SOUNDTRACK: MAHAN ESFAHANI-Tiny Desk Concert #970 (April 27, 2020).
I love the sound of the harpsichord but always assumed that one played the harpsichord in addition to the piano, like for extra flavor. That may be true, but Mahan Esfahani is not only “the instrument’s most ardent advocate,” he is also hilariously cocky about it.
For this Tiny Desk,
Esfahani, who grew up near Washington, D.C., but is now based in Prague, chose a double manual harpsichord — meaning two keyboards. This one was built by specialists Barbara and Thomas Wolf in 1991, but is based on a famous French instrument from 1770.
The harpsichord is a beautiful but notoriously fussy instrument. After we wheeled one behind Bob Boilen’s desk, it took the bulk of an hour to get the tuning just perfect for the very first Tiny Desk harpsichord recital. Given that our guest was Mahan Esfahani we were willing to wait.
His set began with classics: a pair of sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, which share the same key but couldn’t be more opposite in personality. With elaborate curlicue ornaments in both hands, the opening sonata “Sonata in D, K. 534,” presents a sober, regal outlook. Its partner “Sonata in D, K. 535” is a flamboyant rocker, with the hands chasing each other across the two keyboards like a cat and mouse.
Before the next song Esfahani makes some wonderfully funny comments about the superiority of harpsichord players.
He says people thing harpsichordists take piano pieces and transcribe them for the harpsichord. No, pianists take enough of our music; we’re a much classier bunch than them. We have our own music.
He also tells us that there are many modern composers making harpsichord music.
But he also tells us that there modern composers making harpsichord music. Composers are the best people as we all know. It goes composers then harpsichordists, I think, then everyone else.
Mel Powell was a jazz pianist who worked with Benny Goodman. he then became a composer of “proper music” (as it was called in the 1950s). he studied with Hindemith but unlike Hindemith, he’s not boring.
Angular and slightly jazzy “Recitative and Toccata Percossa,” from 1951, is a tour de force in this artist’s hands. It drives home a point he likes to make — that while the harpsichord had its heyday in the 18th century, it’s still a vibrant instrument and very much alive. “There are over 50 modern concertos for the harpsichord,” he told the audience.
He closes with a lesser known piece by a famous composer. After giving the proper pronunciation of Pachelbel, he tells that Pachelbel was good enough to teach Bach’s brothers.
Esfahani closed with a little-known chaconne by Johann Pachelbel. Its steady bassline and colorful variations were a pleasant reminder of the composer’s one-hit claim to fame, “Pachelbel’s Canon.”
I’ve never seen a harpsichord that looked like this before. It sounded great. I love that there are muted passages in the Pachebel piece–I’ve nevee heard a muted harpsichord before. This was another great Tiny Desk.
[READ: May 3, 2020] “What to Watch During the Lockdown: Month 38”
I used to really look forward to Nick Hornby’s (mostly) monthly columns in The Believer. I’m not really sure what he’s been up to since, but it’s great to see a new column from him.
This one features his delightfully obscure references to entertainment and football.
My wife and I are apparently the only people who will come out of this quarantine with even more shows to watch than we started with. We have so much to do during the day–house fixing, yard prepping, reading–that we barely watch an hour of TV a night. And there’s about 35 shows that I would like to binge.
So, I appreciate this essay intellectually, but not on a practical level (even if it is hilariously absurd).
The first suggestion is a film called Boiled Ham and Parsnips, a 1972 five-hour-black-and-white Ukranian film by Kasimir Kaschomski. It follows a peasant as she prepares the titular meal. It “might not be for everyone,” but we’re long past that.
It’s in four chapters: “Walk to the Market,” “The Haggle,” “The Walk Home Again,” and “The Preparation of the Ham.” Available on Netflix Ukraine–you can change the settings on your account [that might be the funniest line of all].
Next is the Macon McCalman retrospective. Macon McCalman was a character actor who died in 2005. “You are, I’m guessing, unfamiliar with the work of Macon McCalman…with a hundred and fifteen movie and television credits to his name.” Hornby says he picked a random film on IMDB, “Smokey and the Bandit” and a random character (Mr. B) and set out to watch “every single McCalman performance I could find.”
Some of them are hard to find (he’s looking for an episode of Carter Country from 1977 called “with an ominous inelegance ‘By the Lightofthe Moonlight.'” I confirmed on IMDB and McCalman was in just about every sitcom in the 1970s and 80s multiple times often as different character: “He had the enviable ability to platy different characters in the same series without anyone noticing.” (81 hours approx. Mostly YouTube, but check and old VHS tapes you have in the garage). I like to think that although the Ukranian film was fake, that he might really be doing this. “There was so much of his work that you’ll be watching forever, unless you shoot yourself first.”
Number three is the 1997 Nativity Play, St,. Swithin’s School. “You’ve seen Downton Abbey three times and everything Jane Austen so much as thought about writing. What’s your next posh Brit fix?.” This nativity play from the exclusive St Swithin’s primary school. Filmed on a shaky but passable camcorder by a proud front row parent. The boy playing Joseph’s enthusiasm although “his reaction to the flatulence of a Wise Man does break the fourth wall momentarily.”
Hornby’s love for football comes in with Darlinton v. Gainsborough Trinity October, 2016. You’ve watched every conceivable highlight reel. So why not watch full games between teams you’ve never heard of. This clash was uploaded to YouTube and has been viewed eighteen hundred times. “Darlington formed in 1883 and turned pro in 1908 and very little has happened to the team since.” I assume Hornby did watch this.
Finally “Cats.” “Cats was widely derided in 2019 but if you have literally seen everything else on every streaming service then perhaps it’s worth… Actually I hate this job and I quit”.
Where have you been Nick? I’ve missed you!
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