Gerhard Brunzema: His Work and His Influence by Thomas DonahueReview by: Lawrence ArchboldNotes, Second Series, Vol. 56, No. 2 (Dec., 1999), pp. 434-435Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/900037 .

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NOTES, December 1999 NOTES, December 1999

Vallin and George Thill, Victor Maurel and Francesco Tamagno, Emma Eames and Marcella Sembrich, Joan Hammond and Marie Collier, Tiana Lemnitz and Meta Seinemeyr, Mario Sammarco and Mariano Stabile, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Pavel Lisitsyan, and Gerhard Hiisch and Hermann Prey, Steane shares with the reader his thoughts on what makes an in-

teresting singer. This book has already be- come an old friend. Upon consulting it, the reader gains some useful insights and then is led back to the recordings to have those insights confirmed.

RICHARD LESUEUR Ann Arbor District Library

Gerhard Brunzema: His Work and His Influence. Edited by Thomas Dona- hue. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1998. [xxiii, 331 p. ISBN 0-8108-3366- 2. $60.]

Organbuilding since World War II has been characterized by an increased sense of shared endeavor among, and a new sense of competition between, those who work in its two leading locales, Europe and North America. European-built organs have en- riched the North American scene, while both European and American builders have perfected various historic European styles; moreover, American builders are now winning contracts in Europe. Little of this would have been imaginable in the early years of the twentieth century. Few or- ganbuilders personify this rich and dy- namic environment better than Gerhard Brunzema. His career, which began in Germany in the late 1940s, included a long and fruitful collaboration with Jurgen Ahrend, today widely recognized as one of the greatest organbuilders of the second half of the century. Together they under- took many now-celebrated restorations of historic organs and built many new ones heavily influenced by the old instruments. In 1972, Brunzema left Europe for Canada. Working there first with the Casavant Freres organ company and later on his own, he built organs, currently installed throughout North America and elsewhere, until his death in 1992.

Part 1 of this book is a Brunzema "reader," gathering together twenty-one

Vallin and George Thill, Victor Maurel and Francesco Tamagno, Emma Eames and Marcella Sembrich, Joan Hammond and Marie Collier, Tiana Lemnitz and Meta Seinemeyr, Mario Sammarco and Mariano Stabile, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Pavel Lisitsyan, and Gerhard Hiisch and Hermann Prey, Steane shares with the reader his thoughts on what makes an in-

teresting singer. This book has already be- come an old friend. Upon consulting it, the reader gains some useful insights and then is led back to the recordings to have those insights confirmed.

RICHARD LESUEUR Ann Arbor District Library

Gerhard Brunzema: His Work and His Influence. Edited by Thomas Dona- hue. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1998. [xxiii, 331 p. ISBN 0-8108-3366- 2. $60.]

Organbuilding since World War II has been characterized by an increased sense of shared endeavor among, and a new sense of competition between, those who work in its two leading locales, Europe and North America. European-built organs have en- riched the North American scene, while both European and American builders have perfected various historic European styles; moreover, American builders are now winning contracts in Europe. Little of this would have been imaginable in the early years of the twentieth century. Few or- ganbuilders personify this rich and dy- namic environment better than Gerhard Brunzema. His career, which began in Germany in the late 1940s, included a long and fruitful collaboration with Jurgen Ahrend, today widely recognized as one of the greatest organbuilders of the second half of the century. Together they under- took many now-celebrated restorations of historic organs and built many new ones heavily influenced by the old instruments. In 1972, Brunzema left Europe for Canada. Working there first with the Casavant Freres organ company and later on his own, he built organs, currently installed throughout North America and elsewhere, until his death in 1992.

Part 1 of this book is a Brunzema "reader," gathering together twenty-one

items by various writers, most quite brief. Some of the contributions are celebratory remembrances; others are previously pub- lished articles or interviews (or excerpts thereof) drawn chiefly from sources famil- iar to organists such as the American Orga- nist, the Diapason, and the Organ Yearbook. Included also are two brief organ composi- tions by Gerhard Krapf and Barrie Cabena, respectively, written in memory of Brunzema.

Part 2, the longest section of the book, presents a wide range of helpful materials, including inventories of the instruments built by Ahrend & Brunzema, Brunzema's organs undertaken with Casavant Freres, and those from his own shop. Selected ex- amples receive detailed descriptions, while photographs of sixteen instruments and drawings of many more give a good sense of the visual impact of his work. The discog- raphy is predictably dominated by his ear- lier work with Ahrend, examples of which, such as the restorations of the organs in the Waalse Kerk in Amsterdam (1965) and the Hofkirche in Innsbruck (1970), remain much esteemed; also extensively recorded are some of Ahrend & Brunzema's new or-

gans, such as that of Cantate Domino in Frankfurt (1970). Some of these recordings feature distinguished organists like Gustav Leonhardt and Harald Vogel. (Leonhardt contributed the book's foreword, and part 1 includes an excerpt from an interview with Vogel.) The instruments from Brun- zema's years in Canada have been recorded less often. A notable contribution is the edi- tor's own "Brunzema in Ontario" (Calcante CAL CD 021, 1997, compact disc; available from the Organ Historical Society), which offers a rare opportunity to hear an exam- ple of Brunzema's late work. The extensive appendix listing Brunzema's organs by lo- cation might encourage those interested to seek them out in person.

