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1Your Selection - The Book

Your Selection

The Book

2 Your Selection - The Book

Copyright © 2016 - Authentic Soundwww.authenticsound.beCompany owned by Wim Winters bvbaAll rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or trans-mitted in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to, photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission re-quests, write to the publisher at “ attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the e-mail address below.

[email protected]

Photograph cover © www.veerlesmeets.be


In loving memory of my father

Jean Winters (1943-2015)

I wouldn’t be a musician if it

wasn’t because of him.


What people say

“Your channel is one of the most amazing YouTube channels I’ve ever seen. it is the combination of the best things in YouTube: it is self pro-duced, interesting, unique and incredibly high quality work”Daniel Borbely

“IAbsolutely divine ! “Nigel Long

“You play so lyrically that I could dance to this, amazing work !!!”Antionio Valentini

“This is amazing!!! My God Now I just want to play clavichord !!”music_pillow

“This is incredible...”GamingReviews

“Wow... I can’t say anything else... fantastic...”AP

“Wim – you are amazing. That SOUND!!! So lush! You’re playing is fabulous as ever.”Ted Forbes –The Art of Photography

“You’re on to something quite unique”Jeff Moore

“Beautiful beyond words.”Kresimir Cindric

“Once again you have demonstrated a lightness and clarity of articu-lation seldom heard by performers on any keyboard instrument.”Rollinglenn


“You manage to clarify and expound Bach’s music for me, through your playing, phrasing and emphases, aided by your wonderful in-strument. Long may you continue”Bill Huband

“An amazing performance of an amazing piece by an amazing and talented man.”Adrian Leal

“Nice piece, nice performance, nice recording, nice video: you’re spoiling us all the time”Scozio

“Stunning beauty.”David Rothschild

“It’s amazing how mighty your clavichord sounds. I’m rapidly becom-ing a big fan of your work.”Eavan Rommes

“Votre video m’a mit les larmes aux yeux. Merci.”Simon Carrier

“OMG, wow, I’m speechless, thank you!’Benjamin Wand

“I’ll never get tired of listening to you play”David Rodgers


About this book

Why a book and not a booklet?

At some point, rather early, I started to write some text in what You-Tube calls the ‘description box’. It is the perfect spot to give a brief summary of the video, and in the case of my channel, it makes sense to give some background information on the composition that I played.

Soon however, I started to improvise a bit with texts that reflected some more personal aspects of the performance (my view), or gave just a reflection of what crossed my mind in that moment of writing. People responded to those texts in a way that there was no escaping from which led to doing it with every music recording. Soon I started to write some kind of fiction with silly phone calls by Mozart or weird visits from Clementi. I enjoy writing almost as much as I do playing music, and so, many of those moments of writing are amongst the best memories I have on the channel.

And so... almost 100 blog texts, some of them almost 2 pages...just leave them out? And moreover: there would be no other way to present you with an in-dex of all 100 music recordings as well as over seventy relevant spo-ken videos! So, one of the key aspects of this book is to present you with a searchable index of the videos I have created. As many thanks as we have for the digital revolution, making a hard copy available was high on my priority list. An e-book is great, but a real book is better...at the minimum: more relaxing to read (I think).

As for the use of the English language: the introduction is corrected by David Rodgers, American piano builder and restorer. The blogs re-mained unchanged from their appearances on YouTube, some spel-ling corrections aside. So, all of them are written in the hyper-modern Euro speak English that came directly off my pen. I hope you don’t mind. It is an aspect that is intertwined with this channel. Perhaps, someday, “Google” will provide the world with a modern version of the Star Trek “Universal Translator”, with perfect, real-time transla-tions in any language. Imagine that: wearing an advanced version of the Google glass, that transmits and translates in the most fluent and


correct way what one person is saying to another. THAT would make the world small at once! And Star Trek old fashioned :-) .

What I would say if this were a video

If this introduction were a video I would close it as follows:

“So, that was it for today. I hope you enjoyed the idea of having a book like this to go along with the celebration CD’s, and I certainly do hope you will enjoy reading it and listening to the recordings, whether it is your first time or whether you are returning to some recordings you already know. And to really close this introduction, I hope from the bottom of my heart that this will bring the clavichord closer to you all and that your souls will be sprinkled with uncountable drops of deep musical beauty and artful emotion.

I thank you all for watching – reading, please don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and share this with all your friends –important for You-Tube’s algorithms and... we’ll see each other very soon again. Bye !”


Contents

What people say ..................................................................................... 4

About this book ...................................................................................... 6

Why a book and not a booklet? ......................................................... 6

What I would say if this were a video ............................................... 7

On the accompanying CD’s and the selection. ................................. 19

The Story of Authentic Sound ............................................................. 23

A bright moon ................................................................................... 23

What’s in a name : Authentic Sound ............................................... 25

Evolution of the channel ................................................................. .28

The queen of this project: my Clavichord ...................................... 29

The type of clavichord I play ............................................................ 31

About the clavichord in the 18th century ....................................... 31

THE 100 RECORDINGS

1. Johann Sebastian Bach

PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 880 (WK II) ................................. 36


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 882 (WK II) ................................ 38

3. Ludwig van Beethoven

SONATA IN E FLAT MAJOR OPUS 27/1 .................................................. 39


CHROMATIC FANTASY & FUGUE BWV 903 ........................................... 41

5. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

SONATA IN A MINOR KV 310 .................................................................. 43


SONATA IN C MAJOR KV 279 ................................................................. 45


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN C MAJOR, BWV 870 (WK II) ............................. 47

8. Muzio Clementi

SONATA F SHARP MINOR OPUS 26/2 ................................................... 48


9. Joseph Haydn

FANTASY IN C MAJOR HOB. XVII/4 ........................................................ 50


SONATA OPUS 10/2 IN F-MAJOR .......................................................... 51


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN C MAJOR, BWV 846 (WK I) ................................ 53


