at least 1 billion of them per day (!), those videos would barely get a chance to be found, let alone indexed by the world s second largest search engine: YouTube. 28

29 In those early days, views or subscribers (I think I had 8 after a month) were only vanity numbers. So, the only element that might have been hurt by that was my ego. I surely had not one single thought that this YouTube adventure would have the potential to become a possible backbone for a business model around my musical life. I did however, if only for reasons of ambition, wanted to do things right! So, a few dedicated video channels soon became my guidance and source of inspiration. This clear commitment one day resulted in a personal invitation by YouTube headquarters in Amsterdam for both Anja and myself to learn to understand this social platform better. The queen of this project: my Clavichord I love my clavichord more than I can describe in words. There is a clear fire escape plan in my head in case our house for some reason should catch fire. First wake Anja, my wife, take the kids outside and then immediately go in and bring the clavichord outside. Just to tell how much it influences my daily life. As many beautiful instruments as Joris Potvlieghe has built since and before, many of which I have had the privileged to play (sometimes even offering them shelter within my home) there is only one number 35. Mine. Let me tell you first how I got that instrument. It was totally by accident. Early 2008, I visited some Belgian organ builders, to prepare a first contract with a selection committee for the building of a large organ in Contius style in Leuven, a project for which I was and still am project manager. One of the names on our short list was Joris Potvlieghe, someone I had heard about quite a lot, but never met in person. So, one Sunday afternoon, I had coffee with him in his beautiful 19 th c. house, and not long after that, he invited me to come to the clavichord-room and try one of his latest instruments. Of course, I politely refused to try it out, as the clavichord was a complete stranger 29

30 to me in spite of my eight years of education in Amsterdam. The only thing I knew for sure about that instrument was that it had a name of being extremely difficult to play upon. So, the last thing I wanted to do, was to make a fool out of myself in front of the organ builder Joris Potvlieghe. I was visiting as project manager of an important organ project! But Joris can be enormously persistent in a way that is hard to describe... so five minutes later I played the first bars of a Haydn Sonata. That initial contact with the keys of a clavichord changed my life forever. On our way home, I looked to Anja and without one word, she nodded her head and made a sign to pull the car over. Call him, right now, she said, I know you, you wouldn t sleep. And what is a man to resist the perseverance of his wife? So, I called. And six months later, I played the inauguration concert on my n 35 in Sint-Truiden, in the Imperial Hall, the same room where I would record Beethoven s Pathetique five years later 30

31 The type of clavichord I play My instrument is an unfretted clavichord, built by the Belgian organ/ clavichord builder Joris Potvlieghe in the Saxon style. Joris does make copies of historical instruments, but his main body of work is not related to a specific instrument, but more to a general style. In other words: he builds instruments as an 18 th century builder possibly could have done. Perhaps a very historic approach in itself; in any case similar to the way we, as performers, play historic music. We lack the original performances of course, and therefore we rely solely upon the score and our interpretation of it. Saxony was one of the great areas of German music, much related to the Bach family. It is difficult to date this instrument, since so few unfretted clavichords of the first half of the 18 th c. are preserved (or few were built, I believe it was a costly, elite instrument back then), but it is safe to say that the clavichord I own could be dated as a reflection of what was available around About the clavichord in the 18 th century He loved to play the most on clavichord, J.N. Forkel probably quotes C.P.E. Bach in what was the first biography of J.S. Bach in Forkel would deserve a huge statue in the research and preservation on the life and works of J.S. Bach. He was close to C.P.E. Bach, as the preserved letters of the master show. Moreover, based on the cases where we can put the original letters of C.P.E. Bach next to quotes in Forkel s biography, he was very truthful concerning the information he received. Many details of Bach s life we owe to him and, in general, for the immense musicologist work he did, Forkel is considered to be the founder of modern musicology today. 31

