Clavecin XX

Description

"Often confined to the Baroque period and considered to have disappeared after the French Revolution, the harpsichord flourished again from the first third of the 20th century and inspired original compositions": Justin Taylor offers us a "personal" overview of the harpsichord in the 20th century. He structured this album around four major concertos (Falla, Poulenc, Françaix, Górecki) which are linked together by pieces for harpsichord alone: Bartók who, in his preface to the Mikrokosmos from which this Homage to Bach is taken, suggests playing certain pieces on the harpsichord, Martinu and a creation by Stéphane Gassot referencing Ligeti... The program concludes with a nod to Scott Joplin and his famous rags. Always attentive and passionate about instruments, Justin Taylor chose to record the entire program on a single instrument, a harpsichord built in the 1970s by Anthony Sidey, a hybrid model between Pleyel instruments and historical harpsichord making, which "gives a wide and iridescent palette of colors." With this album, he follows in the footsteps of Wanda Landowska and Elisabeth Chojnacka, two pioneers who promoted the harpsichord in all its modernity.