Clavecin XX – Justin Taylor

‘Generally labelled as a Baroque instrument and thought to have disappeared with the French Revolution, the harpsichord flourished again in the first third of the 20th century and inspired original compositions’.

Justin Taylor offers us a ‘personal’ overview of the harpsichord in the 20th century. He has structured this album around four major concertos (Falla, Poulenc, Françaix, Górecki) which are linked by pieces for solo harpsichord: Bartók, who, in his preface to Mikrokosmos, from which this Hommage to Bach is taken, suggests playing certain pieces on the harpsichord, Martinů and a new work by Stéphane Gassot in reference to Ligeti… The programme concludes with a nod to Scott Joplin and his famous ragtimes.

Always attentive and passionate about instruments, Justin Taylor chose to record the entire programme on a single instrument, a harpsichord built in the 1970s by Anthony Sidey, a hybrid model between Pleyel instruments and historical harpsichord making, which “gives a wide and highly varied range of colours”. With this album, he follows in the footsteps of Wanda Landowska and Elisabeth Chojnacka, two pioneers who promoted the harpsichord in all its modernity.