An impressive roster of organ scholars and builders is represented in part 1- Barbara Owen, Uwe Pape, and Peter Williams among the former and Fritz Noack and Christoph Linde among the lat- ter. Indeed, one of the longer contribu- tions, and certainly the most evocative, comes from Ahrend himself. (His brief discussion of why his collaboration with Brunzema ended helps explain the trajec- tory of Brunzema's career.) Nonetheless,

items by various writers, most quite brief. Some of the contributions are celebratory remembrances; others are previously pub- lished articles or interviews (or excerpts thereof) drawn chiefly from sources famil- iar to organists such as the American Orga- nist, the Diapason, and the Organ Yearbook. Included also are two brief organ composi- tions by Gerhard Krapf and Barrie Cabena, respectively, written in memory of Brunzema.

Part 2, the longest section of the book, presents a wide range of helpful materials, including inventories of the instruments built by Ahrend & Brunzema, Brunzema's organs undertaken with Casavant Freres, and those from his own shop. Selected ex- amples receive detailed descriptions, while photographs of sixteen instruments and drawings of many more give a good sense of the visual impact of his work. The discog- raphy is predictably dominated by his ear- lier work with Ahrend, examples of which, such as the restorations of the organs in the Waalse Kerk in Amsterdam (1965) and the Hofkirche in Innsbruck (1970), remain much esteemed; also extensively recorded are some of Ahrend & Brunzema's new or-

gans, such as that of Cantate Domino in Frankfurt (1970). Some of these recordings feature distinguished organists like Gustav Leonhardt and Harald Vogel. (Leonhardt contributed the book's foreword, and part 1 includes an excerpt from an interview with Vogel.) The instruments from Brun- zema's years in Canada have been recorded less often. A notable contribution is the edi- tor's own "Brunzema in Ontario" (Calcante CAL CD 021, 1997, compact disc; available from the Organ Historical Society), which offers a rare opportunity to hear an exam- ple of Brunzema's late work. The extensive appendix listing Brunzema's organs by lo- cation might encourage those interested to seek them out in person.

An impressive roster of organ scholars and builders is represented in part 1- Barbara Owen, Uwe Pape, and Peter Williams among the former and Fritz Noack and Christoph Linde among the lat- ter. Indeed, one of the longer contribu- tions, and certainly the most evocative, comes from Ahrend himself. (His brief discussion of why his collaboration with Brunzema ended helps explain the trajec- tory of Brunzema's career.) Nonetheless,

434 434

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Book Reviews Book Reviews

the tone of the book is decidedly celebra- tory, and no single essay provides a compre- hensive assessment of Brunzema and his work as seen against the shifting trends of organbuilding in his day. Yet several are suggestive, including the editor's sum- mary chapter, "How Gerhard Brunzema Addressed Some of the Problems in Modern Organbuilding." Tellingly, it draws upon the rhetoric of neoclassicism to find value in Brunzema's designs "because they show the timelessness of the principles in- volved, and thus they reveal more of the true nature of the organ" (p. 91). Those designs were the epitome of elegance a generation ago but today can seem strangely old.

LAWRENCE ARCHBOLD Carleton College

Violin Fraud: Deception, Forgery, and Lawsuits in England and America. 2d ed. By Brian W. Harvey and Carla J. Shapreau. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. [xxi, 212 p. ISBN 0-19-816655-9. $38.]

A recent reexamination of the unsolved 1995 theft of Erica Morini's $3.5 million "Davidoff" Stradivarius while the nonage- narian violinist was on her deathbed (Washington Post, 9 May 1999, final edition) recalls the popular image of the perils of dealing with precious violins. Buying and selling these instruments can be shady busi- ness, with a secretive atmosphere surround- ing idiosyncratic and at times questionable practices. As Brian W. Harvey succinctly puts it in his "Tailnote," "all is definitely not well in the violin trading world" (p. 99). This book is a praiseworthy effort to shed some light on the murkier side of the violin trade. Harvey and Shapreau enumerate the many potentially unethical practices-from failing adequately to disclaim an obviously fake label to outright theft and resale of precious instruments-and carefully con- sider the current legal ramifications of each.

Violin Fraud is about the law in Great Britain and the United States and how it applies to the violin world; the authors are not primarily concerned with the tech- niques or history of violin fraud or with methods of detecting it. The book is di-

the tone of the book is decidedly celebra- tory, and no single essay provides a compre- hensive assessment of Brunzema and his work as seen against the shifting trends of organbuilding in his day. Yet several are suggestive, including the editor's sum- mary chapter, "How Gerhard Brunzema Addressed Some of the Problems in Modern Organbuilding." Tellingly, it draws upon the rhetoric of neoclassicism to find value in Brunzema's designs "because they show the timelessness of the principles in- volved, and thus they reveal more of the true nature of the organ" (p. 91). Those designs were the epitome of elegance a generation ago but today can seem strangely old.