ENGLISH SUITE N°3 IN G MINOR BWV 808 ........................................... 55


SONATA IN A MAJOR KV 331 ................................................................. 58

13A. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

RONDO ALLA TURCA (TURKISH MARCH) KV 331 ................................. 60

14. Joseph Haydn

SONATA N°54 IN G MAJOR (HOB. XVI/40) ............................................. 62


VARIATIONS G-MAJOR V 455 (GLUCK) .................................................. 64


SONATA IN F MAJOR KV 280 ................................................................. 66


SONATA A MAJOR OPUS 17 N°5 ........................................................... 68


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN C# MAJOR BWV 848 (WK I) ............................... 70


SONATA PATHETIQUE OPUS 13 ............................................................. 71


VARIATIONS C-MAJOR “AH VOUS DIRAI-JE MAMAN” KV 265 .............. 75

21. Live Concert, Peer Deusterconcerten .......................................... 77

22. Live Concert at Castle Le Paige Herentals .................................. 79

23. Jacques van Oortmerssen & Wim Winters

LIVE AT ‘T WOUDT (FULL CONCERT, 85 MINUTES) ............................... 82


DUETTO’S BWV 802/5 ............................................................................ 84

X1. Frédéric Chopin

BALLADE N°4 IN F-MINOR OPUS 52 ..................................................... 86



‘O GOTT DU FROMMER GOTT’ BWV 767 .............................................. 88

26. Georg Friederich Händel

SUITE D-MINOR HWV 437 ..................................................................... 90

26A. Georg Friederich Händel

SARABANDE HWV 437 ........................................................................... 92


PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN E FLAT MINOR BWV 853 (WKI) ..................... 93


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN C MINOR BWV 847 (WKI) .................................. 95


PRELUDE AND FUGUE KV 394 .............................................................. 97


PARTITA N°2 BWV 826 ........................................................................... 99

31. Joseph Haydn

SONATA N°47 HOB XVI/32 ................................................................... 102


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN E MAJOR BWV 878 (WK II) .............................. 105

33. Joseph Haydn

SONATA F MAJOR N°44 IN HOB. XVI/29 .............................................. 107


SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR KV 281 ...................................................... 110


SONATA IN BB MAJOR OPUS 22 ........................................................ 113


PARTITA N°3 BWV 827 ......................................................................... 116

37. Joseph Haydn

SONATA N°36 IN C MAJOR HOB XVI/21 .............................................. 119


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MINOR BWV 857 (WK I) ............................... 122


SONATA N°16 IN C MAJOR KV 545 ...................................................... 124


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN BB MINOR BWV 867 (WK I) ............................ 128


41. Joseph Haydn

SONATA N°53 IN E MINOR HOB XVI/34 ............................................... 130

42. Joseph Haydn

SONATA N° 55 IN B FLAT MAJOR HOB. XVI/41.................................... 133


ADAGIO KV 540 ................................................................................... 135


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN D MAJOR BWV 850 (WK I) .............................. 137

45. Joseph Haydn

SONATA N°38 IN F MAJOR HOB 16/23 ................................................ 140

46. Kostas Papazafeiropoulos

SONATA (2010) IN C MINOR (WORLD PREMIERE) ............................... 143

47. Muzio Clementi

SONATA OPUS 2/2 IN A MAJOR (1782) ............................................... 147


SONATA N°15 IN F MAJOR KV 533/494 ............................................... 150


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN AB MAJOR BWV 862 (WK I) ............................ 153

50. Joseph Haydn

SONATA N°37 IN E MAJOR HOB. XVI/22 .............................................. 156

51. Pietro Domenico Paradies

SONATA IN A MAJOR .......................................................................... 158

52. Muzio Clementi

SONATA OPUS 14 N°3 IN F MINOR ..................................................... 161

53. Franz Schubert

ERLKÖNIG (SOLO) ............................................................................... 164


RONDO IN A MINOR (2015) (WORLD PREMIERE) ................................ 167


VARIATIONS F MAJOR KV 398 ............................................................ 170

56. Franz Schubert

GRETCHEN AM SPINNRADE (SOLO) .................................................. 173


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 856 (WKI) ................................ 176


X2. Franz Liszt

JEUX D’ EAU A LA VILLA D’ ESTE ........................................................ 179

58. Joseph Haydn

SONATA IN A FLAT MAJOR HOB XVI/46 ............................................... 182


SONATA OPUS 2 N°1 IN F MINOR ....................................................... 185


SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR KV 333 ...................................................... 189

61. Muzio Clementi

SONATA IN C MAJOR OP. 2 N°1 (1781) ............................................... 192

62. Johann Baptist Cramer

ETUDES (1) PLAYED FROM BEETHOVEN’S COPY .............................. 196


INVENTIONS N°1-3 BWV 772-775 ........................................................ 199






INVENTIONS N°4-6 BWV 776-778 ........................................................ 208


INVENTIONS N°7-9 BWV 779-781 ........................................................ 211


SONATA IN G DUR (2015) .................................................................... 214


INVENTIONS N°10-12 BWV 782-784 .................................................... 217


INVENTIONS N°13-15 BWV 785-787 .................................................... 220


PARTITA N°5, BWV 829 ........................................................................ 223



73. Carl Czerny

PRELUDE & FUGUE IN G MAJOR (OPUS 822) .................................... 228


74. Carl Czerny

PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN F#MINOR OPUS 822................................... 231


