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"Harpsichord Music for a Thin Place" CD reviewed in the Huffington Post

Tue, 01 May 2012 20:01:00 GMT

Huffington Post

Harpsichord Music for a Thin Place: Music by the Couperins, Bach, Rameau, Sweelinck, Byrd Forqueray, Froberger and Larry Bell
Paul Cienniwa
Whaling City Sound WCS 059, 66 mins.

Listened at the right time of day, in the right mood, this is like the early music beauty that so many of us fell in love with when we were young. Paul Cienniwa, who is music director at First Church of Boston, is young and obviously deeply in love with this string of contemplative beauties. As he notes on his website, this is music of meditation. The sequencing of the 16 tracks is what makes this mix so extraordinary. These types of miscellaneous CDs are usually grouped by composer, the early ones first. The most common alternative is either adding at the end or interspersing in a conceptualized way music by contemporary composers. Cienniwa adopts another mode, based on his inner sense of creative flow, fueled by an abundance of musical imagination and desire. Performed on a lovely, gentle William Dowd harpsichord of 1966, the equally lovely, gentle recording was made at St. Francis of Assisi Parish Church in Swansea, a Massachusetts town founded as early as 1662. Cienniwa is less insistent on even articulation than he is in the inevitably of rhythm and sense of tone, thereby lulling you into hearing harmonic patterns that the composer is going to subtly shade and interrupt. The one contemporary work, a Sarabande by Larry Thomas Bell, bridges Rameau and Sweelinck by crystallizing their music in modern, angular terms, and then making slight adjustments. It's music that Bach would have listened to carefully. After a bewitching sequence of Sweelinck, Byrd and Louis Couperin, Cienniwa reveals just how radical and free Bach's Fantasy BWV 797 was when he wrote it. It is a dizzying experience in a very quiet meditative place. Then, after Francois Couperin shares his concern for the sins he has committed, Froberger and Rameau welcome back the living with teasing reminders of how pleasant life is meant to be. "A thin place," Cienniwa writes, "is the threshold between the ordinary and the spiritual ... my greatest desire is to bring my audience to a thin place through the beautiful stately elegance of the harpsichord's most introspective repertoire."

By Laurence Vittes

Poulenc concerto performance with the New Bedford Symphony in review

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:20:00 GMT

published in The Standard-Times (New Bedford):

French composer Francis Poulenc's Concerto Champetre (Country Concerto) for Harpsichord, is a rarely performed work and an absolute delight. A balanced collaboration between a harpsichord (lightly amplified) and a full modern orchestra, this concerto is witty, elegant and well-crafted, with echoes of Couperin and J.S. Bach comfortably sharing the stage with tunes derived from cabarets and circus tunes. Poulenc, whose mission was to return French music to its roots, was a member of Les Six. Along with Darius Milhaud and others, he championed less formal music and admired Dadaists Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie and the unpretentious, forthrightly seductive Sprechgesang (recitative) style of singer Maurice Chevalier.

Poulenc's harpsichord concerto, brilliantly played by Paul Cienniwa, wearing a frock coat, soft cravat and shirt with a stiff pointed collar, is a charming, humorous and beautiful piece of music. It begins with a solemn and authoritative entrance by the French horn, stern brasses and a tympani, against which the harpsichord, undaunted, introduces a playful, delicate theme in major and minor keys and cadenza-like jeux d'esprit, first in a sinuous oriental style, then with a martial beat.

The Andante evokes a typical French summer outdoor dance accompanied by good food and flowing wine as the harpsichord and orchestra assume a dance-like dialogue. In the third movement, Presto, the harpsichord pays homage to the sparkling inventions of J.S. Bach, and as the movement draws to an end, the soloist lifts his hands and plays two chords that mimic a pianist's approach to a romantic cadenza, but after two strong chords, the harpsichord falls silent, as if meditating on the unheard music of the spheres. Cienniwa's playing was exquisite — no drama, no posturing — just consummate artistry and a superb performance of a marvelous concerto.

Paul Cienniwa, Jeffrey Cohan, Sarah Mahler Kraaz, & Timothy Tikker join Concert Artist Cooperative

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:20:20 GMT

Concert Artist Cooperative, beginning its twenty-fifth year of operation in April, welcomes harpsichordist Paul Cienniwa, flutist Jeffrey Cohan, organist/historian Sarah Mahler Kraaz, and organist/composer/improviser Timothy Tikker to its roster of soloists and ensembles from around the world.

Dr. Cienniwa is the music director of First Church Boston. Mr. Cohan is the artistic director of three long-running USA festivals. Dr. Kraaz is the professor of music/organist at Ripon College in Wisconsin. Mr. Tikker is the organist at Kalamazoo College in Michigan.

