La-La Land to release 15-disc original series score set
- Thread starter Harvey
- Start date
Hey, speak for yourself. For nearly 200 years after the introduction of the piano, it was simply assumed that if the Baroque composers had had access to pianos they would have naturally preferred them. Only in the mid-20th century did the harpsichord revival occur - that is, only then did successful recreations of original harpsichords (many of which were not only in sad condition but had been modified over the years) begin to appear, together with an appreciation of what they could offer that playing the same music on piano could not.
I could go into many specifics (I have a master's degree in harpsichord performance) but my main point is that even today there are radio stations that will only play piano recordings of baroque keyboard solo music - where I live, it's nearly always Andras Schiff or Murray Perahia with one of the Bach suites or partitas or the Italian Concerto - and although these guys are good players, it is simply not true that piano is the superior instrument for music not written for it, and I hate that there are radio stations still stuck in the attitudes that prevailed before 1950 or so in this regard.
As for the instrument heard in "The Squire of Gothos," it has an unusually brittle sound that I associate with the German 20th-century "factory" harpsichords such as Wittmayer, which generally use pedals to change registration; these are very heavily built and don't sound much like instruments based on authentic ones of the era. It's more likely that recording studios in L.A. in the 1960s had one of these than a proper one by Hubbard or Dowd, who remain among the best-known U.S. makers. I don't think a Hammond organ was used.
[I myself, having children in the house, own a Roland C80-AK that emulates quite well several different harpsichord registrations and provides proper touch (a good sense of where the "ictus" is) and key width; also it's relatively portable and doesn't go out of tune, and offers all manner of non-equal temperament tunings at the touch of a button.]
Aw man, I got home to a CD-box sized package, but it was just a gift I ordered for a friend.
Oh man, that had to suck. Hopefully it'll show up soon.
I stand corrected. ;-) I was probably just parroting something I had read in the liner notes of an Andras Schiff box set anyway.
It does seem to me that, for listening to something very long, WTC or Goldberg or Art of Fugue or something like that, harpsichord gets pretty tiresome by about 30 mins or so in, in a way that piano does not. (Clavichord is probably a whole 'nother story.)
Gottacook, I enjoyed interacting with you in the comment threads of Onion AVClub TOS reviews a couple years ago. Surprised to see your location – I live in Maryland too!
I got my set yesterday, and listened to the first disk last night. Neil, if you're still around, good job to you and the folks who worked with you on this.
My plan now is to listen to one disk every night until I get through it all. It'll last longer than way, plus it's all I have time for at the moment. The next two weeks are going to be fun.
My plan now is to listen to one disk every night until I get through it all. It'll last longer than way, plus it's all I have time for at the moment. The next two weeks are going to be fun.
Oh yeah, I noticed that there was some of that "ping-ping-ping" at the beginning of that cue in "The Cage" after all. Although what I'm remembering could be the third-season library version (which means I'd be wrong to associate it with "This Side"), but I haven't gotten there yet. Or it could just be that I'm misremembering aspects of it. When you try to memorize a piece of music that you hear piecemeal under dialogue and sound effects, the brain does a certain amount of interpolation and guessing, so sometimes the version in my head isn't quite the same as the real thing.
Halfway through season 2, disc 3 now. It's surprising how much of the "Who Mourns for Adonais" score is based on the "Charlie X" score, with some interpolations from "Mudd's Women" and a bit of "Corbomite Maneuver." In fact, all three of Steiner's S2 scores are built largely around themes he used in S1. I wonder why I (and others, I think) find that so much less annoying when Steiner does it than when James Horner constantly reuses his own stuff. Perhaps it's because Steiner only recycled within the same series, rather than using the same motifs and set pieces in unrelated movies. So it feels more like a valid continuation and development process rather than just self-imitation. Also Steiner's choices of themes to reuse were pretty appropriate. There are a lot of parallels between Charlie and Apollo, right down to their final moments, so using the same themes makes sense. Using Eve McHuron's theme for Carolyn is a bit of a stretch, but it didn't begin until Apollo transformed her costume, so maybe the common thread is seductive illusions/artifice. The Romulans and the Terran Empire are both spacegoing bad guys, a bit of a tenuous parallel but a clear one. And the reuse of Andrea's theme for Kelinda makes sense since they're both artificial women. The Kelvans' theme, though, is a reworking of the motif for Mudd's women and the Venus drug, so that's harder to see unless we're back to illusion again.
Yes. When Star Trek III sounds like Star Trek II that's cool. It's continuing a series. When Aliens sounds like Star Trek II that's less cool.
I'll be interested to hear what you think of season 3. I may have to make an effort to explore it more. Because right now almost all of my "revisits" are 1 and 2.
JZC - Maybe you've been listening to the wrong recordings? Hey, I get to use my education now - thanks.
Harpsichord registration changes allow a variety of sounds; although you can't make an individual note louder than its neighbors, you can use different combinations of sets of strings - but these changes in registration can be made only when there's an opportunity to do so (unless you have a pedal harpsichord, but most harpsichordists consider these inauthentic). I'll try to quickly summarize:
Italian harpsichords (of the era, and reproductions) tend to be the simplest and lightest. Generally they have only one keyboard (manual) and two sets of strings at the same pitch, called 8' (adopted from organ terminology) which can be used singly or coupled. 8' II will sound more "nasal" than 8' I because the string is plucked at a different distance from the end. (When coupled there's slightly more effort needed, because two jacks are being lifted at the ictus point rather than one; still less force than a piano key would need, though.)
At the other extreme are double-manual harpsichords, of the sort specified for the Goldberg variations. (It was very unusual for any particular type of instrument to be specified in a keyboard work, and indeed the Art of the Fugue doesn't even specify keyboard; there are some nice recordings by chamber groups and even a saxophone quartet). A double offers a much wider range of possibilities; a typical disposition is 8' II on upper manual, 8' I on lower manual, and 4' (sounding an octave higher) on the upper, with optional lute stop (which presses bits of leather onto each string for a muting effect).
The two keyboards can be physically coupled such that playing the lower also plays the upper, but the upper can still be played alone. So someone playing the Goldberg variations can choose at a minimum from among the following:
8' I alone
8' II alone
8' II plus 4'
With keyboards coupled:
8' I plus 4'
8' I plus 8' II
8' I, 8' II, and 4' all sounding together
Note that whether or not the keyboards are coupled, a double allows one hand to play one registration on one keyboard, the other hand a different registration on the other.
So a double allows a lot of variety between pieces (such as the Goldberg variations) and even within pieces. This is not to say, however, that a double should be used for all harpsichord music.
(My Roland is single-manual but still offers 8' I, 8' II, 8' I + 8' II, 8' + 4', and lute stop.)
Thanks guys, my order still says "WILL SHIP IN 2-3 DAYS" Neil, what's up with that
You do realize that I'm a freelance editor and I work with La-La Land on producing albums and not in the shipping department, right?
Neil
I for one didn't realize you were freelance, Neil -- btw, was that you in the back by Santa in the La La Land Xmas party photo?