SECHS DEUTSCHE TÄNZE KV509 ...................................................... 234


NOTEBOOK KV 15 (SELECTION) KLAVIERSTUCK IN F MAJOR, KV 33B ... 236

X3. Louis Vierne

SYMPHONY N°6, OPUS 59 ................................................................. 239


SONATA N°5 IN G MAJOR KV 283 ...................................................... 242


PARTITA N°4 BWV 828 ......................................................................... 245




SONATE IN F MAJOR (2016) ................................................................. 250


PARTITA N°I BWV 825 .......................................................................... 253

82. Muzio Clementi

FUGUE IN C MAJOR (GRAD.AD PARNASSUM) ................................... 256

83. Dietrich Buxtehude

SUITE IN E MINOR BUXWV 236 ............................................................ 258

84. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

ABSCHIED VON MEINEM SILBERMANNISCHEN CLAVIERE ............... 261

85. Domenico Scarlatti

SONATA K141 ...................................................................................... 264

86. D.E.Von Grotthuss

FREUDE ÜBER DEM EMPFANG DES SILBERM.CLAVIERS .................. 268


SONATA OP. 87 (2011) ......................................................................... 272

88. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

WÜRTTEMBERG SONATA I WQ 49/1 ................................................... 276



PARTITA VI BWV 830 ........................................................................... 279

90. Johann Christian Bach

SONATA IN C MINOR OP.17/2 ............................................................. 282

91. Kostas Papazafeiropoulos (2016)

VARIATIONS ON W.A. MOZART, DER VOGELFÄNGER / THE BIRD CATCHER ................................................ 285

92. Johann Pachelbel

CIACONNA IN F MINOR ....................................................................... 288


SONATA OPUS 53 (WALDSTEIN) ......................................................... 291


ARIA SECUNDA ................................................................................... 294

95. Joseph Haydn

SONATA IN G MINOR, HOB XVI/44 ....................................................... 297


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN E MAJOR BWV 854 (WKI) ................................ 300

X4. Michael Anton (°2001)

SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR (2016) ....................................................... 303


ARIA SEBALDINA EVELIEN DANCE ..................................................... 306


SONATA OP. 113 (2015) ....................................................................... 309


PRELUDE & FUGUE IN E MAJOR (2) BWV 854 (WKI) ........................... 312


PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN B MINOR BWV 869 ..................................... 314

To talk or to only play? ....................................................................... 317

To be a musicologist or not? ............................................................. 318

The series ............................................................................................ 320

MORE ABOUT MUSIC

1. PRACTISING BACH’S SINFONIAS WITH YOU (PART 7)! ....................322



3. A COMPOSER WORKING AT MY CLAVICHORD ! ...............................322


5. TO OVERDOT OR NOT? :: J.S.BACH PARTITA 2, SINFONIA :: DOUBTS & DECISIONS (3) ............................................. 323

6. PRACTISING BACH’S SINFONIAS TOGETHER WITH YOU(4) ! .........323

7. PRACTICING BACH’S SINFONIAS WITH YOU (3) ! .............................324

8. 3 CLAVICHORDS :: 3 SOUNDS ! ...........................................................324

9. SOME SERIOUSLY UNDOCUMENTED THOUGHTS ON INSTRUMENT CHOICE (AMONG OTHER THINGS) ..........................324

10. PRACTICING BACH’S SINFONIAS WITH YOU ! :: PART 2 ...............325

11. C.P.E.BACH WOULD EMBRACE SOCIAL MEDIA ! ............................325

12. PRACTICING BACH’S SINFONIAS WITH YOU ! :: PART 1 ...............325

13. J.S.BACH’S E MAJOR FUGUE (WKI): A TRICKY ONE TO PLAY :: AFTERTHOUGHTS ..................................................................................................326

14. C.P.E.BACH :: A REMARKABLE POST SCRIPTUM IN MUSIC ! .......326

15. MOST NOBLE EXPRESSION OF MELANCHOLY :: THOUGHTS ON HAYDN’S G MINOR SONATA (PART 2) ........................................ 326

16. HAYDN :: SONATA IN G MINOR :: MY THOUGHTS (PART 1) ............327

17. THE LETTERS OF C.P.E.BACH :: ED. CLARK :: BOOK REVIEW ......327

18. MAIN OR UPPER NOTE TRILLS? :: AFTERTHOUGHTS ON J. PACHELBEL :: ARIA SECUNDA .............................................................327

19. MY CLAVICHORD’S CATHEDRAL: SYMPATHETIC STRINGS: Q&A YOUR TIME .......................................................................328

20. DOUBTS & DECISIONS : JSBACH PARTITA 2 (2) : “CAPRICCIO” ...328

21. BEETHOVEN WALDSTEIN :: NOTATION AND CHANGES :: AFTERTHOUGHTS (2) ON MY RECORDING ...............................................328

22. FINALLY: THE EDGE OF MY CLAVICHORD : BEETHOVEN WALDSTEIN :: AFTERTHOUGHTS (1) .......................................................329

23. MY CLAVICHORD IN A NUTSHELL :: Q&A YOUR TIME .............. 329

24. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON J. PACHELBEL :: CIACONA IN F MINOR ...329

25. DOUBTS & DECISIONS : JSBACH PARTITA 2 :


“FUGUE-INVENTION” ..............................................................................330

26. THE “BEBUNG” ON CLAVICHORD: A PERSONAL VIEW:: Q&A EP. 9 .................................................................................. 330

27. CHRISTIAN BACH COMPARED TO A VERY FAMOUS PIECE OF MUSIC :: AFTERTHOUGHTS ............................................................... 330

28. TWO BOOKS I’D RECOMMEND :: CPEBACH AND TÜRK :: Q&A - YOUR TIME :: EP .8 ............................................................331

29. Q&A :: EP.7 ::PITCH OF MY CLAVICHORD .........................................331

30. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON CPEBACH :: WÜRTTEMBERG SONATA I WQ 49/1 .....................................................................................331

