These clavichord pieces reveal Joseph Haydn and C P E Bach in what seems like their most private, intimate moments. Listening to them played by Tomoko Miyamoto in this CD, it is almost as if their innermost thoughts and even fantasies are being expressed for the first time. This is the magic of the clavichord, an instrument perfectly suited for intimate gatherings or solo practice. It is also the magic of Tomoko Miyamoto, who has had a lifelong love affair with the clavichord ever since she first touched its keys. On this CD an astonishing range of emotion is heard, from carefree abandon to lonely pensiveness, back to giddy delight, doubt, and triumph. The conventional view of Haydn as a plodding court musician has long ago been disposed of by piano performances by Alfred Brendel and others, but here is yet more proof of a deep soulfulness heretofore ’concealed’, as the CD cover puts it. The clavichord of course pre-dates the pianoforte, but this CD really opens up a whole new world of music.
In the booklet accompanying the CD, Tomoko Miyamoto writes in both English and Japanese that the organ is perforce a public instrument. (She has also recorded a CD of organ pieces, available here：
http：//www.gothic-catalog.com/Tomoko_Miyamoto_s/629.htm )
Not only does the organ require a Gothic cathedral, or at least a concert hall, and the services of several assistants, but it is essentially an entire orchestra. The pianoforte, too, often (though not always) aspires to encompass an orchestral fullness of sound. Not so the clavichord. Its sound is made for drawing-rooms and for the secret apartments of the soul. Today’s listeners craving a few private moments, whether at home, in their cars or between continents somewhere 30,000 feet in the air, can find them with this superb CD of clavichord pieces.
