Bach • Works for Clavichord
At the last Boston Early Music Festival, I sat in a small church to hear a keyboard recital that started with the clavichord. The instrument was so quiet that it was barely audible. A man ahead of me even asked, out loud to his companion, “Is she playing? I can’t hear it!”
Unlike the harpsichord, of course, the clavichord is unique in that you can vary your pressure upon the strings with the key, previewing what pianos would champion, varying dynamics. For this reason the clavichord may well have been enjoyed by players wishing to vary their rhetorical potential with touch.
My professor in college had a clavichord in his office; another had a harpsichord. The idea of someday owning one of these historical instruments has always stayed with me. Unfortunately, I did not keep up with my keyboard studies, and I’m sad to say, I would not get as much from owning one. But it is a personal instrument, one must understand. While not idea in any concertized situation without amplification (which takes its historical appeal away), it’s perfectly suitable for recordings.
Some may view the instrument as ideal for house music, music written for the pleasure of the performer over an audience. One can sing with the clavichord, as we might have imagined the Bachs to do with the repertoire included in the Anna Magdalena Bach notebook. On this album, Lea Suter performs three works by J.S. Bach, upon a copy of an historical instrument. I think the title of her CD is misleading, as these pieces were not written specifically for clavichord. In fact, I’d go so far to say that the sixth partita, BWV 830, and the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue BWV 903, are perhaps more ideally rendered upon a harpsichord. The third piece, featured in the center of her concert sandwich, is a rendition of Bach’s Ciconna from BWV 1004.
The album’s 53 minutes could have accommodated more music; the aforementioned music intended for home enjoyment, even a few of these pieces, would have rounded out the recital.
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903
The highly chromatic nature of this piece requires a tuning that can assuage the colorful, chromatic writing. Tuning is not mentioned in the liner notes. After immediately starting this piece, I recognized the benefits of the clavichord’s variability with dynamic by way of touch. The effect isn’t nearly as wide in range as what’s possible by a modern piano, but more so than a piano, the tonal character of hard-pressed key touches produce an extra dynamic to the sound other than volume. Pressed hard enough, it will detune the note.
I am reminded of Johannes Maris Bogner’s recording on the “Christoforis Clavichord,” an album from 2014 featuring too the sixth partita, BWV 830. In many ways I prefer the sound of Bogner’s instrument, as well as the range of dynamics it’s capable of.
Suter’s instrument is more subdued in color, but after adjusting to the volume level, the instrument’s charms quickly become apparent. Suter is no slouch when it comes to tempo; in a few cases I wished she’d lingered a bit, to let us basque in the sound of her instrument. But the tempos chosen I think help promote the music’s impact well.
Because she’s using an instrument that doesn’t need to share strings, the complexity of this piece comes off well. A performance on clavichord robs this piece of the expectation for an audience. But yes, I recognize that Bach himself may have composed this piece, in front of such an instrument. While I can argue that this may not be the best instrument to truly celebrate this work, Suter’s command of both her instrument and Bach’s style is high.
Chaconne, BWV 1004
The liner notes do not specify how the arrangement for this was arrived at; the rendition by Jean Rondeau on harpsichord uses Brahms’ arrangement for the left hand. The later composer was careful to keep the original notes of Bach’s violin original. Both Gustav Leonhardt and Skip Sempé beat Rondeau on record, recording the work, each using their own arrangement.
The booklet notes make use of a quote by J. F. Agricola, who is quoted regarding Bach’s own playing of his violin works at the keyboard of a clavichord, “adding as many notes as he saw fit.” My listening does not indicate a judicious addition of extra notes, but I do feel Suter made this piece her own for performance upon the keyboard.
Again, we may think that such a monumental piece of music, one that seems in short order to explore the fullest range of human emotions, is the best fit for a diminutive instrument, best serving the pleasure alone of the performer.
That said, Suter doesn’t indulge this piece in an overly romantic way. I’d go so far to say that some baroque violinists have tried to squeeze more out of this piece than her, which is not necessarily what I personally want. I appreciate her straightforward approach, allowing the music to stand upon its own without artificial embellishment.
Her range of articulations, I think, elevated her performance. When, about 7.5 minutes in, she performs Bach’s repeated notes in the “bass” of the violin, I think that quality of the clavichord being pushed to its extremes sat right with me. Good job!
Partita in E minor, BWV 830
Over the past couple of years I’ve come really enjoy the first movement of this suite, named a Toccata. Like Bach’s stand-alone pieces with that name, the form he adopts using this label includes an introductory episode (maybe we could call this a fantasia) before the music gives way to a contrapuntal section. It’s dramatic music, as ever Bach wrote, and again, while I liked the range of tone and sound from the instrument recorded by Borger, this performance is no less compelling. Although, yes, I would have appreciated her applying the ornaments from the introductory subject when they appear in the other voices.
The key to a great performance of the suite’s Corrente is the alternation of slurred and dotted articulations in the right hand; I feel the clavichord does a better job at letting us hear the articulation of fingers than does a harpsichord. The instrument here made this fun to hear. It would have also been more fun to hear more variation in the repeat.
The Sarabande is an opportunity to revel in the sound of the instrument here, for how it resonates without continual re-articulation of sound. The instrument, as you might imagine, decays quickly, but it is not devoid of sustain power. Among all the pieces, I felt Suter was more willing to indulge in rubato in this movement, which I think enhanced the performance.
The thing about her performance of the Gavotta is how she is able to apply dynamics to shape the large phrase groups.
Bach bookends the profound Toccata in this work with another daring piece, simply labeled a Gigue. But what a theme! Suter is up to the task of varying articulation to make the performance all the more interesting. Her tempo choice, too, I think, is perfect.
Final Thoughts
Whether or not you’ll ever hear this instrument in a concert hall, performing this music, is a moot point. While I don’t think Bach’s best music is ideally performed on a quiet, personal instrument, there is enough historical basis for performing it this way, as one would have done at the time in the privacy of their home.
Despite the music’s grand aspirations, both Suter and her instrument were up to the challenge, here. Suter is a good keyboardist. While a sensitive player, she does not go overboard with injecting too much commentary upon the written text. Nor does she indulge in a lot of rubato. Throughout, she’s a swift player, showing no deficits at playing tempos that while not Gould-speedy, wouldn’t be described as slow in any company.
For me this performance would have been enhanced with the use of more variation, especially in the movements with repeats. I know this subject is prone to controversy when it comes to Bach’s music. (To ornament, or not, that is the question!) Readers will know I really like the interpretations by Ton Koopman, who might be seen as a chronic over-embellisher, but that’s my taste.
If you like things cleaner and more straightforward, this album has that, alongside the obvious intelligence that comes across in the performance of each track. What this offers over other recordings is the chance to hear a period instrument that lacks the popularity of today’s pianos or yesterday’s harpsichords. As I have come to find, clavichords vary greatly in their tonal character. This one is well suited to the music, taking nothing away from the performer or from Bach’s text.
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