Anders Muskens
«
I believe that music cannot be innocuous nor merely a trifle.
It must command the emotions: sometimes it ravishes, sometimes it charms with the tenderest looks; other times it is bleak, tragic, despairing, or furious! Alternately transported and alarm'd
(Edward Young)! The very emotions of the human condition are its essence, and music has great depth and power in its ability to express what cannot be expressed easily through words.
Believing that such a thing is achievable with music is central to my approach to performance, and these ideas recall the prevailing theories of artistic expression in the 18th and 19th centuries: music as a language of sentiment
.
The various emotions, or affects, encapsulated within each musical work must be brought to life in performance, and they must command performer and audience alike —from the most tender sighs to the violent tumult, as sensibility incarnate. This expressive communication is only possible when the performer thinks like an orator: an eloquent rhetorician who inspires powerful sentiments in listeners via their delivery.
And I believe that this all is possible and easiest with historical keyboards, with their nuanced timbre, sensitivity, vibrant colors, individuality and soulfulness that these emotions can speak to us. I hope through my performances, which are informed by my own research into such principles, that I can lead the audience on such a journey.»
Anders Muskens is a Canadian early keyboard specialist, music scholar, and ensemble director, active as an international artist in North America and Europe. He began piano studies at the age of 4 in Edmonton, Canada and completed an Associate Diploma in modern piano from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, a Masters in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, and currently he is completing a doctorate in musicology at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, where he researches rhetorical acting and early modern theatre practices in relation to musical performance.
As the founder and director of the period orchestra Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, he has distinguished himself as a specialist in reviving the forgotten music of the Mannheim Court Orchestra (die Mannheimer Hofkapelle) which originally existed during 1742–78 in Mannheim and after 1778 moved to Munich.
Also, Anders received numerous awards and scholarships, and has played in many important festivals and a couple of distinguished halls all over Europe and Canada, as Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Utrecht Early Music Festival, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, the I Concerti di Campagna series in Monte Compatri, in Ottawa, Edmonton, as well as in Cambridge, the London International Exhibition of Early Music, the MAfestival Brugge, the Laus Polyphoniae Festival Antwerp, the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam and a concert series in Brno, among others. Furthermore, he has released numerous albums of solo and ensemble music.
SONUS about Anders Muskens:
When Anders Muskens plays the fortepiano or harpsichord, the music is almost always bright and clear, very easy to hear through and excellently structured. In short: he actually speaks when he plays.
And in doing so, he also reaches people who would otherwise have little to do with this type of repertoire — because they suddenly understand what the piece is trying to tell them and feel addressed.
Added to this is the highly impressive virtuosity he displays. — Yes, of course, we speak of virtuosity with regard to almost every keyboard specialist today, but what Anders demonstrates is a bit more: he not only plays fast, but also extremely precisely, nothing slips through, every note is exactly as loud or soft as he imagines and as it should be. I only know that from very, very few keyboard players today, and Anders is certainly the youngest of these masters.
What may not be so interesting for the common concertgoer, but might be the icing on the cake for discerning concert organisers, is the sound research on which his interpretations are based—whether as a conductor or a keyboard player: Even as an experienced listener of this type of repertoire, you can still discover one or two new aspects —and so even the professional listener goes home very happy after such a concert!
Sound samples
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op.53 »Waldstein«: I. Allegro con brio
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23, Op. 57, »Appassionata«: III. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto
Jean-Philippe Rameau: »La Villageoise«
Please also visit Anders on our YouTube-Channel!
