Johann Mattheson: Harmony's Monument, The 12 Suites of 1714 are played by British harpsichordist and instrument maker Colin Booth in a 2-CD set imported by Raven for sale in America.
Booth plays two harpsichords he built, both of two manuals: one is brass-strung and based on the instrument built by Christian Vater of Hannover in 1738 (German National Museum, Nuremburg); the larger copies the iron-strung harpsichord of 1681 by Antoine Vaudry (Victoria and Albert Museum, London).
Hamburg-born Mattheson (1681–1764) was a friend of Handel, opera singer, composer, secretary to the English ambassador to Hamburg, prolific writer of books on music, etc. Few compositions were published, and many manuscripts were destroyed in World War II; but the twelve suites subtitled Harmony's Monument were published in England and Germany in 1714. The 12 suites comprise a total of 69 pieces and about 2-1/2 hours of music.
SBCD-208, 2-CDs for the price of one, $16.98 postpaid in the U.S. from RavenCD.com 804/355-6386 and also from Amazon, E-Bay, etc.
