Released 1978 by Vanguard Recording Society. Inc.. New York VSD 71224
Harpsichord: John Houston, c. 1789 (an assistent to the famous craftsman Burkhard Tschudi)
Two 8′ sets of strings and one 4′ set: the lower (mellow) 8′ set can be played either with a harp-stop, or a soft peau-de-buffle, or both Reconstructed by Hendrik Broekman, 1970
Product and Recording Engineer Joanna Nickrenz
Photograph: Remo Cosentino
Management: Thea Dispeker

Thanks to Robert Tifft the webmaster of the European Revival Harpsichordists ( for providing all the documentation and already cleaned up acoustic material to make this publication possible.

SIDE ONE
From Handel’s 5ixty Overtures from all his Operas and Oratorios Set for the Harpsicord or Organ, c. 1755.
00:00 1. Overture and Giga (Acisartd Galatea, c. 1719; Siroe, 1728) 5’13
05:15 2. Balletto (Ariodante, 1734) 1’43
07:00 3. Menuet (Imeneo, 1740) 1’35
08:37 4. Allegro (Athalia, 1733) 2’15
10:54 5. Allegro (Giustino, 1736) 1’39
12:35 6. Adagio (Il Pastor Fido, 1712) 4’27
17:03 7. Sinfonia ” Entrance of the Queen of Sheba” (Solomon, 1748) 2’53

SIDE TWO
From Solos for a Germam Flute a Hoboy or Violin With a Thorough Bass for the Harpsicord or Bass Violin, 1724.
1. Sonata in F major, Opus 1 No. 11 8’56
19:56 Larghetto
22:08 Allegro
24:38 Siciliana
26:29 Allegro (Giga)
2. From Handel’s Celebrated Water Musick Compleat. Set for the Harpsicord, 1743. 12’39
29:52 Aire in F
31:20 Bourrée in F
33:34 Hornpipe in F
35:51 Menuets 1 and 2 in G minor
39:01 Hornpipe in D

The present disc offers, for the first time, contemporaneous.
harpsichord settings of Handel’s Overtures ” and several other
curious pieces by the same author.” They are performed, as they
might have been in Handel’s day, by harpsichord virfuoso
Kenneth Cooper, an expert in Baroque ornamentation and improvisation,
on an eighteenth-century English harpsichord. His
instrument, built c. 1789 by John Houston, an assistant to the
famous craftsman Burkhard Tschudi, emphasizes those qualities
most prized by Handel, his contemporaries and his musical
disciples-blend of upper, middle, and lower registers;
mellowness and richness of tone; and sharp contrasts of registration
color-characteristics which corresponded to the sound
aesthetics of the Handelian orchestra, The harpsichord was
reconstructed internally in 1970 by Hendrik Broekman and consists
of two 8′ sets of strings and one 4′ set; the lower (mellow) 8′
set can be played either with a harp-stop, or a soft peau-debuffle,
or both.

KENNETH COOPER
Kenneth Cooper, one of America’s leading harpsichordists, is
a specialist in the performance of eighteenth-century music. He
combines a scholarly background (having a PhD. f~om Columbia
University) with a virtuoso technique and an exciting and
communicative musical personality. Currently he is a director of
the spectacular Lincoln Center midnight series, Our Bach
Concerts; he is the harpsichordist-and-pianist-in-residence at
the Waterloo and Allegheny College Music Festivals; and he is
Professor of Harpsichord at New York’s Mannes College of
Music. Kenneth Cooper gives many solo recitals and is especially
renowned for his performances of the Sonatas of Scarlatti
(available on Vanguard VSD 71201/ 71202). He often is heard in
collaboration with distinguished colleagues Ani Kavafian, Sylvia
Marlowe, Josephine Mongiardo, Henry Schuman, and Gerard
Schwarz.

Critical Notice
Kenneth Cooper generally manages to pull a few surprises at his
harpsichord recitals . … In Alice Tully Hall he uncovered what
might just be the tip of an iceberg-five pie ces by Handel adapted
from his operas and oratorios, excerpted from a long-forgotten
collection of 65 arrangements, all published in the composers
lifetime between 1726 and 1758.
Handel himself probably d~d not make the transcriptions, but
whoever is responsible has done a marvelous job of it. Like nearly
all Baroque music, these pieces adapt easily to a variety of instrumental
mediums, and in their keyboard guise they sparkle and
dance with all the infectious vitality of the originals. Mr. Coopers
deft performances were scintillating to say the least, and it will no
doubt not be long before other harpsichordists start investigating
this delightful addition to their repertory. Peter G. Davis
N. Y. Times, Dec. 12, 1977

#JohnHouston #KennethCooper