Mahan Esfahani

A Harpsichord for the Ages

(Tue 10 Oct 2023 8.00pm  Little Missenden Church)

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Mahan Esfahani harpsichord

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William Byrd Lachrimae Pavan; The Bells

Bohuslav Martinů Deux Pieces (1935)

JS Bach 'English'Suite IV in F BWV809; 'English' Suite V in E BWV 810

Poul Ruders Quickstep Rag (2023)

Programme Notes (also available free at concert)

More than any other composer, William Byrd was responsible for placing the harpsichord firmly in the mainstream of English music. As a contemporary put it – “he kindled English virginal music from the driest of dry wood to a splendid blaze”. The Lachrimae Pavan is a homage to John Dowland based on the latter’s deliciously melancholy song ‘Flow my tears…’, while The Bells – one of Byrd’s most famous keyboard works – hypnotically evokes the church bells he would have heard in the Essex countryside.

Bach’s six English Suites have nothing much English about them. Rather, they’re very similar in layout to his slightly later French Suites, with the same sequence of dance movements and the addition of a prelude, typically found in French lute music of the period. They’re just meant to be enjoyed, with Bach clearly delighting in showing us how much variety he can introduce into a conventional format.

Unusually for a 20th-century composer Martinů wrote both large and small-scale works for harpsichord. His Deux Pièces are short and playful, the arpeggio-based second strongly reminiscent of the fairground. This – and Ruders’ Quickstep Rag, recently written for Mahan – are firm proof that the harpsichord can be as relevant now as it was in the Baroque.