by Jarrett Hoffman
IN MEMORIAM KENNETH COOPER:
Earlier this month, after suffering a stroke at his apartment in New York City, harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper passed away at age 79. A deeply respected and widely acclaimed musicologist and performer, he was especially known as a brilliant improviser. In an obituary for The New York Times, Anthony Tommasini covers Cooper’s many musical interests and accomplishments, and also shares at least one gem of a quote:
“Oh, I enjoy improvising a lot,” Cooper said in 1977. “I always enjoy making trouble.” That wasn’t an attempt to be outrageous, he added. “I’m trying to give the music the same vividness and impulse that I think Bach or Handel might have given it.”
ClevelandClassical.com’s Daniel Hathaway spoke to Cooper in 2013 before a performance with BlueWater Chamber Orchestra. The questions were specific to the repertoire for that concert, but it’s still very much worth a read, because when Cooper opens his mouth to talk about music, the thoughts and stories he shares are timeless.
I’m no expert on Cooper’s life and career, but as a graduate student in New York, I did take a course he offered on performance practice. As a teacher, he was extremely kind, and possessed an ocean of knowledge that came through in his lectures and in fun little anecdotes. He always had a grin on his face, especially whenever the topic was improvisation or interpretation. (It’s amazing to compare the smile and the energetic gaze in the two pictures above.) And whenever he took to the harpsichord to demonstrate some concept, you knew you were in for something daring, breathtaking, and so engaging.
With his own excitement, he did his best to get hands raised and mouths moving in what was a quiet class of students, myself included — one of those little regrets that stays with you.
I won’t forget his generosity in inviting myself and two other students to his apartment for a coaching on Schubert’s Shepherd on the Rock. We went over lots of fine points of playing — I remember some slight but very effective rubato he suggested to the pianist — to bring the music to another level, more vivid, more human. R.I.P.
ONLINE TODAY:
Local highlights in today’s Concert Listings include “Lunchtime with The Cleveland Orchestra,” guitarist Doug Wood’s program of classically-infused folk, rock, and jazz for Trinity Cathedral’s Virtual Brownbag series, and a recital by a combined group of CIM faculty and students. Heading east, it’s also worth checking out tonight’s programming from the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society (featuring violinist Miriam Fried and pianist Jonathan Biss) and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (composer Anna Clyne).