LAWRENCE ARCHBOLD Carleton College

Violin Fraud: Deception, Forgery, and Lawsuits in England and America. 2d ed. By Brian W. Harvey and Carla J. Shapreau. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. [xxi, 212 p. ISBN 0-19-816655-9. $38.]

A recent reexamination of the unsolved 1995 theft of Erica Morini's $3.5 million "Davidoff" Stradivarius while the nonage- narian violinist was on her deathbed (Washington Post, 9 May 1999, final edition) recalls the popular image of the perils of dealing with precious violins. Buying and selling these instruments can be shady busi- ness, with a secretive atmosphere surround- ing idiosyncratic and at times questionable practices. As Brian W. Harvey succinctly puts it in his "Tailnote," "all is definitely not well in the violin trading world" (p. 99). This book is a praiseworthy effort to shed some light on the murkier side of the violin trade. Harvey and Shapreau enumerate the many potentially unethical practices-from failing adequately to disclaim an obviously fake label to outright theft and resale of precious instruments-and carefully con- sider the current legal ramifications of each.

Violin Fraud is about the law in Great Britain and the United States and how it applies to the violin world; the authors are not primarily concerned with the tech- niques or history of violin fraud or with methods of detecting it. The book is di-

vided into two similarly structured, inde- pendent parts: "The English Scene" by Harvey and-new to this second edition- "The American Scene" by Shapreau. (The first edition, published in 1992, was usefully reviewed by Robin Stowell in Music & Letters 74 [1993]: 629-30). Shapreau's con- tribution incorporates and expands on material from articles she wrote for the Michigan Law Review and Strad. Harvey's has been updated since the first edition, al- though there have been few changes in this area of the law in England in the five years separating the two editions.

Though the law as it pertains to musical instruments can be unclear, Harvey has done a commendable job of evaluating analogous cases from the art world to de- termine how courts might decide cases in- volving instruments. Despite the unique status of precious instruments as both art objects and working tools for performing musicians-Harvey's delineation of violin buyers into three types (players or teachers, collectors, and dealers) makes this clear (p. 34)-little legislation specifically ad- dresses the violin trade because it forms a relatively small part of the overall trade in art and antiques. Additionally, the parties involved in cases of violin fraud are often eager to avoid litigation, so the number of important cases coming to court is very small. Some of the issues Harvey and Sha- preau discuss therefore remain untested- for example, whether general disclaimers are legally adequate to downgrade catalog descriptions from statements of fact to in- formed opinion.

Shapreau discusses both laws and trade practices in the United States that differ from those in Great Britain; an example of the latter is when a teacher receives "secret commissions from violin dealers in whose direction the student has been steered" (p. 171). The United States, a larger and more litigious country than Great Britain, offers Shapreau a greater body of relevant case law to consider. Though the two main sec- tions of the book are nearly equal in length, there have been over three times as many American cases as British. Shapreau's approach, more technical and legalistic than Harvey's, and her frequent discussion of the best defense against various possible charges also reflect differences between the two countries.

vided into two similarly structured, inde- pendent parts: "The English Scene" by Harvey and-new to this second edition- "The American Scene" by Shapreau. (The first edition, published in 1992, was usefully reviewed by Robin Stowell in Music & Letters 74 [1993]: 629-30). Shapreau's con- tribution incorporates and expands on material from articles she wrote for the Michigan Law Review and Strad. Harvey's has been updated since the first edition, al- though there have been few changes in this area of the law in England in the five years separating the two editions.

Though the law as it pertains to musical instruments can be unclear, Harvey has done a commendable job of evaluating analogous cases from the art world to de- termine how courts might decide cases in- volving instruments. Despite the unique status of precious instruments as both art objects and working tools for performing musicians-Harvey's delineation of violin buyers into three types (players or teachers, collectors, and dealers) makes this clear (p. 34)-little legislation specifically ad- dresses the violin trade because it forms a relatively small part of the overall trade in art and antiques. Additionally, the parties involved in cases of violin fraud are often eager to avoid litigation, so the number of important cases coming to court is very small. Some of the issues Harvey and Sha- preau discuss therefore remain untested- for example, whether general disclaimers are legally adequate to downgrade catalog descriptions from statements of fact to in- formed opinion.

Shapreau discusses both laws and trade practices in the United States that differ from those in Great Britain; an example of the latter is when a teacher receives "secret commissions from violin dealers in whose direction the student has been steered" (p. 171). The United States, a larger and more litigious country than Great Britain, offers Shapreau a greater body of relevant case law to consider. Though the two main sec- tions of the book are nearly equal in length, there have been over three times as many American cases as British. Shapreau's approach, more technical and legalistic than Harvey's, and her frequent discussion of the best defense against various possible charges also reflect differences between the two countries.

435 435

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.185 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:52:26 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions