L’istesso tempo
At the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments in Oxford, my tour guide and good friend, Nick, took me to see the original prototype of his own harpsichord model (1st image).
The museum contains a large collection of instruments, mostly keyboard instruments, strewn around for musicians to practice on. When we asked at the reception where the specific type of Nick's harpsichord (thought to possibly be Handel's personal instrument) was located, we were directed to the back of the museum where there was a gentleman playing soft Baroque music. We got chatting to the musician and sat to watch him rehearse. I learnt a lot about this instrument from Nick and from the harpsichordist... and also from listening out for all the details that Nick had mentioned that are specific to this type of model. The chance encounter with the musician and the sheer amount of harpsichords in the museum, all with vague histories and provenances, made me think deeply about time and presence. All of these harpsichords had been played at some point over the last few hundred years... they have been touched by many fingers and emanated a beautiful sound.
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| Nick's harpsichord in Oxford |