32 And yet, that one quote, which makes such perfect sense to those who know and play the clavichord, is so often rejected with passion. It would take too far in this introduction to dig deeper into the subject, but one point is clear to me, that the coming decades will show much more evidence (as much as I find evidence uninteresting) on the importance of the clavichord in the 1st and 2 nd half of the 18 th c. With this one side remark, that the clavichord is most related to the German areas. So, playing J.S. Bach on clavichord, is not as much an experiment as it is a (my) reflection of the daily practice of that time. Today, we consider the clavichord only as a study instrument, to pave the way to the harpsichord, but there is no evidence at all that that was the case. On the contrary, as C.P.E. Bach points out, a true keyboard player can only be recognised when playing on a clavichord. The word study (Übung), in my opinion, should be connected to e.g. terms like J.S. Bach used in his own series of the Clavier Übung, where the word Übung does not mean to study (practice) in our modern sense, but an achievement of the highest possible skill as a musician. It is in that context, I believe, that the clavichord was used, also by J.S. Bach, and probably even pushed for by J.S. Bach and it is in that context I use my instrument day in day out. Again, there is so little that can be proven, but the recent and upcoming articles of Joris Potvlieghe on J.S. Bach and the clavichord (published in Clavichord International), makes it hard to deny what appears to be evident. The 18 th c. was looking for expression in all forms and ways, and the perfect keyboard instrument to achieve that was... the clavichord. 32

33 Fretted until probably the end of the 17 th c., there had to be a determining factor to enlarge these instruments to unfretted instruments, where each pair of strings only served one key. Tuning had to do a lot with it, without doubt, something we could spend some pages on, and thus the clavichord was expanded, basically to a new instrument. This is meaningful, in a way, as the harpsichord, of course, already delivered the free strings needed for contemporary literature; but not all aspects maybe the top musician s of that time were going to. This is also true of the later music. Unfretted clavichords were produced increasingly in the second half of the 18 th c. For instance, Mozart owned several clavichords since his father was one of the main sellers of Friederici clavichords (pointed by many -also in history- as one of the most important clavichord builders and by the way, much related to my type of instrument.) But Beethoven also knew the clavichord well. Certainly this is so through his teacher (G. Neefe in Bonn), who also was a selling point for Friederici instruments. Haydn even ordered a large unfretted clavichord as late as But! This is not said to deny the fact that the world, at that time, was moving to a new era; that of the pianoforte. Not so soon as we think today. Mozart only acquired his first pianoforte in 1782, so on what instruments did he play before? There can be many assumptions about the clavichord, as evident as it is, yet it is not often mentioned in today s main stream research. But, of course, there still was the harpsichord, mostly in use for Starken Musik - or: orchestral music as C.P.E. Bach writes. But denying that the pianoforte would take over the elite performances of the Viennese musical scene, as the unfretted clavichord probably did in the early 18 th c. for the likes of J.S. Bach, would be the same as denying the sunlight. Certainly, Beethoven opens new perspectives in an unbelievable way. Playing his first sonatas is like missing one generation both in expression and technique from Mozart s latest works. But still, the classic technique, with the closed hand, the firm contact between finger and key and the not essential use of the sustaining pedal, are elements that show that even Beethoven, up to his Waldstein Sonata was full of signs of that 18 th c. tradition. And on a good clavichord, that music works so well... visualising the bridge with earlier music of the likes of C.P.E. Bach. It just makes so much sense (to me). As it makes sense that a 33

34 good clavichord is an extremely difficult task for an instrument builder. Not only for the ones we know today, but it must have always been the case. J. Adlung, one of the most important sources on instrument building, and acquainted with J.S. Bach, wrote in 1726 that even an exceptional builder cannot guarantee the outcome of an instrument. And that the cheaper instruments are not better than to lit a fire with to bake fish upon... This all adds to the mysterious qualities of that seductive instrument that, once it has the power of its performer, opens a world that sometimes appears to be a new dimension, even a new universe. I hope you feel that with me...! I can only hope that this beautiful instrument will stay in my life for a long time, and that it can serve as a sensitive translator of the beauty its player tries to deliver... 34

