MPR’s Connie Goldman talks with Steven Rumph, Canadian harpsichordist, who is touring in the Twin Cities. As part of his visit, Rumph stops by a Robbinsdale school to give lecture-demonstration on virginal and harpsichord to 5 and 6-year-olds.
Rumpf discusses the difference between the virginal and harpsichord. He uses two instruments because he plays a lot of early music before 1650, and uses old system of tuning called mean tone temperament. Rumpf says there’s more interest in Early Music than there used to be.
Segment includes music elements.
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[MUSIC PLAYING] CONNIE GOLDMAN: Stephen Rumpf is a Canadian harpsichordist that's visiting Minneapolis. He gave what is known as a lecture demonstration on the virginal and harpsichord to 5- and 6-year-olds at the School of the Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale. I spoke with him after the class was over. Do you very often go to grade schools, like today, and demonstrate for students an instrument they may never have heard?
STEPHEN RUMPF: No, I don't. In fact, this is the first time. When I do have classes, it's usually in the form of some sort of a quote master class. And it's for people who have already had instruction. And I give what few insights I may have into their playing and try to help them that way.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: How do you think you did with five-year-olds today?
STEPHEN RUMPF: Well, I don't know. [LAUGHS] I think it went over OK. [LAUGHS]
CONNIE GOLDMAN: They're a tough audience.
STEPHEN RUMPF: Yes, they are. It's difficult because I don't want to speak over their heads. And yet I want them to get to know the instrument as much as possible in the few minutes that we have.
SPEAKER 1: Well, I've heard those two songs before. I've always heard them.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Have you?
SPEAKER 1: But in a different tune.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Have any of you heard a harpsichord before?
SPEAKER 1: I have.
SPEAKER 2: I have.
SPEAKER 1: Sounds like to me is a piano.
SPEAKER 2: Sounds like a guitar.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: What does it sound like to you?
SPEAKER 3: A harp.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Is a virginal a baby harpsichord?
STEPHEN RUMPF: A baby harpsichord, in a way, one could say that, yes. But it's strung horizontally rather than vertically. And the sound is more strident. It's less legato, technically, than a harpsichord. So that's the primary difference. I use two instruments because I play a lot of early music, music before 1650. And I use the old system of tuning called meantone temperament. And in the harpsichord, I'm able to use the more modern system for the works of Bach and the French Baroque composers.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Are you a rare breed? Or are there lots of harpsichordists and virginalists running around?
STEPHEN RUMPF: Not too many in this area, I don't think. But there's quite an interest in early music. And quite a lot of keyboard people are becoming more interested in it. And moreover, the audiences are becoming very interested. It's something a bit new, but very, very old. And it's a tradition that I like to carry on.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: What is the value of this particular instrument, this virginal?
STEPHEN RUMPF: This particular instrument is around $2,000. You can buy a kit and make it yourself, anywhere from $250, on up to a large harpsichord, which may run around $5,000.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: I assume you have to have some amount of knowledge and skill to put it together yourself.
STEPHEN RUMPF: Yes, indeed. As a matter of fact, my harpsichord was a kit, but it was put together by a good builder. So it's turned out to be a fine instrument. But you have to have a basic knowledge of woodwork. That's the primary thing. And the instructions are all given. And it takes anywhere from 6 to 12 months to do a nice job.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Do you think audiences are beginning to understand this kind of music? It's something that one rarely hears, unless you're that particular kind of a record collector.
STEPHEN RUMPF: Well, I think that they are. For instance, On this tour, at least so far, I've attracted large audiences. Some of them probably have never heard a harpsichord and have come more out of curiosity. There's also been an influx of harpsichord music in the pop world too, the Tom Jones theme and so forth. And it's used in commercials quite a lot these days. I'm not commercial, so I stick strictly to the classical forms. And there's a great interest in the period of the Baroque and of the Renaissance in general, in the lifestyle, in the thinking, in the habits, in the paintings, as we see in this marvelous little library here. I have hopes. [LAUGHS]
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Stephen Rumpf, music of the 16th and 17th century played on the virginal and harpsichord, in recital, Monday night at 8:00, Church of the Sacred Heart, 41st in West Broadway and Robbinsdale, admission free. I'm Connie Goldman.
[MUSIC PLAYING]