Two compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach first discovered last November made their Alabama debut at a harpsichord recital hosted by the Frank Moody School of Music on Tuesday. Michael Delfín, a professor of piano and director of Bama Baroque, an early music ensemble at the School of Music, performed the two pieces, Chaconne in D Minor and Chaconne in G Minor, along with Bach’s “Goldberg Variations.”
The featured harpsichord for the recital, owned by Delfín, is a recreation of a design from the 1760s that is currently housed in the Smithsonian. It is notable for its ornate design and baroque stylings.
“It is gorgeous. It’s called French Double, meaning of a French design about 1760,” Delfín said. “It has two keyboards. And I can use one of them. I can use them separately. I can use them together, I can do some really great handcrossing.”
Delfin played another harpsichord, a lautenwerck crafted by Tuscaloosa native Anden Houben in 1998, for one of the two Bach pieces. The pieces were discovered in the Royal Library of Belgium over 30 years ago and went uncredited. Enough evidence was found to be able to credit the works to Bach last November, and they are believed to be written expressly for the lautenwerck.
The lautenwerck, meaning lute-harpsichord, differs from the standard harpsichord in that the strings are crafted from gut lining or nylon, giving the instrument a lower tone.
“Some of the folks that played it said it sounds like a guitar or harp. It’s a very sweet sound,” Delfin said. “I figured if this is an Alabama premiere at a major Alabama institution of learning, let’s do it on an instrument made in Alabama and Roll Tide.”
The centerpiece of the concert was Bach’s “Goldberg Variations.” Clocking in at over an hour, the piece is a thorough showcase of many baroque works. Delfin said the piece was a “catharsis.”
“The work takes the listener on this incredible journey of a theme and 30 variations which explore complexities of counterpoints,” Delfín said.
Hearing a lautenwerck performance in person is a rare experience. Students and audience members expressed their excitement to hear the instrument and pieces, along with seeing Delfín perform.
“I’ve been able to hear Dr. Delfín play some before,” said Milton Johnson, a junior music performance major. “And the ‘Goldberg Variations’ themselves, I’ve never gotten to hear them live or all together like that. It was a cool opportunity.”
Pat Tubbs is a “personal friend” of Anden Houber, the lautenwerck’s creator. Tubbs saw the premiere of the Bach pieces, saying the first was the “much more interesting” of the two.
“I think it was a great present to the University, and actually to the state, to pull these things off,” Tubbs said.
Delfín said he wanted to emphasize the calming experience of the recital, saying that he wanted audiences to “sit with the journey” of the music.
“The times we live in are not peaceful ones,” Delfín said. “The news is ever alarming and unpleasant, and this is a piece that really invites the listener to just be at peace.”
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