The Fitzwilliam Festival Taiwan, the first harpsichord festival in the country, was held from Sunday last week to yesterday.
On the opening day of the event, four harpsichord solo performances were held at Garden91 on Yangmingshan (陽明山) in Taipei.
Dutch multi-instrumentalist Pieter-Jan Belder, as well as two Taiwanese and one Japanese harpsichordists, performed songs from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, a collection of scores from the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods.
Photo courtesy of Alice Sheu
The festival was organized by harpsichordist Alice Sheu (許舒堯), one of the Taiwanese performers, who said her aim was to make the music of the period more widely known among Taiwanese.
The collection of English music from the late Renaissance and early Baroque was transcribed by Francis Tregian in about 1610 and consists of nearly 300 scores, she said.
Richard Fitzwilliam acquired the manuscripts in the 19th century and founded the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, to house the collection, she added.
Photo courtesy of Alice Sheu
The manuscripts are in good condition, she said, adding that the songs are “from the pinnacle of harpsichord music development in the early 17th century.”
Further activities of the festival were held at the National Taiwan University Center for the Arts in Taipei from Wednesday to yesterday.
Belder joined up with the Gleam Ensemble Taiwan on Wednesday to perform chamber music from the 16th century.
Sheu gave a speech on Thursday to introduce keyboard instruments, and Taiwanese harpsichordist Joyce Chen (陳瑋若) performed on Friday.
Yesterday’s program included a talk featuring Belder and broadcast host Wu Chia-heng (吳家恆), and solo performances by Sheu, Tsai Chia-hsuan (蔡家璇) and Belder.
Additional reporting by CNA
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