31. YOUR TIME :: Q&A :: EP.5 :: BEETHOVEN OP.2/1 ALLEGROOR PRESTO? .............................................................................332

32. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON GROTTHUSS: RONDO C MAJOR ..............332

33. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON KOSTAS’ SONATA OPUS 87 (2011) ............332

34. OUR VISIT TO RECORD INDUSTRY, ONE OF WORLD’S LARGEST VINYL PRESSING PLANTS ! ....................................................................333

35. YOUR TIME :: Q&A :: EP.3: MY EARLY MUSIC ‘INFLUENCERS’. .....333

36. THE MAKING OF SCARLATTI, OR : THE WOMAN BEHIND IT ALL. .....333

37. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON SCARLATTI :: SONATA K141 .......................334

38. IT MUST HAVE HURT...LIVE ON C.PH.E.BACH’S “ABSCHIED - FAREWELL” (SESSION 2016.05.25, 9PM) ........................334

39. “HIS CLAVICHORD TOOK FORTISSIMOS THAT WOULD DESTROY ANOTHER INSTRUMENT...”:: ON CPEBACH ........................334

40. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MY RECORDING OF CLEMENTI’S FUGUE IN C MAJOR ...................................................................................335

41. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MY RECORDING OF BACH’S PARTITA I BWV 825 ON CLAVICHORD .....................................................335

42. AFTERTHOUGHTS: BENIFITS OF TALKING TO A LIVING COMPOSER ! ..................................................................................335

43. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MY RECORDING OF CRAMER’S ETUDES (PART 5) ..................................................................336

44. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MY RECORDING OF


BACH’S PARTITA N°4 BWV 828 .................................................................336

45. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MOZART: SONATA N°5 IN G MAJOR, KV 283 ..................................................................................336

46. THE ORGAN : A GUIDED TOUR ! .......................................................337

47. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MOZART’S “SECHS DEUTSCHE TÄNZE” KV509 ..................................................................................... 337

48. AFTERHTOUGTHS ON MY RECORDING OF MOZART KV 15 AND KV33 .........................................................................................337

49. IDEAS ON CZERNY: PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN F#MINOR (AFTERTHOUGHTS) ....................................................................................338

50. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON CZERNY PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN G MAJOR .................................................................................................338

51. MOZART - CLEMENTI: TWO GIANTS MEET: CHRISTMAS EVE 1781. A PERSONAL VIEW ..................................................................338

52. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON BACH’S PARTITA N°V, BWV 829 ................339

53. WHAT’S THE THING ABOUT A NEW MOZART OR NOT? AFTERTHOUGHTS ON KOSTAS PAPAZAFEIROPOULOS’ SONATA IN G. ...................................................................................... 339

54. BACH’S INVENTIONS OR THE ULTIMATE POLYPHONIC FEEL (5): AFTERTHOUGHTS ...................................................................................................339

55. BACH’S INVENTIONS OR THE ULTIMATE POLYPHONIC FEEL (4): AFTERTHOUGHTS ......................................................................340

56. BACH’S INVENTIONS OR THE ULTIMATE POLYPHONIC FEEL (3): AFTERTHOUGHTS ......................................................................340

57. AFTERTHOUGTHS (PT 3) ON CRAMERS ETUDES ...........................340

58. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON EARLY RUBATO... AND MUCH MORE: CRAMER ETUDES, PART 4 ...........................................................341

59. REFLECTIONS (2) ON BACH’S INVENTIONS: AFTERTHOUGHTS ....341

60. AFTERTHOUGHTS (2) ON CRAMERS ETUDES.................................341

61. REFLECTIONS ON BACH’S INVENTIONS (1): AFTERTHOUGHTS ....342

62. REFLECTIONS ON CRAMER’S ETUDES ON CLAVICHORD (PART 1) ...............................................................................342


63. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON CLEMENTI SONATA IN C MAJOR, OPUS 2 N°1 (1781) ......................................................................................342

64. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MOZART’S SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR, KV 333 ...........................................................................................343

65. BEETHOVEN OP. 2/1, WHAT ABOUT THE B FLAT IN BAR 15...? AND MORE. ..........................................................................343

66. LET THERE BE SOUND !! PHILIP NEWELL, THE INTERVIEW. ........343

67. TALKING ABOUT TRILLS, METRICAL MOVEMENT, AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THIS WONDERFUL HAYDN SONATA ..................344

68. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON BACH’S PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN F MAJOR (WKI) .......................................................................................344

69. AFTERTOUGHTS ON MY RECORDING OF SCHUBERT’S GRETCHEN AM SPINNRADE.............................................................. 344

70. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON MOZART VARIATIONS IN F MAJOR KV 398 .........................................................................................345

71. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON COSTAS PAPAZAFEIROPOULOS RONDO IN A MINOR ...................................................................................345

72. AFTERTHOUGHTS: SEARCHING THE LIMITS WITH SCHUBERT ......345

73. AFTERTHOUGHTS: CLEMENTI ‘WHISPERED’ TO BEETHOVEN... AND MORE ........................................................................346

74. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON PARADIES’ SONATA IN A MAJOR ...............346

75. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON HAYDN’S SONATA N°37 IN E MAJOR ........346

76. AFTERTHOUGHTS ON BACH’S PR&F IN AB MAJOR (WKI) ............347

Future plans ......................................................................................... 348

Recording label ............................................................................... 349

Vinyl project ..................................................................................... 349

Series CPEBach in pieces etc ........................................................ 349

Scores ............................................................................................. 350

Pianoforte project ........................................................................... 350

Building of the studio ...................................................................... 351

Authentic Sound Radio ................................................................... 352

Patreon ............................................................................................ 353

A thank you ......................................................................................... 354

Special thanks to ................................................................................. 355


On the accompanying CD’s and the selection

This book is published both as E-book and hard copy along with the release of three CD’s contain-ing a selection of the 100 music re-cordings I’ve made for the Authentic Sound YouTube channel between February 2014 and November 2016.

