Gustav Leonhardt Review

"Polish Early Music Magazine"

From across the world, a flow of musicians converges upon Amsterdam and the ‘Court’ of harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt. Few accomplished harpsichordists there are today, who have not made this pilgrimage to ask his advice or seek his blessing upon their careers. Fewer still are the younger players who have not felt Leonhardt’s touch- directly, or indirectly through their teachers.

Most agree that this arch-master has affected everyone’s musical development, their ideas about playing old music (and music in general), and their choice of instruments. After all, among Leonhardt's vast roster of students one may find the most famous and outstanding musical personalities, who while bearing the mark of the same master, differ radically from one another: Bob van Asperen and Ton Koopman, Pierre Hantai and Christophe Rousset, Ketil Haugsand and Christopher Hogwood, Colin Tilney and Skip Sempe, Alan Curtis and Glen Wilson--- not to mention John Gibbons, Lisa Crawford, Anneke Uittenbosch, and many others. Among these belongs Edward Parmentier, an American whom I would include with Leonhardt students of the highest rank.

The fidelity of Leonhardt’s students to their teacher is not manifested in slavish copying or imitation (truthfully I wouldn't know how to define Leonhardt's style), but in the individual's observation and implementation of rules established for the first time in the 20th century by Leonhardt, which remain to this day the fundamental principals of interpretation. [There is no longer need to mention the selection of suitable instruments upon which to play this music; nowadays there is general agreement on this issue.]

Leonhardt’s biggest breakthrough was to affect a change from the harpsichord technique of the first half of this century, characterized by undifferentiated, monotonous dynamics, to the most colorful, delicate, rich and beautiful harpsichord sounds in our times. The understanding of how to elicit tone, use ornaments, define chords, shape metrical and rhythmic relationships, and employ registration was not unknown in the past--- but it was Leonhardt who presented these techniques in logical and beautiful order. His compendium of keyboard practice comprises a world of radically varied and intriguing musical styles that continually amaze me; the "Leonhardt style" does not go out of fashion. We should perhaps be grateful for Leonhardt’s analytical way of playing--- sensitive to detail, always mindful of the musical and formal perspective of the music’s historical origins. Moreover, he has brought about the revival of the great tradition of continuo realization, which is now a major focus of attention in its own right.

All of the above may be said as well of Edward Parmentier, a unique top-rank American harpsichordist, whom one may with conviction classify as a major exponent of the elevated modern school of harpsichord performance. All Leonhardt’s pedagogy has not been wasted on Parmentier, whose music is of the highest order. Precise, transparent, legible articulation is his starting point, from which he plays more expressively, more lyrically, more subjectively, more thoughtfully, perhaps less vocally, and not always so precisely as Leonhardt's persistantly analytical manner; yet differently, with more feeling throughout.

French music-- more precisely music as developed at the court of Louis XIV (including a group of composers educated in Austria)-- enables us to confirm the high esteem conferred upon it by the Sun King. Here we find formal discipline in such pieces as Froberger's Toccata and Canzona, compelling and extravagant Suites of Louis Couperin and Froberger, the idiomatic pieces of Chambonnieres and D'Anglebert, and intimate works like the Tombeaux of Froberger and D'Anglebert. This repertoire is truly excellent and most impressive, for it clearly reveals the transformation in Froberger's style, the high Italian toccatas and canzonas giving way with the passage of time to such distinctively French masterworks as his Tombeau de Monsieur de Blanrocher.