A Bach Notebook, lesser known harpsichord music by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Timothy Roberts harpsichord after Johann Heinrich Gräbner, Dresden, 1739, by Ferguson Hoey, Oxford, 1983. Pitch: A = 415Hz
Released 1985 by Hyperion Records Limited, London A66154
Recorded in St Clement’s Church, King Square, London. on 21, 22 November 1983
Recording Engineer John Bower
Recording Producer James Burnett
Sleeve Design Terry Shannon
Sleeve Photograph John Cuerden

SIDE 1 (26’46)
Concerto in F major, BWV 978 after Antonio Vivaldi 7’41
00:00 Allegro
02:37 Largo
5:03 Allegro
Prelude and fugue in b minor BWV 923/951 on a theme of Tomaso Albinoni 10’42
07:43 Prelude
10:17 Fugue
Prelude and fugue in G major, BWV 902.1 8’12
18:30 Prelude
25:31 Fugue

SIDE 2 (23’56)
26:36 Fantasia in g minor, BWV 917 1’50
28:36 Fantasia in c minor, BWV 919 1’31
30:10 Fantasia in c minor ‘on a rondo’, BWV 918 4’26
Prelude and fugue in F major, BWV 901 2’31
34:40 Prelude
35:53 Fugue
Suite in a minor, BWV818a 13’18
37:17 Prelude
39:10 AlIemande
42:42 Courante
44:08 Sarabande
46:54 Menuet
48:06 Giga

THE INSTRUMENT
Scholars and performers have long wondered what sort of
harpsichord Bach knew in Thuringia and Saxony. The question is
nearer an answer thanks to the identification of a very rare Saxon
instrument at Schloss Pilnitz, near Dresden, in East Germany.
This harpsichord was built in Dresden in 1739 by Johann Heinrich
Grabner, probably the elder of the two makers (father and son) of
that name. A similar, though heavily altered, instrument by
Griibner, now in the Villa Bertramka in Prague, is dated 1722,
suggesting that this was a ‘production’ instrument built in
Dresden at precisely the time that Bach was composing some of
his greatest music nearby in Leipzig. The Griibners were probably
connected with the Silbermann family (no Silbermann
harpsichord survives) and they were makers to the Dresden
electoral court to which Bach was composer from 1736. Bach
visited Dresden often and can hardly have failed to know the
Griibners and their instruments.
In early 1983 Ferguson Hoey was able, thanks to exceptional
diplomatic pressures, to inspect the 1739 harpsichord and
measure it thoroughly using modern fibre-optic techniques. He
was surprised to discover that it appeared to be virtually
unaltered, and also that its construction was quite different from
the north German instruments of the Hamburg school. Many
features were reminiscent of Italian design, others of the north
European school, while a unique system of soundboard barring
contributed to an exceptionally sweet and bell-like treble. Despite
its unusual length (about 9′) and range (five octaves, DD-d3) the
instrument is not especially powerful. (The well-known
harpsichord by Carl Heinrich Grabner of 1782, now in
Nuremberg, is quite different from this instrument, and shows
strong French influence).
This recording is the first on the close copy that Ferguson Hoey
built on his return from the DDR. The evidence connecting this .
instrument with Bach is circumstantial and in the end the
harpsichord must plead its own case. However, compared with
the rather dark quality of north German harpsichords, the brilliant
but singing tone of the Grabner copy is persuasive in connection
with Bach’s contrapuntal textures.
TIMOTHY ROBERTS, London, 1984

#FergusonHoey #TimothyRoberts