With her solo album Tasti ostinati, Eva-Maria Rusche explores the tonal and stylistic richness of historical keyboard instruments through the ostinato tradition – a musical structure long associated with variation, improvisation, and closely linked to dance music. Each piece on this recording is performed on a different instrument: lautenwerk, clavichord, fortepiano, square piano, two historical organs, two harpsichords, and even a Fender Rhodes bring the works to life in a wide range of tonal colours. The inherent idea of creative freedom in the use of ostinato is extended to the choice of instruments: alongside historically appropriate period instruments, anachronistic instrumentation is deliberately chosen whenever it serves the expressive needs and character of the music in a particularly fitting way. The selected works reflect stylistic and cultural variety, rhythmic vitality, and emotional depth – interpreted with stylistic sensitivity and expressive nuance.
Eva-Maria Rusche
www.evamariarusche.eu
Instruments:
1 Lautenwerk / lute-harpsichord: Max Doronin
2 Hammerflügel / fortepiano: J. Broadwood 1796 (by courtesy of Modartt)
3 Orgel / organ: Hatzfeld (Eder), Johann Christian Rindt 1706
4 Clavichord: Atelier tevja after Johann Heinrich Silbermann 1775
5 Cembalo / harpsichord: Christian Fuchs after Johannes Ruckers 1624
6 Tafelklavier / square piano: Eckehart Merzdorf
7 Lautenwerk / lute-harpsichord: Max Doronin
8 Cembalo / harpsichord: Christian Fuchs after anon. Rome ca. 1700
9 Orgel / organ: Schlosskapelle Mammern, anon./Kuhn ca. 1770/1987
0 Fender Rhodes & Upright Piano U4 (by courtesy of Modartt)
Tracks:
1. Pavana con su glosa 02:07
Antonio de Cabezón (1510-1566)
Libro de cifra nueva 1557 (Luis Venegas de Henestrosa)
2. 12 Variations über La Folie d'Espagne 07:54
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
H263 (Wq118/9)
3. Passacaglia 06:37
Johann Caspar Kerll (1627-1693)
Toccate, Canzoni, et altre Sonate, per sonare sopra il Cembalo o Organo 1676
4. Chaconne 04:44
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (c.1656-1746)
Musicalischer Parnassus
5. Pavanne Passemaize 02:39
Claude Gervaise (1525-1583)
Sixième Livre de Danceries (Pierre Attaingnant) 1555
Passomezo d’Italye
Pierre Phalèse (1510-1575)
Premier Livre de Danseries 1571
6. Partite sopra l’Aria della Romanesca 13:32
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
Toccate d'intavolatura di cimbalo et organo, Libro Primo 1637
7. The Bells 06:21
William Byrd (c.1540-1623)
T. 442, BK 38, FVB 69
8. Follia 04:44
Bernardo Storace (fl. 1664)
Selva di varie compositioni d'intavolatura per cimbalo ed organo 1664
9. Ciacona 03:58
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
P.40, T.202
10. Uppon la mi re 04:00
Anon./Thomas Preston (attr.) (?-c. 1563)
London British Library Add. 29996
