Bach from Finland and Medici Music from Italy
Elina Mustonen’s recording of Bach’s Six Partitas for Harpsichord
An artist of distinction new to me is the superb Finnish harpsichordist Elina Mustonen. Her 2009 recording of the Six Partitas, BWV 825–830 by Johann Sebastian Bach (Polyhymnia Records PH 0908), provides musically stimulating readings of these major dance suites played with understanding and integrity on a fine harpsichord after Couchet by Dutch builder Willem Kroesbergen (Utrecht, 1993).
Ms. Mustonen, who has been playing the harpsichord since the age of eight, graduated from the Helsinki Sibelius Academy in 1983, moved on to pursue graduate study with Ton Koopman at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, and returned to Finland to join the faculty of the Sibelius Academy. She achieved her doctorate from that institution in 1988 with a thesis on J. S. Bach’s harpsichord pedagogy.
Her earlier recordings of fifteen Scarlatti sonatas, chamber works, and complete sets of Bach’s French and English Suites for Harpsichord built Mustonen’s reputation as an artist of merit.
Of particular interest is the order in which she offers the partitas on this two compact disc set: beginning with the C-Minor Partita (number 2), she continues with the third Partita in A Minor, and concludes with the fourth, in D Major (total time 76:22). Disc two opens with Partita Five in G, continues with the first Partita in B-flat, and ends with the sixth Partita in E Minor (total time 75:57)—giving an especially coherent tonal trajectory to each disc, and a satisfying, almost concerto-like feel to both, achieved because of the somewhat gentler dance suites as the mid-point of each disc.
All movements are recorded with the indicated repeats. Ornaments sound ornamental and tempi are well maintained with just the right amount of flexibility at important musical and cadential points. The ambiance of Orimattila Church provides clear but spacious sound. Ms. Mustonen has also provided the informative notes published in Finnish and English (translated by Jaakko Mäntyjärvi). These discs are highly recommended, both for archival use and for genuine listening pleasure.
The Medici Harpsichord Book, edited by Aapo Häkkinen (Bologna: Ut Orpheus Edizioni ES 66, 2011), €14.95.
Fifteen anonymous Italian keyboard pieces from the late 17th century are to be found in this slim, intriguing publication. Mistakenly attributed to the great Frescobaldi by a librarian’s penciled notation on the flyleaf of the handsomely bound volume, it is now assumed to be from a time at least forty years after Girolamo’s death. The most interesting of the possible authors would be the Tuscan Grand Duke Ferdinando III de’ Medici (1663–1713), a patron of music honored in his lifetime with the laudatory descriptor “the Orpheus of Princes [Orfeo dei Principi].” If indeed these few works come from the Duke’s pen they would comprise the only surviving music thus far ascribed to him.
The pieces form four multi-movement sets, each containing one or more binary Aria alla Francese, all of which are in duple meter, with both A and B sections ending in a petite reprise. Each aria ends with open harmony, lacking a third—major or minor—in its final chord.
The first group of pieces, in A Major, contains a Preludio Cantabile con Ligature, Passagagli Pastorali (at 109 measures, the longest work in the volume), and two Arias. Set Two, in A Minor, begins with a Preludio di Botte, Acciachature, e Ligature—containing especially thick chords with handfuls of notes— and two Arias, separated by a 30-measure Tochata that opens with four measures of whole notes outlining ascending tonic chords, suggesting arpeggiation similar to that at the beginning of a Frescobaldi work in the same genre.
A third set of pieces, in G Minor, opens with brief Preludio and Aria, a 16-measure Tochata, continues with an extended 89-measure Passagagli, and concludes with an Alemanda that not only cadences with a third-bearing chord, but has it prominently placed in the top voice. Two more pieces, in D Minor, make a pair rather than a suite, comprising only a Preludio Cantabile con Ligature and the ubiquitous Aria alla Francese.
In an interesting concordance of review items, editor Aapo Häkkinen (born 1976) studied harpsichord with Professor Elina Mustonen at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. A notice in the printed score mentions that he has recorded The Medici Harpsichord Book on compact disc for Deux-Elles (DXL 1083)—an aural boon that might offer helpful assistance in figuring out how to interpret the ornament sign (+), or what to do about several measures in the binary dances that do not contain enough beats, and perhaps, give an aural suggestion of how to manage wide-ranging leaps that occur in some of the bass lines—intervals for which a damper pedal could be a definite advantage (although several of them would fare quite well on a short-octave harpsichord in which the lowest three notes C, D, and E would be played from keys that appear to be E, F-sharp, and G-sharp). In a Preface of less than a full page there is no editorial guidance given to help the non-specialist or curious player, nor are there any suggestions offered for added accidentals in places where they might, indeed, be musically valid or even superior to the printed score. For an exploration of these fascinating pieces, the interpreter is on his/her own.
That said, after playing through the newfound pieces several times, I find them of sustained interest, and recommend this beautifully printed Urtext edition to the musically adventurous harpsichordists among us.
Comments and news items are always welcome. Address them to Dr. Larry Palmer, Division of Music, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275. E-mails to
