Young Syn by ALLWOOD (@young_syn_allwood)

Before Bach, there was Buxtehude. Dieterich Buxtehude was born around 1637, probably in Helsingborg, which was part of Denmark then and is in Sweden today. He became organist at St. Mary’s Church in Lübeck, where his playing and his Abendmusiken made him famous. These evening concerts brought…

Offerings to the harpsichord gods!🙏 Rameau published L’Égyptienne in 1728 in his Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin. It’s one of his most theatrical keyboard pieces: restless, brilliant, rhythmically charged, and full of rapid hand-crossing and repeated-note gestures. The title means “The…

Don’t f… with Bach 😭 In 1717, he was set to face French virtuoso Louis Marchand in a keyboard duel, but Marchand reportedly left Dresden before the contest. 12 years earlier, in 1705, after Bach insulted a bassoonist’s playing, the musician confronted him with a stick, so Bach drew his sword…

Bach was brutally picky about instruments. In the 1730s, when Gottfried Silbermann showed him some of his early fortepianos, Bach reportedly complained that the action was too heavy and that the treble was too weak. Silbermann later refined the design, and by the 1740s Bach seems to have approved…

Handel’s G minor Suite on a Hubbard double after Pascal Taskin, one of the leading harpsichord makers of late-18th-century France and maker to the royal court. The instrument reflects the rich French harpsichord tradition of the 1760s–70s. Played at A=415 in Werckmeister III temperament, with…

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“La Florentine means ‘the Florentine woman.’ Couperin loved writing musical portraits, and many of his harpsichord pieces are named after women, personalities, and figures from French society, turning character and identity into music. #Harpsichord

Rameau’s Les Sauvages was inspired by Indigenous performers in Paris, but filtered through 18th-century French ideas of the “exotic.” A Baroque banger… and a window into colonial imagination #Rameau #Baroque #Harpsichord #EarlyMusic #ClassicalMusic

Sight-reading Bach fugues is always a humbling experience. According to early Bach biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Bach once claimed to a friend that he could play anything put before him at sight and without mistakes. The friend, apparently amused and skeptical, decided to test him. The next…

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665–1729) was one of the most remarkable musicians of the French Baroque. Born into a Parisian family of musicians and instrument makers, she was a child prodigy who performed for Louis XIV at a young age and soon became connected to the musical world of…

Marianna Martines was one of 18th-century Vienna’s most remarkable composers, keyboard virtuosos, and singers, admired by figures including Mozart and praised for her musical brilliance. Raised in Vienna under the mentorship of the poet Metastasio, she grew up in a household that became a…

Born in Poland and trained as a classical pianist in Warsaw and Berlin, Hania Rani has become one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary piano music. Her work blends minimalist piano writing with ambient, electronic, and cinematic textures, creating music that feels intimate, hypnotic, and…

Tōru Takemitsu (1930–1996) was a largely self-taught Japanese composer whose music bridges Japanese aesthetics and Western modernism. Influenced by figures like Debussy, Messiaen, and later John Cage, he became known for music shaped by timbre, silence, and atmosphere rather than traditional…

Written in 1985, György Ligeti’s Étude No. 8, Fém (“Metal”), is part of his groundbreaking piano études, a series that pushes rhythm, texture, and physical coordination to extremes through influences ranging from African polyrhythms to mechanical player pianos. #PianoMusic #ClassicalMusic #Ligeti…

Franz Schubert’s Six Moments musicaux, D. 780, Op. 94, were composed between roughly 1823 and 1828 and published only months before his death. Alongside the Impromptus, they became some of his most beloved piano works, blending intimate lyricism with remarkable harmonic and emotional depth within…

Can you tell this isn’t equal temperament? #musichistory #classicalmusic #organmusic #bach #baroque

My clavichord was built in 2014 by Yves Beaupré, modelled after a small triple-fretted instrument from 1760-1770. A=492Hz, Vallotti temperament. #Clavichord #Buxtehude #Bach

Happy to report my 2014 Yves Beaupré clavichord is worm-free. It’s tuned to A=492Hz in Vallotti temperament and modeled after a mid/late 18th-century Rosenau instrument, with the higher pitch accommodating the compact design and shorter strings. #Haydn #Clavichord #HistoricalKeyboard #EarlyMusic

My clavichord was built by Yves Beaupré and is modeled after an 18th-century Rosenau triple-fretted clavichord. It’s tuned high at A=492 in Vallotti temperament to accommodate the instrument’s compact size and shorter string lengths, while still allowing a clear and responsive touch. #clavichord…

Purple Haze as a fugue, played on a triple fretted clavichord built by Yves Beaupré in A 492 Vallotti. Scores are available for sale. Link in bio for all my Baroque arrangements. #PurpleHaze #Fugue #Clavichord #Baroque

Scarlatti’s Sonata K. 252 in E-flat major on my Yves Beaupré clavichord, tuned to A=492 in Vallotti temperament. The clavichord highlights the Iberian guitar-like figuration, rhythmic bite, and sharp accents built into the writing. #Scarlatti #Clavichord #Baroque #EarlyMusic #harpsichord

Bach on a DIY MIDI organ. Driving the Moog Matriarch, Grandmother, & Mother-32. #Bach #Moog #Matriarch #Grandmother #Mother32

Mozart family keyboard music, possibly by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Leopold Mozart. Written for his sister Maria Anna Mozart and meant for home performance. Hand-crossing + clavichord say it all. Instrument by Yves Beaupré. #mozart #nannerl #leopoldmozart #clavichord #earlymusic

Three manuals at once. Check the thumb. 👀 #organist #pipeorgan #classicalmusic #musiciansofinstagram #offertory

Mozart, but it’s a saloon. Clavichord vibes from a time when piano just started taking #Mozart #WesAnderson #Clavichord #Jazz

Mozart on clavichord for his birthday week. My keyboard tops out at C, so I played as much as I could. Yves Beaupré triple-fretted clavichord, A=492 Hz, Vallotti temperament. #Clavichord #Mozart #EarlyMusic #historicalkeyboard

If Stairway to Heaven was written by teenage Bach. Ground bass, Baroque drama. Clavichord by Yves Beaupré. #BaroqueTok #Clavichord #WTCCore #EarlyMusic

What if “Final Countdown” was a baroque fugue? Score and recordings for sale, link in bio! What should I turn into a fugue next? #Organ #Fugue #Bach #FinalCountdown