Bach: Partitas No.1-6
Colin Tilney (harpsichord) (Music and Arts)
(scroll down for English review)
我聽Forqueray的《古鍵琴曲集》時，用了Colin Tilney大約在1970年編輯的樂譜，他的名字在幾十年前的古樂錄音不時出現，但生於1933年的他仍然健在，去年底還推出了新唱片，巴哈的組曲集。
講我為甚麼聽這錄音之前，我先說它有三點會衝擊你對古鍵琴，或者用古鍵琴彈巴哈的印象。首先是Tilney用的古鍵琴（用一部1728年製漢堡古鍵琴的仿製品）的琴音沒有一般聽慣的尖，更是很「肥」。第二點是慢，總長度是157分鐘，但Tilney有好幾個較長的樂章完全沒彈重覆奏，否則總長度可達三小時。第三點是連奏感很強，可以說連鋼琴也彈不出這種連奏。
其實這三點息息相關，也有點不知有雞先還是有蛋先，既可以說這部樂器的琴音夠「肥」，所以才能彈這麼慢，但又可以說是Tilney想彈得慢，才會令人明白到古鍵琴其實也能做出很強的連奏感覺，只是大家一向誤解了。
Tilney撰寫的小冊子介紹文，對大部分樂章都有解釋他為甚麼要用這個速度、把節奏彈成這樣，一句經常出現的感想就是「這樂章大家彈太快了」，最明顯是《第一組曲》的吉格舞曲（軌六）及《第六組曲》的庫蘭舞曲（軌36）。
不過Tilney的慢，我覺得和早前介紹過的Koroliov不同，兩者的分別不只是Koroliov用鋼琴，而是Koroliov的慢是有點空洞，不像Tilney有綿延的如歌感。話雖如此，Tilney這套錄音其實不易聽，我自己是要逐首組曲來聽，很難集中精神的連續聽兩首組曲。
最後就是我聽這套錄音的理由，就是因為Forqueray。Tilney編過那套樂譜，證明了他對巴哈以外的古鍵琴音樂有深厚認識，所以我就聽這種演奏者怎樣彈巴哈。結果是，Tilney沒有刻意將巴哈和法國古鍵琴音樂比對，但不論是他寫的樂曲介紹，以及實質的彈奏，都令我相信這是浸淫於巴哈、其他古鍵琴音樂、以及古鍵琴演奏多年專家的心血結晶。執迷於巴哈的人，他們的巴哈最不可靠。
I listened to the Antoine Forqueray harpsichord suites using the score edited by Colin Tilney in the 1970s. Tilney, born in 1933 and whose name appeared on quite a bit of HIP recordings in the past, is still around and even had a new recording several months ago, the Bach partitas.
These recordings have three characteristics which defy the consensus on harpsichord playing or Bach playing. Firstly, Tilney used a replica of a 1728 Hamburg harpsichord which had a very mellow, even “fat” sound. Secondly, the slow tempi. This set, spread on three discs, have a total play time of 157 minutes. Yet not all repeats were observed, especially the longer movements, or the set would stretch to three hours. Thirdly it’s the overwhelming sense of legato that you won’t get to hear even on a piano.
Actually these three characteristics are related to each other and I can’t really determine the causal relationships. You might say because of the “fat” sound that made Tilney played so slowly, but I would suggest it was the slow tempi that made us realize such legato is possible on the harpsichord.
The programme notes written by Tilney almost went through all movements. Tilney somehow tried, in these notes, to justify his unusual tempi. One typical opinion of his is this and that movement has been played too quickly. You’d notice that in the quite famous (probably for their speed) of the Gigue in First Partita (track 6) and the Courante in Sixth Partita (track 36).
But the slowness of Tilney was different than Koroliov’s. To me the Koroliov Bach sound was a bit hollow yet Tilney wasn’t just legato, it almost seemed sostenuto to me. Still, this Tilney set wasn’t an easy listening experience, I had to listen to it one partita at a time.
The reason why I took out this set was because of Forqueray. The fact that Tilney edited the scores of Forqueray was proof that he knew about baroque styles other than Bach. So this is, for me, the ideal person to tell me about Bach. People who are obsessed with Bach and overlook other Baroque composers simply do not have a clue about Bach.