No comments about Treatise on Harpsichord Tuning (Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs).

1 comments about A Performer's Guide to the Keyboard Partitas of J.S. Bach.

1. Valenti's guide to the keyboard Partitas of J.S. Bach is an entirely subjective account of his personal interpretive whims. Written in a scripted, question and answer format (with dissapointing results) each movement of each Partita is alloted about three to five questions which, frustrating for the serious performer, tend to focus on historical asides rather than specifcs of articulation, dynamics, slurring, etc. In addition to this, these questions are often far more vague and juvenile than one would expect of an experienced musician ready to learn these monumental works. Occasionally the author will compare different editions of the Partitas and point out some important thoughts on ornamentation, but one would do better to spend the forty dollars on several good recordings of the works, which will likely be far more illuminating and enjoyable.

2 comments about Playing the Harpsichord Expressively: A Practical and Historical Guide.

1. This book is the most valuble method book i've ever read. It has helped me sooo much since I bought it and i've only had it for a month. Mark Kroll needs to win an award for this book. Every Harpsichordist NEEDS this book. It's mandatory that any harpsichordist that comes across this book gets it :-).



2. This is one of the most interesting books for the novice harpsichordist, covering basic and more sophisticated technical issues. Absent a real live teacher, it's a useful introduction that fills in gaps left by earlier manuals.

3 comments about Italian Concerto, Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue and Other Works for Keyboard.

1. The Italian concerto is the most accurate copy I've ever seen before of what Bach wrote, no more and no less. There's just Bach, no editor's footnotes and the only commentary from the editor is that some might not be by Bach (Those are a heck of a lot easier to play!) such as the gm Fantasia. The print's a bit on the small side, but not too much, but it's clear and easy to read. Enjoy!



2. i needed a new version of concerto italiano. so i ordered this b/c i thought of the added bonus of the fantasies in there and select fugues. i previously had the version with the white cover and black font, which had the concerto spread out over i think 18 or so pages. this made it much easier to read, and there were fingering suggestions. this edition here barely has NO fingering suggestions, and barely any dynamic suggestions. and they squished the whole concerto into - i kid you not - 5 miserably cramped pages. please don't buy this... of course we should all go for the blue edition, which is the best for Bach. sorry, i don't know any of the names of the editions, i just know what they look like, but if you're a pianist you probably know what i'm talking about :)



3. No more comments... this is part of Bach production! Fantastic and in an original format!

No comments about Harpsichord Technique: A Guide to Expressivity (Second Edition, Book & CDs).

1 comments about Ruckers: A Harpsichord and Virginal Building Tradition (Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs).

1. I paid a huge premium for this book which, sadly, is now out of print, and I bought it with a rather limited purpose: to better understand a few instruments that I am considering for purchase. Even for my limited use, it was money well spent. For harpsichordists working with "Ruckers" instruments, I should think this book would be extremely useful, and for anyone involved with building and/or maintaining harpsichords, it is probably indispensable. The world of music is potentially much richer thanks to the years of tenacious research that O'Brien has put into this book.

1 comments about A Plain & Easy Introduction to the Harpsichord.

1. I expected to find more information about the functionality of a harpsichord in reading this book. First, there are almost no illistrations which makes it hard to picture what their talking about, and the majority of the book is filled with music and how to play. Perhaps a good book for someone who already knows how to play piano and understands how a harpsichord works, but not for someone just getting into the piece.

3 comments about A History of the Harpsichord.

1. I waited with much anticipation for this book and I have not been disappointed. It has exceeded all my expectations, beautiful photography, scholarly content and an accompanying CD for dessert. Highly recommended.



2. Best book of this sort I've seen. Excellent information. Easy to follow.



3. Expectations were too high, because already in the first chapters I lost my way completely in an endless detailed haystack of information without brief outline. A lavishing row of different types of harpsichord and their builders pass by but that is not the way to read a book from A to Z. Ok I read it all but it was sometimes a burden. However it will be of value in the future because with the good index it is easy to find the quality facts of a harpsichord recording you just bought.
   The cd included is a waste because potential readers will know the basic repertoire and will have it all in much better versions too. The many photos and hard cover makes it a luxe edition and I would have settled for less.
   In short a nice reference book for looking up specific types of harpsichords occasionally but rather expensive to serve this purpose only.

No comments about Harpsichord Method: for Harpsichord or Spinet.

No comments about Alfred Schnittke - Concerto Grosso: for Two Violins, Harpsichord (also Piano) and String Orchestra Study Score.