35 The hundred recordings 35

36 RECORDING N 1 Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 880 (WK II) Date: Timing: 6:23 Link: 36

37 If you would think the video quality of the first videos is quite... well... a bit black to say only this, you might reconsider when you would have seen the real first attempts for the first recording. I am really, far too embarrassed to share that video with you, but apart from being totally out of focus, you would immediately understand why I shifted from daylight to almost pitch black. Can you imagine how a house with two small children and a daddy as me looks like...? So, one 34 euro Ikea light seemed to be THE solution to fix all those problems. In a way, it did...but I believe the upgrades we introduced made sense, however lighting is a constant source of concern. Unwanted shadows, not enough focus, demanding too much dynamic range from the cameras etc. And for the time being, don t think too highly of the lighting upgrade: instead of with one, today we work with five Ikea lights. 37

38 RECORDING N 2 Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 882 (WK II) Date: Timing: 8:22 Link: 38

39 RECORDING N 3 Ludwig van Beethoven SONATA IN E FLAT MAJOR OPUS 27/1 Date: Timing: 20:16 Link: 39

40 The clavichord as tool for the music of Beethoven may sound surprising to some. However, Beethoven knew the 18th century unfretted clavichord very well, as far back as his lessons with Neefe in Bonn. Of course, Vienna was a modern city of music and the pianoforte became more and more dominant, leaving other keyboard instruments behind, definitely from early 19th century on, but still, the other instruments were still very much present in daily musical live. Moreover, until about 1800, most keyboard music was composed for clavier, which could be about any instrument available. Given the fact that each type of keyboard instrument has its own sound and character, it gives much possibilities for the musician to work with this music, almost as an organist who chooses his registers in function of his instrument, mood, etc.. 40

41 RECORDING N 4 Johann Sebastian Bach CHROMATIC FANTASY & FUGUE BWV 903 Date: Timing: 15:46 Link: 41

42 J.S.Bach wrote the chromatic fantasy probably around 1720, the year in which his first wife died. You could assume that this is a kind of lamento piece, dedicated to his beloved wife. Not too much is known about the history of this intriguing piece of music, but the fugue probably is not conceived at the same time, but still during Bach s lifetime at least in one copy (if I am right here just digging in the information in my head), that has been made before Interesting with this fantasy is the fact that Bach prescribed dynamic marks, p and f. Often played at the harpsichord (sometimes to great effect), it is impossible to make the prescribed dynamic differences by changing from manual 1 to manual 2. I think there is no question about the fact that this fantasy is pure clavichord music, adding to the drama of the music the intense expression of this intimate instrument. The clavichord was, as we know through Forkel, Bach s preferred keyboard instrument (I talk about this in this video: watch?v=a8vms7ufixy&list=uu8vr6vp-3o_spdnebrpygiq). But in general, it is safe to state that most solo keyboard music was meant to be played at the clavichord. The harpsichord was used at larger occasions, where orchestra was involved (Starken Music), or keyboard concerti, not for playing the more difficult and complicated pieces, as this one, or the well-tempered clavier, or the partita s,... 42

43 RECORDING N 5 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA IN A MINOR KV 310 Allegro maestoso Andante cantabile - Presto Date: Timing: 23:18 Link: 43

44 In this video, I play one of the most well known sonata s of W.A.Mozart. Their seems to be a bit of discussion of the exact date of composition, but it is either end of the 70 or early 80ties. Still patiently waiting for my Fritz pianoforte for early 2015, I choose the clavichord to render this piece. That might sounds a bit weird to some of you, but imagine that Mozart at those days or did not have a pianoforte yet, or was only about having one... on what instruments did he play? Well, that s hard to say, and certainly worth spending a vlog on. But it is for sure that he was an experienced clavichord (clavier) player. His father being an official seller of the famous Friederici clavichords (more or less like the one I play), Mozart, as all 18th century keyboard players, was very familiar with the instrument, and must have loved as his colleagues who did write their experiences down, the large amount of expression this instrument offers. 44