Sylvia Marlowe performs keyboard concertos of Bach with Daniel Saidenberg conducting

Today, concertos for multiple harpsichord of Bach performed by Sylvia Marlowe with Pamela Cook, Robert Conant and  Theodore Saidenberg. The "Baroque" Chamber Orchestra (not sure if this is a pickup group or the Saidenberg Little Symphony) is led by the longtime leader of the Saidenberg Little Symphony, Daniel Saidenberg. My transfer is from an American Decca release, DL10028, though the cover above is from a different issue on another label.

These early attempts at "authentic" baroque always fascinate me. Here, the harpsichords are obviously large and somewhat clanky and the orchestra hardly is observant of what we now consider period practice and balance. Still, there is a delight here in the playing as the musicians relish the way Bach's melodies and harmonies intertwine and develop like peeling the layers back from an artichoke. This is definitely not "run through" Bach since Marlowe and Saidenberg have given careful time and preparation to this lp. Definitely a byway on the road to where we are today in performance and practice of baroque classics.

I think records like this are important  because they document the work of individuals who, in their day, worked tirelessly to promote good music and culture to wide swaths of people from varied backgrounds. Marlowe was a gifted and energetic ambassador of the harpsichord and Daniel Saidenberg a great founder, builder and leader of numerous orchestras in the US. As years go by and tastes change, we slowly forget these pioneers and finding records like this one are important in jogging the collective memory.

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Sylvia Marlowe on Remington

Back around 1950, about the time this recording was made, the harpsichord was pretty much an oddity in the concert hall. Considered an ancient instrument for specialists, it was going the way of the Latin language, in other words slowly breathing its final breaths on the world stage. If not for a resurgence of interest in Bach and his contemporaries, new music by such luminaries as Manuel de Falla and the superb, dogged advocacy of two remarkable ladies, the harpsichord might have gone the way of the serpent or chalumeaux.

The ladies are, of course, Wanda Landowska and New York born Sylvia Marlowe. Both women, through recordings and concert appearances, deftly illustrated how the harpichord and clavichord were capable of tonal colors, contrasts in dynamics and timbre and, expressive beauty.

This particular issue features music by the three greatest composers for keyboard during the baroque, J S Bach, Couperin and Domenico Scarlatti. I'd like to call special notice to the Scarlatti sonatas. Hardly sonatas in the traditional sense, these are more like quick glimpses into Scarlatti's interior as they display mood and feeling in a way that is not anguished, self centered or protracted. There is contemplation, happiness, brooding, melancholy, all presented in a way that was acceptable for the time and place. These works are also technical gems, requiring an artist of intelligence and skill to execute them in a convincing way. Marlowe is certainly up to the task as is my favorite performer of this genre, the great Dubravka Tomsic, albeit the latter on piano. Listen carefully and you will hear magic from Marlowe's fingers; what a coup this record was for Don Gabor!

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