For more information, visit: http://www.concertartistcooperative.com

News and Review

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 21:15:14 GMT

This morning, I was pleased to see a nice comment in the New Bedford Standard Times. It seems that the New Bedford Art Museum will continue its concert series "after the success of the Paul Cienniwa concert." That's great to hear!

And earlier this month, my concert with the Mastersingers by the Sea was reviewed in here: Notes on the Arts.

Performing in Portland, ME

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:45:00 GMT

The beautiful chapel at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke in Portland, ME was the site for yesterday's recital. What a beautiful place to play! Special thanks to Timothy Burris, Tim Neil Johnson, Albert Melton and the Early Music in the Chapel series.

Paul Cienniwa featured in the February issue of SOCO Magazine

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:10:32 GMT

SoCo Magazine published an excellent article about me and my work in their February edition. Click here to read the article. I am quite taken by how much the writer retained from the interview. Fortunately, I didn't say anything too unprintable!

Neither rain, nor snow ... stops harpsichordist from appointed recital, at least online

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:16:45 GMT

From the Providence Journal Arts blog:

Harpsichordist Paul Cienniwa was to perform a program of French baroque music this afternoon at St. Columba's in Middletown. If you had planned to head out to it, be advised, today's snow has changed those plans.

But the show will go on ... on the Internet.

Starting at 3 p.m. (the time of the planned St. Columba's concert), Cienniwa will perform the recital live from his home and stream it on the web . You can tune in as early as 2:30 as he tunes up and gets ready.

A program for the recital is also posted on the web.

Weather update on today's performance

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:35:00 GMT

Today's performance at St. Columba's in Middletown, RI has been cancelled due to the snow storm. However, the show will go on!

At 3pm (ET), I will perform the program from the comfort of my home with a live stream broadcast here: http://www.blogtv.com/people/pcienniwa
Tune in as early as 2:30 as I tune the instrument and get things ready for the performance.

To view the concert program, click here.

I can't promise the best audio (or video) for the performance, but I encourage you to tune in--if only for a few minutes--to support live music on the internet!

And, finally, my solo CD Harpsichord Music for a Thin Place is now available! Those of you who pre-ordered it might even have it in today's mail, just in time to enjoy it with a sip of wine while watching the falling snow. If you were planning on attending today's concert, please consider purchasing the CD instead and, meanwhile, enjoy today's live broadcast.

"Harpsichord Music for a Thin Place" is now available!

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:46:33 GMT

I just recieved copies of my new CD--hot off the presses! Click here to order yours today. $15 and free shipping in the US.

Why I Do What I Do

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 06:30:00 GMT

As a somewhat moody musician, I often ask myself why I am a musician. It’s not always the most pleasant thing, and it isn’t the most lucrative. The majority of society doesn’t get it, and it takes an awful lot of work to get some intangible returns.

On my way home from playing the Christmas Day service at First Church in Boston, I was thinking about how fortunate I’ve been. So many of the things in my life seem to have come as a gift. I don’t come from money, but I am very lucky to have parents who let me explore my interests. Things which advanced my musical career seem to have fallen in my lap. My first stereo, which I never could have afforded new, was a highly discounted floor model; I started my undergraduate career with a full scholarship, allowing me to use saved money to buy a very good practice piano; I found my first harpsichord in the Chicago Reader for only $500 (I talked the owner down to $400); I received a partial scholarship to Yale for graduate school, reducing my student loans and making Yale the least expensive choice among my graduate school options; I purchased my 1966 Dowd harpsichord at a very low price.

While I don’t come from money, these fortunes have made me ask, “Why me?” I’m certainly not God’s gift to music, and, while I’ve orchestrated some of the good things in my life, I couldn’t have come up with so much good fortune on my own. Why me?

So, I was cruising home from the Christmas Day service, and I decided to finish an exceptionally lengthy podcast of The Moth, a weekly broadcast by a non-profit dedicated to the art of story telling. The final brief story was about Mother Teresa. (I was about to paraphrase the story here, but I found it in Anne Bogart’s book And Then, You Act: Making Art in an Unpredictable World.)

"My friend Morgan Jenness admired Mother Teresa, now Blessed Mother Teresa, and at difficult personal junctures, the mere thought of her provided inspiration. Although now a playwright's agent, Morgan worked for many years with the legendary producer Joseph Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City. One day, feeling especially depressed about her sense of uselessness in the world, Morgan heard that Mother Teresa would be in Manhattan. She dropped everything and headed to the Indian Embassy in the hope that she might appear. Standing outside the embassy, Mother Teresa did emerge, surrounded by an entourage, and Morgan managed to capture her attention. She stopped, turned, looked at Morgan right in the eyes and asked, 'What can I do for you?' In the midst of her surprise and awe, Morgan described her work in the theatre and how she had lost all her will as she did not see any usefulness in it and then and there declared her determination to go to India and be of use. Mother Teresa spoke sternly, 'There are many famines. In my country there is a famine of the body. In your country there is a famine of the spirit. And that is what you must feed.'"

