What's New on Early Music Studio's Website

February 2010

• A Bouquet of Elizabethan Ballad Tunes--four pieces arranged for 7-course lute, by Dowland and Byrd, have been added to the tablatures
• New instruments and sound samples added to Instruments for Sale. The instruments are: a Spanish Baroque guitar, a terz guitar, a 7-course bass lute, an 11-course early baroque lute, a 6-course Renaissance lute, and a German-style 13-course baroque lute.
• The London Erard 1867 is sold to a happy buyer from Illinois.
  
  January 2010
  
  Recent additions to the tablatures include new additions to the volume of Czech lute music (Dix, Jelinek), a collated suite by Johann Anton Logy, and Six Sonatas paraphrased for the Six-Course guitar (playable on the modern classical guitar) in modern guitar tablature. Music by Soler, Rodriguez, Mateo Albeniz and Scarlatti's K. 208. These versions are considerably easier to play than most modern transcriptions of these pieces and far easier to read. A Foreword essay contains information about the music, the tablature, and a discussion of the guitar's music in the 18th century. There's a picture of my new Pages six-course guitar, too.

November 2009

• Three new multi-movement works from the 18th century have been added to the tablatures: a suite in A major by Aureo Dix (died c. 1720) of Prague, a suite by Benedictine monk and organist in G major tuning by Ivan Jelinek of Brno, and a three movement Sonata for 13-course lute by Karl Kohaut, a Czech who worked in Vienna. The latter is a delightful and challenging work in the style of Haydn, while the Dix and Jellinek, for 11-course lute, are tuneful and interesting works of moderate difficulty.
• Two new instruments, a 7-course bass lute in D built in 1991, and a terz guitar (in G), built in 1997 have been added to the Instruments for Sale. The Cocho five-course guitar has been sold to a happy new owner in Japan.
• The Big Bach Lutebook is now complete with the addition of the C major Violin Sonata BWV 1005. Give that 355 measure Fuga a try. It is truly a masterpiece.

November 2009

• The Big Bach Lutebook in three volumes, BWV 995-1012 has been added to the Tablatures page.
  
  
• "Beethoven's Piano: The 200th Anniversary of a Great Instrument. Concert Nov. 7 at the Kelowna Art Gallery. Susan Adams plays music by Beethoven and Haydn on an 1809 Broadwood Grand. see Concert Info page
  
  
• Two Baroque Guitars and an Erard Grand piano added to the Instruments for Sale page

July 2007

• The inaugural concert of the 1809 Broadwood grand pianoforte has been set for November 4 2007 at 7:30. See a complete press release and photo essay about the restoration on the Concert Info page.
  

December 2006

• A new Testimonials page has been added, in which we convey our customer's comments about downloads and instruments they have purchased.

November 2006

• Streamling of the Instrument Gallery, which now includes supersizeable photos, high quality sound samples for each instrument, and an accompanying essay--all on one page.

October 2006

• A new button on the main menu, Concert Info, gives visitors detailed information about the time, date and content of Early Music Studio's Kelowna concert series.

September 2006

• Fall Newsletter: The Broadwood Restoration in Photos, a filmstrip of images collected from the 14 month restoration of a Broadwood grand, no. 4553 from 1809, restored by Marinus van Prattenburg for the Early Music Studio keyboard collection.

May 2006

• The Italian Package: Susan Adams plays Italian-influenced music by Arne, Bach, Scarlatti and Byrd on an Italian harpsichord after an anonymous instrument at the Smithsonian by John Secker (see photo gallery on Period Instruments). Also available as individual downloads on the main list.
• "The Titmuss Papers", a collection of essays of genealogical interest about the Titmuss family, compiled and edited by Maurice Titmuss.
• A 1913 Steinway B, Serial No. 163818, completely restored, renovated, rebuilt and re-finished by Marinus van Prattenburg is added to the Instruments for Sale page. Contact Marinus directly at 250-767-2300, or through his website, www.earlypianos.com.

April 2006

• We are always looking at ways to improve the presentation and service of our boutique website. We recently designed theme-oriented packages of downloads that we feel reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed by too many choices.
  
  Rather than having to make a selection from a bewildering array of music, we pre-selected assemblies of music that we feel goes together.
  
  Each of the packages is about 30 to 35 minutes in length and any of the pieces may be auditioned in a sample, as with the main list. The packages are ideal for loading up your MP3 player with unique music with little fuss, and the cost is very competitive.
  
  The price is $9.99 CAD, c. $8.62 USD, 7.09 Euros, 4.94 GBP, 1007.23 Japanese Yen, 68.61 Chinese Yuan.
  
