CLAVIERS | An imaginative journey through the history of the keyboard
AWE 2025 | Claviers
Monday 6 October, 7:30pm
Te Atamira, Queenstown
Our first Queenstown programme of AWE 2025 takes us on an imaginative journey through the history of the keyboard. In Claviers, the evolution from harpsichord to piano becomes both a historical and emotional narrative, shaped by two remarkable artists. This performance follows naturally from Barroco, the preceding programme presented at Rippon Hall, which focused on the vibrancy and theatricality of the Baroque. Claviers extends that exploration, tracing how the expressive world of early music evolves through the keyboard tradition.
Claviers begins with Erin Helyard, a leading Baroque specialist, and a series of works that capture the full colour and character of the harpsichord. From France, he performs two evocative miniatures by François Couperin: Les barricades mistérieuses, with its rhythmic sway and harmonic ambiguity, and Le Tic-Toc-Choc, a sparkling piece whose title evokes the mechanical whirl of a dance. Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les sauvages follows, bold and rhythmically charged, originally inspired by a performance of Native American dancers in Paris and full of imaginative flair.
From the English tradition comes Handel’s Harmonious Blacksmith, a set of variations that transform a simple tune into a virtuosic finale. Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata in E minor, restless and improvisatory in spirit, allows the harpsichord to speak in bold gestures. Finally, from Italy, Erin brings the earthy brilliance of Bernardo Storace’s Ciaconna, a hypnotic variation form built over a repeating bass line, pulsing with forward motion. The harpsichord section concludes with Antonio Vivaldi’s Cello Sonata No 7 in A minor, performed with James Bush, another Baroque specialist with whom Erin also partners in our earlier Wānaka programmes.
As the harpsichord gives way to the piano, the programme turns to Bach once more. It is at this point that the legendary Michael Houstoun takes his place at the piano and performs the Prelude and Fugue in A minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier - the full work being a central feature within his recent recording projects and to his enduring exploration of Bach’s music.
From Bach to the present day with Jupiter and Venus, a searching work by AWE’s Composer in Residence John Psathas. This marks a reunion of long-standing collaborators, John and Michael, whose partnership has spanned recordings, premieres and commissions. Jupiter and Venus is a wonderful reminder of how contemporary composers continue to draw inspiration from tradition, reimagining forms and textures in a modern language.
The programme closes with Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, a landmark of the piano repertoire and a piece that has greatly inspired John Psathas. This virtuosic and atmospheric work draws on poetry and myth and sits as a powerful counterpoint to the refined control of the earlier Baroque works. The contrast highlights not only the evolution of the keyboard but also the continuity of expression that flows across centuries.
During our free AWE+ event prior to Claviers, Erin Helyard will present a half hour introduction to the harpsichord. It’s a superb and rare opportunity to hear one of Australasia’s finest harpsichordists talk about their instrument and we do hope you’ll join Erin and us for this.