Ruth Dyson (clavichord) Howells and the clavichord

Ruth Dyson clavichord
The instrument is a Thomas Goff of 1934, formerly belonging to Miss Erhart and now owned by Ruth Dyson.
Released 1981 by Wealden Prestige, stereo WS 194
Recorded in 1981 in the Wealden Studios, Old Forge Meadow Platts Heath, Lenham, Kent, UK
Technicians Julian Sturdy and Alan Brandon
Pressed by PR Records
Mastered Spectrum Sound
Printed in England by Robert Stace
The instrument pictured on the sleeve, a Goff of 1939, was perhaps the most beautiful of all Goffs instruments, with a lid painted by Rex Whistler.

Thanks to Robert Tifft the webmaster of the European Revival Harpsichordists
(http://jsebestyen.org/harpsichord/) for providing all the documentation and already cleaned up acoustic material to make this publication possible.

Side 1
"Lamberts' Clavichord" Op. 41
00:00 (01) Lambert's Fireside
01:31 (02) Fellwes's Delight
03:08 (03) Hughes's Ballet
04:18 (04) Wortham's Grounde
06:14 (05) Sargent's Fantastic Sprite
07:30 (06) Foss's Dump
09:34 (07) My Lord Sandwich's Dreame
11:27 (08) Samuel's Air
13:48 (09) De la Mare 's Pavane (sorry forgot an image in the video)
16:17 (10) Sir Hugh 's Galliard
17:24 (11) H.H.'s Fancy
20:39 (12) Sir Richard's Toye

Side 2
"Howells' Clavichord"
21:53 (1) Goff's Fireside
24:34 (2) Patrick's Siciliano
27:06 (3) Dyson's Delight
29:48 (4) Ralph's pavane
34:10 (5) Ralph's Galliard
36:50 (6) Finzi's Rest
40:12 (7) Berkeley's Hunt
42:16 (8) Walton's Toye

THE COMPOSER
Herbert Howells C.B.E, C.H. was born at Lydney, Gloucs, on October 17, 1892. At the age of twelve he won an open scholarship to the Royal College of Music where he studied with Charles Stanford and Charles Wood. He has been a professor at the RCM since 1920, and besides his great contributions to English Church Music and the large scale choral works for which he is so widely known, he has written chamber music, songs and orchestral music and has given very generously of his time and talents to such activities as examining, adjudicating, and in his own words "making people sing ." He followed Hoist as director of music at St Paul 's Girls' School (1936-1962) and in 1950 was made King Edward VII Professor of Music at London University.

THE ARTIST
Ruth Dyson studied piano and violin at the RCM, and learnt harmony with Dr Howells. After some years as a concert pianist, she became deeply interested in the early keyboard instruments and gave her first solo harpsichord recital at the Wigmore Hall in 1952, using a harpsichord lent by Thomas Goff.
Now well known to radio audiences at home and abroad, she has made recordings for BBC Sound Archives on instruments from the Victoria and Albert Museum and from the Colt Clavier Collection.
She lectures on the history of early keyboard instruments at the RCM, where she has been professor of harpsichord since 1964. She has represented Great Britain at the World Forum of the Harpsichord in Paris and at the International Fortnight in Bruges.


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