Tuesday 8 November 2011

I had an instructive encounter with an old Italian instrument on Friday, when at St Cecilia’s Hall I tried to play some Scarlatti on the 1574 Trasuntinis harpsichord. I thought I knew how the piece (K.10) went, but it insisted that I play it in a completely different way, at a different tempo, with a different affect, and effect. It reminded me of the Cristofori piano in New York, which obstinately refused to play any French music at all. There’s something about the character of some old instruments (and old Italian ones in particular) that engages you in a very forceful dialogue about how the music should sound.  The Trasuntinis also has the most worn keys of any instrument I’ve ever seen: it’s had at least a couple of centuries’ worth of serious playing, so there’s quite a lot of history to engage with. You can hear it here.  And yes, I did get to play the 1769 Taskin, the 1609 Ruckers and my favourite 1755 Kirckman before leaving. As Darryl said when we left, ‘that’s you had your fix for the next six months’.  I bought some eteaket tea round the corner in the Edinburgh Larder too.

Yesterday I popped into Common Wheel on the way home and got some work done in the office while Neil made adjustments to my X-RD3 brake hub, and showed me how (and when) to hit my handlebars with a hammer.  This morning a new Ortlieb QL3 Downtown pannier arrived – I think I’ve got enough bags now.

And as I was typing this I got a phone call to say that ‘Tobias Hume – the Swedish Years’ is now moving towards a performance next year. Better start organising that one …