Pachelbel Hexachordum Apollinis
First Complete Clavichord Recording
– LP – CD – Flac – MP3 – MP4 video –
Wim Winters is a serious musician with a solid technique that serves a thoroughly musical, well-considered approach to each work. (…) Winters brings an arsenal of intellectual curiosity and technical polish to a wide repertoire.
Analog Recorded (2018) on a fully restored Studer A80r TapeRecorder
Available on Vinyl Disc, CD, FLAC, MP4 Video, MP3
Life-long garuantee on original replacement discs in case of damage.
30-day money back guarantee. No questions asked
Discs will be sent out Mid of June
Notes for the digital downloads (pdf) will be sent out Mid June as well
Wim Winters: Listening to vinyl, to me, is in the first place embracing the Art of Slowing Down. The preparation, the care, the focus, the hypnosis of the turning disc. You take your time, as a prisoner of the disc’s timing.
On an almost shared first place, it’s about the audio quality. Connected to that indescribable feeling in your stomach, relaxation, something that’s not there when listening to digital.
Have a first listen!
All fragments 24 bit – 96 kHz
Pachelbel’s magnum opus: The Hexachordum Apollinis (1699)
Most remember Johann Pachelbel (1653~1706) as the South German organist and composer of the now (in)famous Canon in D. But, beyond this, Pachelbel developed a career and fame in his 53 years of life that stretched far beyond the region in which he lived and worked.
In 1699, Pachelbel published what is generally considered his magnum opus for the keyboard, the Hexachordum Apollinis (“The six strings of Apollo”). It is a collection of six Arias and variations, the first five’s tonalities representing the first five notes of a hexachord (D to A). The Sixth Aria, the famous Aria Sebaldina, returns to the key of F, but in minor this time. The title of this aria is a reference to the Saint Sebaldus, patron of the Sebalduskirche.
The collection was dedicated to Dietrich Buxtehude and Ferdinand Tobias Richter, dear colleagues of Pachelbel, with hopes that Pachelbel’s son Wilhelm Hieronymus (1686-1764) could eventually study with them and receive inspiration from their richly flowing fountain of art (“reichlichst hervorspringenden Kunst-Quelle”).
The recording – Equipment – Setup
This disc was recorded in November-January 2017/2018. The room where the clavichord stands, rebuilt from the old barn that my wife Anja grew up in, has exceptional acoustics for recordings like these. The high ceilings, furniture, irregular walls, and extensive use of solid wood create a unique sound environment for the two hyper-sensitive Neumann TML170r microphones. The sound of the clavichord is captured as naturally as possible, with a smooth touch of wood delivered by the room.
For the recordings, we embrace the philosophy of less is more. The two Neumann’s feed a dual mono Presonus ADL600 tube amplifier. That signal goes directly into the tape recorder. That’s it.
I have to give special thanks to Robert Margouleff for the suggestion and adjustment of the sensitive Blumlein configuration. His help in over more than 30 sessions of fine tuning the exact microphone position has lead to the sound results proudly presented here. Robert, Grammy award winning sound engineer and one of the most legendary sound engineers on this planet, is most known for the productions he made at the beginning of Stevie Wonder’s career.
Play + Rec, and the rest is up to the musician… Recording Analog
All of the recordings we make are captured by one of the greatest recording devices ever made: A Studer A80r reel-to-reel recorder.
The machine was built in 1981 by the famous Swiss company and brought back to factory specifications per our request in 2016 by Andreas Kuhn of Studer Analog Audio Switzerland. Kuhn used original Studer measurement equipment, guided by original readings of 1981, to align the machine. He also replaced all capacitors and furnished the machine with two brand new Studer heads. It is ready to serve us for the coming decades!
Why an analog recording in a digital era? Yes, on paper, digital surpasses any analog medium in dynamic range, distortion, or signal/noise ratio. Still, there seems to be something truly special with analog. When compared to a high end analog-to-digital convertor, the tape sounds so much more open and relaxed… in a way that surprised even the most skeptical listener we blind-tested. Does it color the sound? Probably, but I’d say in a good way. And remember that the final sound is not exclusively a result of the medium: even a one centimeter change in mic position will change the sound as well! Does a tape produce more noise? Probably, although this Studer is almost dead silent with modern tape. But most surprisingly, digital conversion leaves a good part of that initial analog “feel.” Of course, you will experience the “relaxed” feel better when listening to a tape or a vinyl disc, but even a CD still gives you something long missed in the digital world. Analog…is like driving a Rolls Royce with no limitations. And there’s nothing more relaxing than recording in Analog. Just press two buttons and you’re good to go.
Play + Rec, and the rest is up to you.
Short notice on the performer
Wim Winters (1972) studied for eight years at the Sweelinck Conservatory of Amsterdam, with Jacques van Oortmerssen (organ) and Willem Brons (piano). After having devoted much of his time to the organ and the 19th century piano, since 2008 he has regularly performed works by the Bach family, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven on clavichord. In 2019, he will begin recording all of Beethoven’s piano works on a newly built copy of a six-octave Fritz fortepiano also from the Potvlieghe workshop.
On the Designer of the Art Work
Shelby Lewis has professional training in music, architecture, and photography… and joined Wim for the complete visual design of this record, inclusive the new house style for Authentic Sound. This Pachelbel disc is the first production for Authentic Sound to be released with this new designed, fresh looking style. Shelby, Wim, and Anja had dozens of calls over the course of several months, to get every detail exactly right.
Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Shelby leads a life as a baroque (and modern) trumpeter and also heads up Early Music Maker (EMM). He provides support, through EMM, to performers, makers, and scholars in the early music world while also using it as a public mouthpiece for his performing career as a baroque trumpeter. Shelby offers performing, design, photographic, and consulting services with the aim of helping musicians and ensembles take projects to their fullest potential. Having been a professional musician for nearly 30 years… and a designer/photographer for 15… Shelby’s performance experience in combination with a keen design sensibility gives him a unique insight into problems facing 21st-century entrepreneurs in the early music world.
Products
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Pachelbel Hexachordum Apollinis - LP/CD/FLAC/MP3/MP4
€ 7,99 – € 59,59
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Wim Winters plays Organ Works of J.S.Bach
€ 15,99
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Music From Bach to Beethoven and Beyond
€ 34,99€ 24,95 -
Mozart’s Early Ornamention System
€ 9,99