This may be of interest to those who are interested in the history of Zuckermann Harpsichords. I was 14 years old, in 1967, when I got my first Zuckermann catalog, back when the simple Z-box was the only harpsichord they produced. It included a flexi-disc. I’ve tried, for years, to find one but to no avail. I thought to ask on one of the Facebook harpsichord groups and, within a day, another member provided me with this link. While the information on the link says early 1970’s, I don’t know if they were still sending them out at that point.
1 Like
Thanks. Does anyone have the BWV number of the Bach prelude on the
clavichord?
Le 18/09/2023 15:00, Tito Alonso Basorez via The Jackrail écrit :
Totally amazing.
This recording was the first harpsichord performance I ever heard, at about 15 years old in a totaly non-musical household. I am still amazed by the remarkable musicality.
Zuckermann made a great choice with Pamela Cook and I was very lucky.
1 Like
I hear no Bach prelude whatsoever. The last piece on the clavichord is the Sonata K.27 by D. Scarlatti.
Le 18/09/2023 16:45, Claudio Di Veroli via The Jackrail écrit :
I hear no Bach prelude whatsoever. The last piece on the clavichord is
the Sonata K.27 by D. Scarlatti.
At about 4’, before the Scarlatti. It’s only an excerpt, but from what BWV?
I just went there again, before the D. Scarlatti there is a set of extemporised arpeggios in something like G major, not a prelude by Bach. Exactly in which minute is it?
Le 18/09/2023 22:18, Claudio Di Veroli via The Jackrail écrit :
I just went there again, before the D. Scarlatti there is a set of
extemporised arpeggios in something like G major, not a prelude by Bach.
Well, this is what Wally Zuckermann introduces (at 1’26) as “an excerpt
from a Bach prelude”.
Thanks Dennis. I have gone through my Bach scores two years ago, and I believe I have 99% of them, and I never heard that piece. I believe Zuckermann was wrong, and eventually the harpsichordist extemporised, but of course I could be wrong! Sorry not to be of more help!
1 Like
I tried with Shazam, the music-recognizing app. It usually works very well, saying author and piece and sometimes (maybe thanks to some electronic signature in files?) who the performers are. Shazam didn’t recognize the music, so I guess Claudio is right.
I suspect Shazam is not optimised for 17-18C music and low-fi recording snippets.
Thanks, Claudio. It is helpful to know no-one else seems to recognize it.
Excuse me, but given recent discussions I am surprised no-one recognises this …
It is the ‘Eb French Suite Prelude’ aka BWV 815a - the initial arpeggiated portion.
The pitch of this transfer is somewhat above A=440, and given the freedom afforded the player by the arpeggio rubric we would not expect an ‘artificial intelligence’ to spot the abstract chord sequence.
1 Like
@sphaerenklang Well spotted! I knew it was Bach but I just couldn’t place it.
Pamela Cook, unknown to me, appears to have been a very good player indeed.
Well spotted Thomas! 
(And no, I do not spend to much time trying the Appendixes and variants in the editions … )
Quite a few Pamela Cook recordings can be found on YouTube. Her performances inspire me to play.
1 Like
Yes I found also. Very inspiring.