Carol lei Breckenridge

I fell in love with 18th-century keyboard music as a child sight-reading the Mozart sonatas, and later on, Beethoven became my passion. In 1983 I bought my first early keyboard -- a Willard Martin single manual French harpsichord. I longed for a fortepiano, and in 1986, bought a Stein copy built by Edward Kottick. On that instrument, under Ed's supervision, I learned all the basics of owning an early keyboard instrument -- how to change strings, how to tune, how to regulate the action, and how to fix problems as they appeared.

 

Later on, I bought Thomas and Barbara Wolf's replica of the Dulcken fortepiano (about 1789) in the Smithsonian. This instrument, which I still own, is wonderful for music by the Viennese Classical composers, which you can hear in my recording of Haydn and Mozart. When it was restrung with Stephen Birkett's historical wire, the tone became more balanced from bass to treble, and a long sustaining tone appeared. 

 

In 2006, Zuckermann Harpsichords built for me a beautiful two-manual French harpsichord (see part of Tatyana Nivina's soundboard paintings for this instrument on the front page). Recently, Paul Irvin restrung the instrument in Birkett's historic wire and made extensive detailed voicing adjustments -- which he terms a historic jack-motion system --  that brought out an incredibly rich and full tone, heard in my recording on Soundcloud.com.

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In the 1990's, I became drawn to the clavichord, and commissioned a large unfretted clavichord from Paul Irvin. The clavichord was used throughout the Middle Ages and into the 18th century. Most 18th-century composers, including Haydn and Mozart, owned clavichords, on which they composed and practiced. Its portability -- most were small oblong boxes with few strings -- made them ideal for such work. Later in the 18th century, their special qualities of intimate expression came to be more appreciated, especially in northern Germany, and the instrument's range -- and case -- grew. C.P.E. Bach's favorite instrument was undoubtedly the clavichord, for which he specifically composed some of his finest pieces in the Empfindsamkeit ("sensitivity") style.  Recently, it has been restrung in Stephen Birkett's historic brass wire, lending it a more singing tone.

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NEW!  My long-awaited Silbermann piano arrived in November 2022!  Built by Kerstin Schwarz, Saxony, Germany, a copy of the surviving 1749 piano in Nuremberg.  Gottfried Silbermann was an organ builder in Saxony, who became interested in making pianos.  At some point, he obtained a Bartolomeo Cristofori (the piano's Florentine inventor), and adopted this action with a few changes, including greater distance from hammer to string, iron strings except for the bass, a damper-raising stop, and larger case.  The result was the same vocal quality as Cristofori's pianos, with a more robust tone.  Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach played Silbermann pianos in the palaces of Frederick the Great, and J.S. Bach also knew Silbermann pianos.  The elder Bach visited his son in 1747, and was shown a Silbermann at the Sans Souci Palace in Potsdam; the King asked Bach to improvise on a given theme, which later inspired the composer's "A Musical Offering."  Considering the relationship to Cristofori's action, music by Domenico Scarlatti is also appropriate.  More later -- and recordings -- are anticipated!

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BIO: An Early keyboard performer and lecturer, Carol lei Breckenridge specializes in music of the 18th century on instruments of the period.  She obtained degrees in piano performance -- B.M. and M.M. from University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, and D.M.A. from University of Iowa -- as well as additional studies in fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson at Cornell University, harpsichord with Edward Parmentier, and clavichord with Joan Benson.  Carol lei's playing is particularly noted for its drama, nuance and expressivity.​