About Colin Booth

Colin has been a harpsichordist and harpsichord-maker for more than 30 years.

As a maker:

He has sold around 300 instruments worldwide, and can point to an unusually large proportion of these sales, to Early Music professionals, and harpsichordists in particular. The playing qualities of his instruments have an edge over those of many makers, due to his sensitivity as a player, to touch and response.

Customers include :

Recent commissions include a 2-manual harpsichord after the French original of 1681 by Antoine Vaudry, for Trinity College of Music, London (2006) and an Italian harpsichord for harpsichordist Richard Lester.

As a player:

After initial training as a pianist and organist, he studied with Colin Tilney. He has played in countries from Denmark to South Africa, as soloist, continuo-player, and director. He has given live concerts for Denmark Radio, and recorded incidental music for British Independent Television. He also teaches in his own area of South-West England, and is a regular contributor to the Dartington International Summer
School.

In 1991 Colin founded Soundboard Records. The aim of this specialist label was unashamedly to reach a wider audience through his playing. To date, eight CDs of solo harpsichord music have been released.

As an Author:

Classes held at Dartington over a decade, have led to a handbook for all players of  early repertoire, Did Bach Really Mean That? – deceptive notation in Baroque Keyboard Music. This is due for publication during 2010.

Further information about the book:

The language of music is like any other language. Communication between one person and another depends upon mutually agreed meanings. Composers strive to communicate to performers what they hear in their own heads, and over the centuries, the notation which they use has become ever more complex and specific.

In the age of the Baroque, notation was dependent upon conventions, which, at the time, were generally understood by both composer and performer. Today, this link of common understanding has often been lost. If we approach the score left by a composer of the 18th century in a literal manner, we may be only getting part of the message, or in some cases the message may be a false one.

Colin Booth’s book systematically elucidates the most important of these conventions. For players of all keyboard instruments – pianists, organists, clavichordists, and harpsichordists - the insights this provides will not constrain performers; on the contrary, they will bring a deeper understanding of the music, and a liberating confidence to go beyond the surface message of the notation, and to produce a performance with freedom and emotive force. 

After several years of lectures at Dartington Summer School, Colin received many requests for the subject matter to be available in print. After a further ten years (!) this work is finally about to achieve publication. Much of the specialist knowledge concerning the mysterious world of musical notation in the Baroque age, and the conventions which underlie it, is only available to today’s musicians from specialist teachers. Colin’s book aims to bridge that gap.

It has already received these plaudits:

David Titterington is an organist of worldwide reputation, and professor at London’s Royal Academy of Music:
" This book is a 'must read' for all musicians. Booth writes with a rare combination of learning and intuitiveness, practical insight and a clarity of reasoned argument that can only inspire. His elegant prose and apposite illustration make it a joy to read.”

Colin Tilney os one of the world’s most respected harpsichordists, now resident in Canada:
“Colin Booth’s guide to deceptive notation will be invaluable. The book’s countless musical examples, drawn from an unexpectedly wide range of sources, are examined step by step for any vital message they may hide beneath their bland surface. This is a book that will tidily fill an almost unnoticed gap between ordinary, moderately informed teaching of Baroque music, and those studies aimed at the already expert.”

Stephen Kovacevich is one of the world’s leading pianists, now living in London:
“The author’s research is overwhelming. Provided the reader is prepared to roll up his or her sleeves, this book gives the performer a wealth of information in a practical and non-didactic way, which will benefit all keyboard-players –  pianists included”

To receive details of publication-date and price, email colin@harpsichords.demon.co.uk