The selection is made by the commu-nity that surrounds Authentic Sound, hence it’s title: Your Selection.

Since these CD’s feature a selection from the 100 recordings made in the past two years, you will notice differences in sound because of dif-ferent setups, different recording equipment, and even different rooms.

All recordings though, have in common, that they have been made with a stereo setup with no additional reverb. Even the reverb you’ll hear in the recording of Beethoven’s Pathetique is pure and alone the natural reflection of that impressive 18th Imperial Hall in Sint-Truiden (B), where this piece was recorded.

The equipment we used for the first recordings was very basic, but served its purpose well:

❯ 2 Mic AKG C-3000 ❯ 1 Tascam field recorder ❯ Camera : Fuji X-Pro 1

Today, recordings are made with:

❯ 2 Mic Neumann TML-170 ❯ Presonus ADL 600 Preamp (Tube, Dual Mono) ❯ Benchmark ADC1 ❯ Benchmark DAC1 HDR ❯ Samplitude Pro as editing software ❯ Current cameras : 2x Panasonic Lumix Lx100


As for the last 6 months, (almost) all recordings are recorded on a fully restored STUDER A80r Tape recorder and afterwards digitised. What a tape recorder of that quality does with the sound of a recording is impossible to describe accurately. Even compared to a high quality AD convertor as our Benchmark is, set in High Res, the sound opens and clarifies in a way you should experience if you had the chance. Even after being converted to digital, a good part of that initial sound is to be heard. And even... on YouTube after who knows how many conversions and down samplings. At least five people sent me a mes-sage after releasing the first so called ADD recording online, to ask what I did with the sound (Clementi’s G Major Prelude and Fugue, included on the CD’s).

All tracks on the CD are the unaltered version of their counterparts on YouTube. Of course, contrary to the sound quality on YouTube, you’ll hear those recordings through their original WAV (CD quality) sound.

Here is the index of the CD’s:


CD 1

1-4 Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) :: Suite in E minor, BuxWV 236

Allemande – Courant- Saraband- Gigue

5 Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706):: Ciaconna in F Minor

6-8 George Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) :: Suite D-Minor HWV 437

Allemande – Courante – Sarabande

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

9-11 Invention n°7-9, BWV 778-780

12-13 Prelude & Fugue in E Major (WTK I), BWV 854

14-19 Partita in B "at Major, BWV 825

Praeambulum – Allemande - Courante

Sarabande – Menuet – Gigue

20 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)

Abschied von meinem Silbermannischen Claviere

21-23 Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) :: Sonata in C Minor Op.17/2

Allegro – Andante – Prestissimo

CD 2

1-3 Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) :: Sonata in A "at Major, Hob. XVI/46

Allegro Moderato - Adagio - Presto

4 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) :: Variations in F Major, KV 398

5-7 Muzio Clementi (1752-1838) :: Sonata in F sharp Minor, opus 26/2

Piu tosto Allegro con Espressione - Lente e pathetic – Presto

8-9 Joseph Haydn :: Sonata in B "at Major, Hob. XVI/41

Allegro - Allegro di molto

10 W.A. Mozart :: Adagio in B Minor, KV 540

11 W.A. Mozart:: Sechs Deutsche Tänze, KV 509


CD 3

1-3 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) :: Sonata Pathetique, opus 13 in C Minor

Grave - Allegro Molto e con brio - Andante cantabile - Rondo Allegro

4 Franz Schubert (1797-1828) :: Gretchen Am Spinnrade (klavier solo)

Johann Baptist Cramer (1771-1851):: Etudes played from Beethoven’s copy

5 Etude n°16 in F Minor

6 Etude n°18 in D Minor

7 Etude n°21 in G Major

8 Etude n°24 in D Minor

9-10 Carl Czerny (1791-1857) :: Prelude & Fugue in G Major

11 Kostas Papazafeiropoulos (1983 - ) :: Rondo in A Minor (2015)

Dedicated to Wim Winters

12-15 Kostas Papazafeiropoulos :: Sonate in C Minor, opus 113 (2015)

Allegro – Adagio - Menuet/Trio - Rondo Allegro

Dedicated to Constantine P. Carambelas - Sgourdas

Buy the CD’s on:

www.authenticsound.be/yourselection


The Story of Authentic Sound

A bright moon

Imagine a late winter night, dark and cold outside, the wind blowing through naked threes, their silhouettes drawn black in the bright moon light. One man still up, sitting cosily warm inside, all lights switched off except one candle light that lights the score on his clavichord. The moment we enter the room, he just released the last note of a Bach fugue that enhanced the silence as only a clavichord can do. You would see that man’s back sag a bit, and if you would be able to read his mind, it would tell you thousands of feelings related to that one moment, whispering thoughts that would fly in the electrified air of the room. One of those thoughts would be the wish to share this moment of beauty with others, not so surprisingly for an artist, because isn’t that what they essentially do: sharing beauty?

The date must have been December 11th 2013. That was the mo-ment on which Authentic Sound YouTube channel was born.

Now, three years later, that channel has become a platform with 100 clavichord recordings, and 150 spoken videos. Each month, about 30,000 people find something of interest; maybe even beauty, and it’s community (called subscribers in YouTube’s world) of almost 3,000 is now growing by an average of 15 a day.