I’m lucky I didn’t swerve off the road when I heard that! Just moments ago, I had been reflecting on my good fortune--”Why me?”--, and now I had found the answer to why I am a musician.

It’s been some months since I finished recording my album, “Harpsichord Music for a Thin Place.” In my program notes, I write:

"A thin place is the threshold between the ordinary and the spiritual. While usually considered a physical location, music, for me, can also be a thin place. In this spirit, it is my greatest desire to bring my audience to a thin place through the beautiful stately elegance of the harpsichord’s most introspective repertoire.

"This recording contains some of my most favorite slow, meditative harpsichord pieces. I was careful to select contemplative works over melancholy ones, favoring major keys over minor keys and avoiding lamentations and tombeaux. In choosing a venue for the recording, I had two criteria: The space had to be good acoustically, and it had to be a thin place where I could feel a sense of prayer and peace.

"From the selection of repertoire to its preparation to the recording venue itself, I have sought to make this recording within a prayerful, meditative context. It is my hope that this CD will touch you and move you to crave other meditative experiences while also encouraging you to seek out harpsichord recitals and recordings."

Why do I do what I do?

In my country, there is a famine of spirit. And this is what I must feed.

Bach Cantata performance in review

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 20:33:59 GMT

Click here to read the Boston Musical Intelligencer review.

Larry Thomas Bell's "Baroque Concerto" now on YouTube

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:25:00 GMT

The Boston Early Music Festival fringe performance of Bell's triple concerto (Aldo Abreu, recorder; Sam Ou, 'cello; Paul Cienniwa, harpsichord) is now on YouTube. Aside from the occassional spicy intonation, this was a nice reprise of the debut performance at Jordan Hall in January 2011. Amusingly, American Recorder magazine said about this performance that, "it was often necessary to look at harpsichordist Cienniwa to see if he was playing at all." I assure you that I WAS playing in spite of myself and the obviously audible harpsichord in the video!

Website update: publications

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:35:00 GMT

I've added a new page to my website. "Print" includes links to recent publications, including some PDFs of published articles. Enjoy!

Couperin edition just released!

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:10:00 GMT

Based on the “Premier couplet du Kyrie,” the first movement of Couperin’s Mass for the Convents, I've added the words of the Kyrie eleison to Couperin's organ writing in a practical edition for SATB choir.

Click here for more information.

To request a sample copy, click here.

Release date: November 1, 2011

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:20:00 GMT

"O'Sullivan Meets O'Farrell, Vol. 2" featured on WGBH's "A Celtic Sojourn"

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:45:00 GMT

Last month, my recording with uilleann piper Jerry O'Sullivan and baroque cellist Audrey Sabattier Cienniwa was featured on Boston public radio's A Celtic Sojourn!

Click here to listen to the (very long) broadcast. The bit on O'Farrell begins around the 123' mark, but, oddly, you won't hear any of the recording. Click here to hear excerpts from the CD.

Article on memorization at the harpsichord

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:05:00 GMT

The Diapason recently published my article on memorization. Click here to read a PDF of the article. Enjoy the photos!

"Harpsichord Music for a Thin Place" update

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:54:55 GMT

The recording project is soon to be underway! I've settled some very important issues, including recording site, engineer and production assistant.

The recording will take place in a thin place: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Swansea, MA. Walter Klimasewski of Pro Musica Recordings is the engineer, and Elizabeth Grace is the production assistant. We begin recording on September 7 and hope to wrap up by September 9.

I couldn't be more pleased!

Forthcoming spring 2012...

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:05:00 GMT

New Recording!
Harpsichord Music for a Thin Place

"A musical transport to the threshold between the ordinary and the spiritual... to the point where the ordinary becomes spiritual and the spiritual becomes ordinary."

This recording, to be released in spring of 2012 on Whaling City Sound,
includes works by Bach, Bell, Byrd, F. Couperin, L. Couperin, Forqueray, Froberger, Rameau and Sweelinck.

Click here to order your CD now! Your CD will come autographed with free shipping.

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NBSO preview

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 03:15:00 GMT

This article includes a nice preview of the New Bedford Symphony's 2011-2012 season, including some words on my upcoming performance. Click here!