  The titles of the packages are:

1. The Romantic: Slow melody that moves you
2. Elegant Entertaining: Doesn't intrude, but you know it's there
3. Commuting or Travelling: Ceaseless motion, but somehow calming
4. Relaxing: Melodic emphasis, falling motion, slow harmony
   
5. For Students: Frequently requested pieces, études, music that teaches
6. Harpsichord Lover's Choice: Often played and requested, showing off the sound
7. Lute Lover's Choice: Often played and requested, virtuoso works
8. Piano Lover's Choice: Music that flatters the piano's unique voice
9. Mourning and Remembering: The Tombeau is a traditional lamentation piece among composers for the lute and harpsichord.
10. Music for the Brain: Contrapuntal pieces that work like musical puzzles-find the subject.

• Another new feature is a photo collage and "twenty questions" on the About Us page, with lots of embarrassing publicity photographs from the early years of the Early Music Studio.
• The Spring Newsletter continues the story of the restoration of the 1809 Broadwood grand, with an account of French polishing and a letter to a beginning lute student.
  

January 2006

• January/February Newsletter: Restoring the 1809 Broadwood; Restoring a 1966 Hans Jordan theorboed head lute; Recording Vihuela Music. See the Newsletter Archive to view.
• Mp3 Titling: In recognition of the fact that this month Apple announced that it has to date sold 43 million iPod media/mp3 players, our 128 kbps mp3 downloads are now tagged with title, artist, composer, genre, recording date, album title, and complete notes as they appear on our website.
  

December 2005

• Ten masterpieces for vihuela by Narvaez, Milan and Mudarra added to the Downloads.
• This music was recorded on one of the new vihuelas, on the Instruments For Sale page.
• Recorded at St. Joseph's-in-the-Vineyard in Penticton, B.C. by producer/composer/pianist Stu Goldberg (www.stugoldberg.com).

November 2005

• Little Red Hat conveys seasonal greeting!
• New Visitor/Customer Survey; Win a free CD!
• Early Music Store Button clearly describes our products

September 2005

• October/November Newletter, The Broadwood Story, Building Vihuelas, Bechy's Facelift
• Six-course vihuela by Clive Titmuss added to instruments for sale, with description and photographs
• Photo essay Building Vihuelas, under Period Instruments
• Pieces in B minor from the Prague MS KK80, a typeset "facsimile" of the orginal, with a foreword, edited by Clive Titmuss

August 2005:

• New Homepage with new look, animation and improved indexing buttons. The image on the upper left is a new 11-course lute, May 2005 by Clive Titmuss.

• Build Your Own CD feature. Select up to 65 minutes of tracks you like. If you choose more music a second CD will automatically start. We'll write a customized and labelled CD and mail it to you. Use our convenient and secure online PayPal payment option.

• Buy CDs feature. Buy three of our CDs with booklet, jewel case, cover art and accompanying photos of artists and instruments.

• Free Featured Download. Every few months we feature a new item.

• Premium Samples for each category, Lute and Guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Music for Two. Higher resolution 160 kps, 60 second sample.

• Higher quality and longer samples for each piece.

• Notes are incorporated into the list, so you can read while sampling. Your browsing location on the list of samples is automatically bookmarked

• FAQ page that answers your questions about downloading, our instruments and many other subjects.
  

New in February 2005:

• Ordres (Suites) 21, 23 and 25 by François Couperin, French Suite No. 5 in G major by J. S. Bach, played on a double-manual French harpsichord by F. Hubbard of Boston, 1980

• Suites in C minor and F minor by Esias Reusner played on an 11-course lute modelled after Pietro Raillich, Venice 1640's

• Suites in C major and F major by Esias Reusner played on an 11-course lute modelled after Martin Hofmann, Leipzig 1690's, Reusner suites from Delititiae Testitudinis (1667). Both lutes made by Clive Titmuss

• Music for Antique Classical Guitar: Pavane pour une Infante Défunte by Maurice Ravel, Homenaje: Tombeau pour Claude Debussy by Manuel de Falla, Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega, played on a Stauffer-style adjustable action guitar by Hermann Hauser, Munich, 1922.

• New photographs of the instruments used for the music on the site, with accompanying essays about them, their musical characteristics, historical and technical descriptions. Photos by Kyle Poirier.

• Detailed programme notes about all the music on the site.
  
  

New in January, 2005

• A newsletter subscription sign-up, news about the artists, instruments, recording, listening, music in general.
  
  

New in November 2004:

• 160 Pages of Lute, Theorbo and Vihuela/Guitar Tablatures of music by J. S. Bach (including arrangements of the six suites for cello), S. L. Weiss, Venegas de Henestrosa, Louis Couperin, Georg Muffat, Dietrich Buxtehude. The music is edited, intabulated and arranged by Clive Titmuss.

New in October 2004:

• Sonata in E-flat by J. C. Bach, Sonata in E-flat by J. Haydn, Six Variations on an Allegretto by W. A. Mozart. Played on a Viennese fortepiano after Stein by Johannes Secker, 1996