Francis Knights (clavichord)

Georg Bohm (1661-1733) Suite No.1 in C minor
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) Partita sopra 'Alle Menschen mussen sterben'
Johann Adam Reincken (1623-1722) Suite No.1 in C
Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667) Lamento sopra la dolorosa perdita della Real Majesta Ferdinando IV, Re de Romani
Dieterich Buxtehude (c. 1637-1707) Suite No. 15 in G minor; Toccata in G; Jesus Christus, unser Heiland; Suite No.7 in D minor; Variations from La Capricciosa

Quaker Meeting House, Blackheath 1 December 2007

A pleasant meeeting of clavichord enthusiasts in a very suitable venue. The pleasures of the convivial afternoon were marred only by the variable hazard of aeroplane noise entering through the square skylight (see illustration). That depends on wind direction; Blackheath was on the flight path to Heathrow that day !

The Friends' Meeting House is an unusual building with an octagonal room which has wood panelling that gathers and concentrates the fragile sound of this quietest of instruments, magnifying it if you st at the back, as I discovered after the interval.

Francis Knights' recital was designed to celebrate Buxtehude's tercentenary and to put him into context with other German composers of the period whose revival in the late 19th C resulted from exploration of historical sources of J S Bach's historical style. Of these, most striking in the first half was the almost-centenarian Reincken, whose suite was a welcome work new to me.

The generous Buxtehude selection included a chosen few of his Aria and 32 variations La Capricieuse, which prompted Bach to counter with his 32 Goldberg Variations. They are rarely played complete; Colin Booth has recently recorded twenty of them in a recommended CD release. Knights' choice of a dozen or so was ideal for offering the greatest possible expressive range, and they sounded well on the copy of a Bodechtel/Richter fretted instrument made by Karin Richter in 1986. Maybe sometime we should hear the entirety (some 40 mins) together with the Goldbergs; not too long for a concert?

Francis Knights and I both attended The Lute Society's quarterly meeting the previous weekend; a performance of one piece on amplified lute there brought thoughts about whether the latest technology has by now advanced to a point where some discrete enhancement might be sensibly introduced at clavichord recitals without offending the purists?

Peter Grahame Woolf

Read all about clavichords in Great Britain at www.bcs.nildram.co.uk