Richard Lester's A Musical Journey Around Europe is a brief survey of late Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical pieces for harpsichord and its successor, the fortepiano. This varied program is a helpful introduction to keyboard music from Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany, which developed from late 16th century toccatas and canzonas to the 18th century sonata and variation forms. The appearance of some frequently anthologized pieces gives this CD the suggestion of a greatest-hits collection (in ...
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Richard Lester's A Musical Journey Around Europe is a brief survey of late Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical pieces for harpsichord and its successor, the fortepiano. This varied program is a helpful introduction to keyboard music from Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany, which developed from late 16th century toccatas and canzonas to the 18th century sonata and variation forms. The appearance of some frequently anthologized pieces gives this CD the suggestion of a greatest-hits collection (in addition to being a sampler of Lester's catalog on Nimbus Records), and Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata in D major, François Couperin's Les Barricades Mystérieuses, George Frederick Handel's Harmonious Blacksmith, Pier Domenico Paradies' Toccata in A major, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" are indeed perennial favorites. But Lester's program offers less familiar yet equally fascinating harpsichord pieces by Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Claudio Merulo, Jan...
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