Like paradise
Excursion to Hamburg by Prof. Bernhard Klapprott's harpsichord classes
Twelve students from Prof. Bernhard Klapprott's harpsichord classes at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar and the University of the Arts Bremen met in Hamburg: During an excursion from November 24 to 27, they explored original harpsichords, clavichords, and fortepianos from the 16th to 18th centuries in the famous Beurmann Collection at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe. Lessons with Prof. Klapprott, an introduction by the curator of the collection, Olaf Kirsch, and opportunities to practice filled the days. A joint concert on November 27 as part of the museum's event series marked the end of the trip.
For the students, it was “like a stay in paradise,” as could be heard from their enthusiastic comments. Instruments that instrument makers from all over the world make pilgrimages to study and replicate were available for several days. It was particularly exciting to musically experience the different original sound characteristics of the individual harpsichords in connection with the touch and feel of playing them, and to take this as inspiration for the corresponding repertoire.
The collection of historical keyboard instruments at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, which consists largely of a donation from the Hamburg collector Prof. Dr. Andreas Beurmann, is in remarkably good condition and playable, not least thanks to careful restoration. Before the excursion began, a few selected musical treasures were prepared and tuned by the museum's restorer.
The concert program of the Weimar and Bremen classes offered a cross-section of parts of the harpsichord repertoire, matching some of the instruments. First, the oldest harpsichord in the collection, dating from around 1540 and originating from Italy, was played with works by Girolamo Frescobaldi, William Byrd, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, and John Bull. An 18th-century Flemish harpsichord by the German-born Johann Daniel Dulcken was particularly suited to works by Johann Sebastian Bach due to its special transparency.
The second part of the program featured French music from the 17th and 18th centuries. Unique to this collection is the coexistence of a French harpsichord from the 17th century and one from the 18th century, which together can optimally reproduce a large part of the French harpsichord repertoire. The students took full advantage of this by playing works by Louis Couperin, Marin Marais, Jean-Henri d'Anglebert, François Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, and Claude Balbastre.
Last but not least, a work from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Hamburg period, played on the 1788 clavichord by Joseph Gottfried Horn of Dresden, rounded off the program. Packed with valuable experiences and surely with a variety of wonderful sounds in their ears, the students left the Hanseatic city inspired and delighted.
[2 December 2025]