Keyboard Wizardy at The Simmons Center
A double-manual harpsichord
YOU’LL BE ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES if you catch this article in time to hear Jory Vinikour play harpsichord tonight at the College of Charleston Monday Night Series at the Simmons Center.
Jory, who performed at last year’s Bach Festival Charleston (read that review here), will perform two dazzling keyboard works: J. S. Bach’s G Major French Suite and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s A Minor Suite.
Both pieces showcase a Gavotte movement which the two composers chose to put at different tempos—as Jory explains in the first video interview below.
J. S. Bach
According to Wikipedia, Bach’s French Suites refer to six suites that he wrote for the harpsichord between 1722 and 1725. The suites were later given the name ‘French’ to contrast them with the English Suites. The name was popularized by Bach’s biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel, who wrote in his 1802 biography of Bach, “One usually calls them French Suites because they are written in the French manner.” That claim, however, is inaccurate because the French suites, like Bach’s other suites, follow a largely Italian convention.
As for Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764), Wikipedia describes him as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era who is considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François Couperin. Little is known about Rameau’s early years, and it was not until the 1720s that he won fame as a major theorist of music with his Treatise on Harmony (1722). He was almost 50 before embarking on the operatic career on which his reputation chiefly rests. Rameau’s music had gone out of fashion by the end of the 18th century, and it was not until the 20th that serious efforts were made to revive it.
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Today, however, Rameau enjoys renewed appreciation with more and more frequent performances and recordings of his music. And as Jory also mentions in the interview below, Rameau was very much the equal of Bach when it came to contrapuntal keyboard compositions. In the second interview below, Jory also speaks about the harpsichord itself, the different types of single- and double-manual harpsichords, and how they differ from the piano physically and musically.
Both pieces that you will hear tonight are masterful works of Baroque keyboard music that combine rich dimensions of tone, color, and complexity—all of which call for a master keyboard player, which Jory most certainly is. Add to Jory’s virtuosity his intense passion for the instrument and an intimate familiarity with the music, and you have all the ingredients for a superb listening experience. •
Below: Jory Vinikour discussing the harpsichord suites by Bach and Rameau.
Below: Jory Vinikour discussing differences between the harpsichord and piano.