It might be a world far from many classical musicians, or perhaps even from you as a classical audience. It was certainly a world very far from me when I started on YouTube in February 2014. But take away every aspect that potentially could hold you back from these new platforms, be it its mass access, its mass use, its overly clear commercial aspects, ... and what remains is, in fact, a unique way of communicating and reaching out to people. It is hard, I can tell you, it requires a lot more than just make some good video’s or some decent recordings. It forces you to think more in terms of direct communica-tion, conversation, building a community, and much more. But once behind that massive wall, there is a world that gives you all access to an artist in a way that would have been only a dream fifteen years ago: direct, one-on-one contact with his audience.

In fact, however you might think of communication on social plat-forms, a thank-you sentence in a YouTube comment box, is not so different from a person who shakes your hand after a concert. The tools are different, but in essence, both are the same.

The only real difference is the reach. It would be hard, in the niche “market” of Historically Informed Performance (HIP), to reach, live, the 30,000 people my recording of Beethoven’s Pathetique has reached on YouTube. Views are not saying everything, but YouTube’s analytics tell me that one out of four of three views, actually watch the entire recording. That means, that the Pathetique has at least 10,000 com-plete views. Take away the unique cookies, meaning the returning listeners, it would be safe to say that at least 3,000 people on this planet are familiar with the version of Beethoven’s famous sonata... on clavichord. With a channel as small as this still is, and knowing the fact that this recording was a very early one, when Authentic Sound only had a few hundred subscribers. 3000 is a number that would be called a success in the ‘classic’ CD retail world of my niche.

Of course, both numbers are not to be compared. I did not actually sell those recordings. But the new idea of the ‘sharing economy’ for-ces you to think differently: that recording reached that many people. You could even say, in much more down to earth marketing termino-logy: I influenced that many people by that recording.


Recording labels mostly hold firm to known names and repeat the same concepts, but see numbers dwindling; which is bad for their an-nual business numbers, but also for the musicians asked to perform the same things again and again. Many will have the feeling that there simply is no place left for them anymore, and certainly not a possibility to make a decent living from what is one of the most demanding and difficult professions of all.

What’s in a name : Authentic Sound

If you ever have wondered if it is hard to find a name that covers your activity or that of your “brand,” I can tell you: it is. It becomes even harder when you have finally found a name and then must put it to the test to be judged by family and friends...

Anyway, one thing I wanted to avoid was opening a YouTube chan-nel that would have my name. It might sound strange, but I cannot see “Wim Winters” as a brand name. Even a YouTube Channel is ultimately a Brand Name. “Authentic Sound” was first chosen as a name in 2012. It was for a concert I gave at the Exhibition of Instru-ment Makers held at the MA Festival in Bruges (Belgium). I thought that the clavichord, as important as this instrument was throughout the whole 18th c., could use some extra help in today’s world of HIP; still dominated by harpsichords and pianofortes. The term “Sound” reflected the sound of my clavichord. The word “Authentic” tied into its voice; which is authentic in every meaning of the word. When thinking about a name for a YouTube channel, it was hard to come up with an alternative to this. I even created a poster for that concert, maybe a wee bit provocative, to attract attention to the “Queen of 18th centu-ry keyboard instruments” in today’s noisy world. I share it here with you, not completely without embarrassment... but : it worked! The beautiful exhibition concert room was packed with peo-ple. Beethoven’s opus 10/3. In 2015 I played all Bach partitas -with a different


poster...! - and received a wonderful review in the magazine of the British Clavichord Society. I’ll share it here with you (still proud of that!):

We will take “Authentic Sound” as a brand name for future projects, as there will be a recording label, publication of scores, a recording studio, and even Authentic Sound Radio is a project that is under development for launch within the coming years.


Evolution of the channel

Looking back on those first recordings of February 2014, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing on anything, except maybe (I hope) the clavichord play-ing. I still lived in the 20th c. mindset that quality al-ways finds its way and so just uploading a well per-formed recording would do the trick. Today, I could easily tell that the almost pitch black thumbnail (and video), with no explanation, no personal interactions, and no calls to action would certainly be completely ignored by YouTube; as it most certainly was. I still remember that I was happy when the views went up in one day with an average of three, not even knowing if my own clicks causing that shift in number or not. You will see those first dark days when you start paging through the book: those videos are at the beginning and if it were not for a chronological approach, in terms of branding, they shouldn’t be at the beginning. Although I still do like those recordings to this day!

If you realise that today –and the numbers wouldn’t be that much less impressive back in 2014- YouTube receives more than 600 hours of recording every ... minute, it is not hard to understand that our first videos were not, in importance, even close to one drop in a vast ocean. For one person, it would take up to 60 years (!) to watch the content YouTube receives in a day. Yes, in one day... So, there were the first two preludes and fugues by Bach, played on clavichord. Not on piano, let alone harpsichord. No: clavichord. Even with a million potential viewers –remember, there are about 7 billion on this planet, and YouTube receives at least 1 billion of them per day (!), those vid-eos would barely get a chance to be found, let alone indexed by the world’s second largest search engine: YouTube.


In those early days, views or subscribers (I think I had 8 after a month) were only vanity numbers. So, the only element that might have been hurt by that was my ego. I surely had not one single thought that this YouTube adventure would have the potential to become a possible backbone for a business model around my musical life. I did how-ever, if only for reasons of ambition, wanted to do things right! So, a few dedicated video channels soon became my guidance and source of inspiration. This clear commitment one day resulted in a personal invitation by YouTube headquarters in Amsterdam for both Anja and myself to learn to understand this social platform better.

The queen of this project: my Clavichord

I love my clavichord more than I can describe in words. There is a clear fire escape plan in my head in case our house for some rea-son should catch fire. First wake Anja, my wife, take the kids out-side and then immediately go in and bring the clavichord outside. Just to tell how much it influenc-

es my daily life. As many beautiful instruments as Joris Potvlieghe has built since and before, many of which I have had the privileged to play (sometimes even offering them shelter within my home) there is only one number 35. Mine.

