Wednesday, January 12, 2011

A cut above YouTube

Steffan Fahl's website with (re)sampled performances of historical piano music has some remarkable material, most notably a complete set of Haydn piano sonatas whose sound is sampled from Malcolm Bilson playing a period fortepiano. There are just three short Schubert files and they are bizarre enough to be interesting: go to Klassik-resampled. The instrument is identified as an "Orphica," a portable keyboard from 1798 and quite possibly of a type that Schubert never played. The sound, as one would one expect, leaves quite a bit to be desired -- rather thin, especially in the upper register. One wonders why Fahl made this unlikely choice, but at least he did keep the tempo down, a rarity in Schubert dance performances (or almost any music of that period).

The pieces are not identified. They are from D. 783: no. 2, no. 10, and no. 15 (mislabelled as no. 12 on the website).