Pachelbel Hexachordum Apollinis
Wim Winters, Clavichord
Instrument: Clavichord n°35 - Joris Potvlieghe
Album design: Shelby Lewis
Cover Photo: Wim Winters's hand
Consultant Microphone positioning: Robert Margouleff
Recorded analog with Studer A80r Reel-to-reel
CD - Hand numbered
LP 180gr - Hand numbered + certificate
Digital download
On this recording
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.
We 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.
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”).