Let me tell you first how I got that instrument. It was totally by acci-dent. Early 2008, I visited some Belgian organ builders, to prepare a first contract with a selection committee for the building of a large organ in Contius’ style in Leuven, a project for which I was and still am project manager. One of the names on our short list was Joris Potvlieghe, someone I had heard about quite a lot, but never met in person. So, one Sunday afternoon, I had coffee with him in his beauti-ful 19th c. house, and not long after that, he invited me to come to the ‘clavichord-room’ and try one of his latest instruments. Of course, I politely refused to try it out, as the clavichord was a complete stranger


to me in spite of my eight years of education in Amsterdam. The only thing I knew for sure about that instrument was that it had a name of being extremely difficult to play upon. So, the last thing I wanted to do, was to make a fool out of myself in front of the organ builder Joris Potvlieghe. I was visiting as project manager of an important organ project! But Joris can be enormously persistent in a way that is hard to describe... so five minutes later I played the first bars of a Haydn Sonata. That initial contact with the keys of a clavichord changed my life forever. On our way home, I looked to Anja and without one word, she nodded her head and made a sign to pull the car over. ‘Call him, right now’, she said, ‘I know you, you wouldn’t sleep’.

And what is a man to resist the perseverance of his wife? So, I called. And six months later, I played the inauguration concert on my n°35 in Sint-Truiden, in the Imperial Hall, the same room where I would record Beethoven’s Pathetique five years later


The type of clavichord I play

My instrument is an unfretted cla-vichord, built by the Belgian organ/clavichord builder Joris Potvlieghe in the Saxon style. Joris does make copies of historical instruments, but his main body of work is not related to a specific instrument, but more to a general style. In other words: he builds instruments as an 18th century builder possibly could have done. Perhaps a very “historic” ap-

proach in itself; in any case similar to the way we, as performers, play historic music. We lack the original performances of course, and therefore we rely solely upon the score and our interpretation of it.

Saxony was one of the great areas of German music, much related to the Bach family. It is difficult to date this instrument, since so few unfretted clavichords of the first half of the 18th c. are preserved (or few were built, I believe it was a costly, elite instrument back then), but it is safe to say that the clavichord I own could be dated as a reflection of what was available around 1745-1765.

About the clavichord in the 18th century

‘He loved to play the most on clavi-chord’, J.N. Forkel probably quotes C.P.E. Bach in what was the first biogra-phy of J.S. Bach in 1802. Forkel would deserve a huge statue in the research and preservation on the life and works of J.S. Bach. He was close to C.P.E. Bach, as the preserved letters of the master show. Moreover, based on the cases where we can put the original letters of C.P.E. Bach next to quotes in Forkel’s biography, he was very truthful concerning the information he received. Many details of Bach’s life we owe to him and, in general, for the immense musicologist work he did, Forkel is considered to be the founder of modern musicology today.


And yet, that one quote, which makes such perfect sense to those who know and play the clavichord, is so often reject-ed with passion. It would take too far in this introduction to dig deeper into the subject, but one point is clear to me, that the

coming decades will show much more “evidence” (as much as I find evidence uninteresting) on the importance of the clavichord in the 1st and 2nd half of the 18th c. With this one side remark, that the clavichord is most related to the German areas.

So, playing J.S. Bach on clavichord, is not as much an experiment as it is a (my) reflection of the daily practice of that time. Today, we consider the clavichord “only” as a “study” instrument, to pave the way to the harpsichord, but there is no evidence at all that that was the case. On the contrary, as C.P.E. Bach points out, a true key-board player can only be recognised when playing on a clavichord. The word “study” (Übung), in my opinion, should be connected to e.g. terms like J.S. Bach used in his own series of the “Clavier Übung”, where the word “Übung” does not mean to study (practice) in our modern sense, but an achievement of the highest possible skill as a musician. It is in that context, I believe, that the clavichord was used, also by J.S. Bach, and probably even pushed for by J.S. Bach and it is in that context I use my instrument day in day out. Again, there is so little that can be ‘proven’, but the recent and up-coming articles of Joris Potvlieghe on J.S. Bach and the clavichord (published in Clavi-chord International), makes it hard to deny what appears to be ev-ident. The 18th c. was looking for expression in all forms and ways, and the perfect key-board instrument to achieve that was ... the clavichord.


Fretted until probably the end of the 17th c., there had to be a deter-mining factor to enlarge these instruments to unfretted instruments, where each pair of strings only served one key. Tuning had to do a lot with it, without doubt, something we could spend some pages on, and thus the clavichord was expanded, basically to a new instrument. This is meaningful, in a way, as the harpsichord, of course, already delivered the free strings needed for contemporary literature; but not all aspects maybe the top musician’s of that time were going to.

This is also true of the later music. Unfretted clavichords were pro-duced increasingly in the second half of the 18th c. For instance, Mo-zart owned several clavichords since his father was one of the main sellers of Friederici clavichords (pointed by many -also in history- as one of the most important clavichord builders and by the way, much related to my type of instrument.) But Beethoven also knew the clavi-chord well. Certainly this is so through his teacher (G. Neefe in Bonn), who also was a selling point for Friederici instruments. Haydn even ordered a large unfretted clavichord as late as 1794.

