Barbara Harbach is a modern American woman with a passion for an archaic European musical instrument. For her, I wrote my quirky harpsichord suite, an improbable blending of Baroque music with the Blues.

The suite’s Prelude develops two ideas: the rising, Bach-like, arpeggiated chord you’ll hear right off the bat and a Blues-y descending figure — C - Bflat - G - Fsharp — that appears a bit later.

This faint echo of the Blues persists throughout this little piece, giving it a contemporary feel that is pleasantly at odds with the antique plucking sounds of the harpsichord.

How to title such a piece? “Suite in C?” Too pale for such a colorful blend of styles. It occurred to me to name the piece for Barbara herself. I came up with “Harbachsichord,” a rich mix of puns.

Like the suite itself, the title brings together “Harbach” and “harpsichord.” Or it could be understood as “harpsichord” with “Bach” inserted into the middle. It can be slightly mis-read as “Harbach’s chord” referring to the four-note fragment of the Blues scale mentioned above. Or mis-read or mis-heard as “Hard Bach’s chord,” referring to JSB’s grouchy personality … and/or the technical difficulty of playing his music … and/or the virtuosity required to master this cranky keyboard instrument.

Ms. Harbach's reaction? She declared herself amused by the title and liked the piece well enough to premier it and record it. What’s more, she later asked me to write a flute-and-harpsichord sonata for her, which I did. A composer cannot ask for a better response than that!

To hear Barbara Harbach’s recording of the Prelude from Harbachsichord Suite, click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score for the Prelude, click on the link above.

To hear Barbara playing the "Theme & Variations," click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.

Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
Nov. 29, 2015