Move Records Australian classical & art music, est. 1968
Front cover art for The Convict Harpsichordist

The Convict Harpsichordist

John Grant, frustrated in love, shot a London lawyer in the buttock and was sentenced to death at the Old Bailey. Granted a reprieve, he reached Sydney Cove in 1804 with Australia’s first harpsichord. What music did he play? Elizabeth Anderson answers on the instrument he brought.

  • CatalogueMD 3242
  • Released2003
  • Playing time61 minutes 41 seconds
  • Recorded at Move Records Studio

Listen & tracks

3 of 18 tracks have a preview · 14 works · 61:41

  1. 1 Sonata in F minor, K 386 Domenico Scarlatti Presto 2:54
  2. 2 Sonata in F minor, K 387 Domenico Scarlatti Veloce e fugato 1:35
  3. Sonata No. 10 in D majorPietro Domenico Paradies 2 movements5:35
    1. 3 Vivace 3:40
    2. 4 Presto 1:55
  4. 5 Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in D major, BWV 893 Johann Sebastian Bach 5:24
  5. 6 Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in G major, BWV 884 Johann Sebastian Bach 4:08
  6. Suite No. 5 in E majorGeorge Frideric Handel 4 movements12:09
    1. 7 Allegro moderato 2:20
    2. 8 Allemande 3:56
    3. 9 Courante 2:15
    4. 10 Air con variazioni 3:38
  7. 11 Sonata in E major, K 380 Domenico Scarlatti Andante commodo 2:30
  8. 12 Sonata in E major, K 381 Domenico Scarlatti Allegro 2:17
  9. 13 Sonata in D major, K 32 Domenico Scarlatti Aria 1:37
  10. 14 Sonata in D major, K 33 Domenico Scarlatti 3:27
  11. 15 Sonata in C minor, R 18 Antonio Soler Cantabile 3:06
  12. 16 Sonata in C minor, R 19 Antonio Soler Allegro moderato 3:00
  13. 17 Variations on Ah vous dirai-je Maman (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star), KV 265 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 7:11
  14. 18 This Beauteous Wicked Place Ron Nagorcka 6:48

A bonus CD-ROM video of more than eighteen minutes tells the John Grant story in words and music. The package also carries a richly illustrated historical booklet and a newly commissioned work, Ron Nagorcka’s This Beauteous Wicked Place, symbolising the reconciliation of two cultures. The recording speaks to early-music listeners and to readers of Australian history alike.

Anderson plays keyboard music published in London between 1791 and 1803 – the years of Grant’s apprenticeship and arrest. The programme draws on editions he might have found at Longman and Broderip, Birchall, Clementi and other London shops: Scarlatti, Paradies, Bach, Handel, Soler, and Mozart’s variations on Ah vous dirai-je Maman. Nagorcka’s closing piece pairs harpsichord with didjeridu and Australian bush sounds.

Reviews

entertaining ... Elizabeth Anderson engagingly performs a selection of music Grant may well have played on his harpsichord ★★★★

There is much to like in this release ... recorded very well ... magnificent playing ... excellent balance of works ...

a welcome mix ... a pleasing change from the usual single-composer discs ... a fascinating disc.

Anderson is in top form ... her playing calls that of Wanda Landowska to mind - and praise doesn’t get much higher than this ...

an innovative idea and presentation ... Elizabeth Anderson’s playing is energetic and sprightly: in both the flavour and spirit of the story as portrayed ... An ideal Christmas gift, even for yourself.

This attractive keyboard performance ... brings to life a marvellous episode in early Australian history ... The true-life anti-hero was convict John Grant, and Elizabeth Anderson’s CD does his memory proud.

playing is superb ... a highlight of the [2003] year.

accomplished and clearly voiced.

[Anderson’s] deft fingerwork, wonderful control of the rhythms, dynamics and nuances of this lovely music are models of refinement and elegance ... a most agreeable sound ... splendidly recorded.

In years of reviewing compact discs, many of the highest quality, I have never encountered so satisfying a product as this MOVE CD. For quality of content, fullness of liner notes with accompanying illustrations as well as a fascinating CD-ROM visual component. This is a product that ought to be recognised as the model it is; it deserves the very highest praise.

Artists

Photograph of Elizabeth Anderson

Elizabeth Anderson

harpsichord

Elizabeth Anderson has performed on eleven international concert tours to Europe, Japan and Singapore, and is a regular guest lecturer and performer at universities and music schools throughout Australia.

Photograph of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

composer

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a German composer and organist of the late Baroque. His sacred and secular music for choir, orchestra, organ and solo instruments remains among the foundations of the Western concert and church repertory.

Photograph of George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel

composer

George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) was a German-born Baroque composer who settled in London and became a naturalised British subject. He is celebrated for his operas, English oratorios, organ concertos and orchestral works.

Photograph of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

composer

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He wrote over 600 works, many of them pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic and choral music, and remains among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.

Photograph of Ron Nagorcka

Ron Nagorcka

composer

Ron Nagorcka has a long-held interest in the sounds of the Australian bush, especially its birds, electronics in music, and just intonation. His nature recordings from Tasmania and arid mainland Australia provide the basis for many of his compositions.

Photograph of Domenico Scarlatti

Domenico Scarlatti

composer

Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) was an Italian composer who spent much of his career at the Portuguese and Spanish courts. He is known almost exclusively for his 555 keyboard sonatas.

Photograph of Antonio Soler

Antonio Soler

composer

Antonio Soler (1729–83) was choirmaster and monk at El Escorial, composing keyboard sonatas, organ concertos, and church music for the monastery and royal court.

No photograph: Pietro Domenico Paradies

Pietro Domenico Paradies

composer

Pietro Domenico Paradisi Paradies (originally named Paradisi), Pietro Domenico was an Italian composer and Harpsichordist born in Naples 1707 (died Venice 1791).

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Performers

Technical credits

  • Recording Engineer Martin Wright
    Thomas Grubb
  • Mastering Engineer Thomas Grubb
  • Venue Move Records Studio
  • Thanks to Creative Australia (track 18)
  • Credit Alastair McAllister
    Alessandro Servadei
    Howard Birnstihl
    Martin Wright

Details

List price
$25.00 AUD
Total playing time
61 minutes 41 seconds
Release date
Categories
Baroque, Keyboard
Musical work copyright
© 2003 Move Records
Sound recording copyright
℗ 2003 Move Records
Catalogue
MD 3242
EAN
9314574324228

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