But! This is not said to deny the fact that the world, at that time, was moving to a new era; that of the pianoforte. Not so soon as we think today. Mozart only acquired his first pianoforte in 1782, so on what instruments did he play before? There can be many assump-tions about the clavichord, as evident as it is, yet it is not often men-tioned in today’s “main stream” research. But, of course, there still was the harpsichord, mostly in use for ‘Starken Musik’- or: orchestral music –as C.P.E. Bach writes. But denying that the pianoforte would take over the elite performances of the Viennese musical scene, as the unfretted clavichord probably did in the early 18th c. for the likes of J.S. Bach, would be the same as denying the sunlight. Certainly, Beethoven opens new perspectives in an unbelievable way. Playing his first sonatas is like missing one generation both in expression and technique from Mozart’s latest works. But still, the classic technique, with the closed hand, the firm contact between finger and key and the not essential use of the sustaining pedal, are elements that show that even Beethoven, up to his Waldstein Sonata was full of signs of that 18th c. tradition. And on a good clavichord, that music works so well... visualising the bridge with earlier music of the likes of C.P.E. Bach. It just makes so much sense (to me). As it makes sense that a


good clavichord is an extremely difficult task for an instrument builder. Not only for the ones we know today, but it must have always been the case. J. Adlung, one of the most important sources on instrument building, and acquainted with J.S. Bach, wrote in 1726 that even an exceptional builder cannot guarantee the outcome of an instrument. And that the cheaper instruments are not better than to lit a fire with to bake fish upon... This all adds to the mysterious qualities of that se-ductive instrument that, once it has the power of its performer, opens a world that sometimes appears to be a new dimension, even a new universe. I hope you feel that with me....!

I can only hope that this beautiful instrument will stay in my life for a long time, and that it can serve as a sensitive translator of the beauty its player tries to deliver...


The hundred

recordings


Link: https://youtu.be/CeHYzoy3jDU

RECORDING N°1

Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 880 (WK II)

Date:

01.02.2014

Timing:

6:23


If you would think the video quality of the first videos is quite... well... a bit black to say only this, you might reconsider when you would have seen the real first attempts for the first recording. I am really, far too embarrassed to share that video with you, but apart from being totally out of focus, you would immediately understand why I shifted from daylight to almost pitch black. Can you imagine how a house with two small children and a daddy as me looks like...?

So, one 34 euro Ikea light seemed to be THE solution to fix all those prob-lems. In a way, it did...but I believe the upgrades we introduced made sense, however lighting is a constant source of concern. Unwanted shadows, not enough focus, demanding too much dynamic range from the cameras etc. And for the time being, don’t think too highly of the lighting upgrade: instead of with one, today we work with five Ikea lights .


RECORDING N°2

Johann Sebastian Bach PRELUDE & FUGUE IN F MAJOR BWV 882 (WK II)

Date:

02.02.2014

Timing:

8:22

Link: https://youtu.be/_1R3UemmK0A


Link: https://youtu.be/eNP8Hz5JhF4

Date:

04.02.2014

Timing:

20:16

RECORDING N°3

Ludwig van Beethoven SONATA IN E FLAT MAJOR OPUS 27/1


The clavichord as “tool” for the music of Beethoven may sound surprising to some. However, Beethoven knew the 18th century unfretted clavichord very well, as far back as his lessons with Neefe in Bonn. Of course, Vienna was a modern city of music and the pianoforte became more and more dominant, leaving other keyboard instruments behind, definitely from early 19th century on, but still, the other instruments were still very much present in daily musical live.

Moreover, until about 1800 , most keyboard music was composed for “cla-vier”, which could be about any instrument available. Given the fact that each type of keyboard instrument has its own sound and character, it gives much possibilities for the musician to work with this music, almost as an organist who chooses his registers in function of his instrument, mood, etc..


Link: https://youtu.be/439qKg9R8-M

Date:

05.02.2014

Timing:

15:46

RECORDING N°4

Johann Sebastian Bach CHROMATIC FANTASY & FUGUE BWV 903


J.S.Bach wrote the chromatic fantasy probably around 1720, the year in which his first wife died. You could assume that this is a kind of “lamento” piece, dedicated to his beloved wife.

Not too much is known about the history of this intriguing piece of music, but the fugue probably is not conceived at the same time, but still during Bach’s lifetime at least in one copy (if I am right here just digging in the information in my head), that has been made before 1750.

Interesting with this fantasy is the fact that Bach prescribed dynamic marks, p and f. Often played at the harpsichord (sometimes to great effect), it is impossible to make the prescribed dynamic differences by changing from manual 1 to manual 2. I think there is no question about the fact that this fan-tasy is pure clavichord music, adding to the drama of the music the intense expression of this intimate instrument.

The clavichord was, as we know through Forkel, Bach’s preferred key-board instrument (I talk about this in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Vms7UFiXY&list=UU8vR6VP-3o_SpdnEBrpYGiQ).

But in general, it is safe to state that most solo keyboard music was meant to be played at the clavichord. The harpsichord was used at larger occa-sions, where orchestra was involved (Starken Music), or keyboard concerti, not for playing the more difficult and complicated pieces, as this one, or the well-tempered clavier, or the partita’s, ...


Link: https://youtu.be/CzAf7c0BQbY

Date:

06.02.2014

Timing:

23:18

RECORDING N°5

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart SONATA IN A MINOR KV 310

Allegro maestoso – Andante cantabile - Presto


In this video, I play one of the most well known sonata’s of W.A.Mozart. Their seems to be a bit of discussion of the exact date of composition, but it is either end of the ‘70 or early ‘80ties. Still patiently waiting for my Fritz pianoforte for early 2015, I choose the clavichord to render this piece. That might sounds a bit weird to some of you, but imagine that Mozart at those days or did not have a pianoforte yet, or was only about having one... on what instruments did he play? Well, that’s hard to say, and certainly worth spending a vlog on. But it is for sure that he was an experienced clavichord (clavier) player. His father being an official seller of the famous Friederici clavi-chords (more or less like the one I play), Mozart, as all 18th century keyboard players, was very familiar with the instrument, and must have loved as his colleagues who did write their experiences down, the large amount of ex-pression this instrument offers.

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