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.
George Frideric Handel composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composer
Ron Nagorcka composer
Pietro Domenico Paradies composer
Domenico Scarlatti composer
Antonio Soler composer
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.
Artist
Elizabeth Anderson
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.
Audio previews
Tracks
- Sonata in F minor, K 386 Presto Domenico Scarlatti 2:54
- Sonata in F minor, K 387 Veloce e fugato Domenico Scarlatti 1:35
- Vivace 3:40
- Presto 1:55
- Prelude and Fugue No. 24 in D major, BWV 893 Johann Sebastian Bach 5:24
- Prelude and Fugue No. 15 in G major, BWV 884 Johann Sebastian Bach 4:08
- Allegro moderato 2:20
- Allemande 3:56
- Courante 2:15
- Air con variazioni 3:38
- Sonata in E major, K 380 Andante commodo Domenico Scarlatti 2:30
- Sonata in E major, K 381 Allegro Domenico Scarlatti 2:17
- Sonata in D major, K 32 Aria Domenico Scarlatti 1:37
- Sonata in D major, K 33 Domenico Scarlatti 3:27
- Sonata in C minor, R 18 Cantabile Antonio Soler 3:06
- Sonata in C minor, R 19 Allegro moderato Antonio Soler 3:00
- Variations on Ah vous dirai-je Maman (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star), KV 265 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 7:11
- This Beauteous Wicked Place Ron Nagorcka 6:48
Sonata No. 10 in D major Pietro Domenico Paradies
Suite No. 5 in E major George Frideric Handel
Performers
- Elizabeth Anderson
- Ron Nagorcka · didjeridu · track 18
Composers
Johann Sebastian Bach
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.
George Frideric Handel
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.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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.
Ron Nagorcka
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.
Domenico Scarlatti
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.
Antonio Soler
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.
Pietro Domenico Paradies
Pietro Domenico Paradisi Paradies (originally named Paradisi), Pietro Domenico was an Italian composer and Harpsichordist born in Naples 1707 (died Venice 1791).
Contributors
Harpsichord technician
Alastair McAllister
Graphic design
Alessandro Servadei
Alessandro Servadei is a graphic designer and recording engineer whose booklet design, layout and studio work appear across many Move Records releases.
Photography
Howard Birnstihl
Howard Birnstihl is a photographer whose cover, exterior and general photography appears across many Move Records releases from the late 1970s into the 2000s.
Video production
Martin Wright
Recording engineer and director of Move Records, Martin Wright has well over fifty years’ experience in the industry and has been widely recognised for the calibre of his recordings.
Where to listen
The Convict Harpsichordist is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
The Convict Harpsichordist is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MD 3242
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 61 minutes 41 seconds
- 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 - Release date
- 2003
- Musical work
copyright - © 2003 Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 2003 Move Records
- Categories
- Baroque, Keyboard
- Genres
- Baroque, Classical Era
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574324228
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