HARPSICHORD 2011 Work by CABEZON and L.COUPERIN

 

Chases's love of early music began during college on his frequent visits to the Cloisters in NYC, where an early music group, Pro Musica Antiqua would often perform.  His initial obsession was with Gregorian chant, a period which was in strong contrast to the radical modern atonal music he was also discovering.  He had played piano since childhood, but had always longed for a harpsichord.  His first was a somewhat crude "kit" he purchased from a local harpsichordist friend. Two years later, a another friend, Kevin Fryer, who was building a reputation as begin one of the finest harpsichord builders in the country, agreed to build him a small Flemish instrument.  Chase discovered his affinity for the unmeasured preludes of Louis Couperin and also of a Spanish composer he hadn't known, Antonio de Cabezon. (1510 -1566).  In 2011 he made a series of amateur recordings of these composer's works. He also improvised films of his hands to accompany them.

ANTONIO DE CABEZON (1510 - 1566)