Gustav Leonhardt

The death this weeik of Gustav Leonhardt brought memories of a visit with him in his home in Amsterdam in 1959. I was living in London, but decided to visit friends (fellow Fulbrighters) for a Dutch Christmas. A friend from Yale found a family for me to stay with for the week I was there, and so began my introduction to the Dutch way of life, and the wonderful city of Amsterdam. I was given a bicycle and thrown out into the streets of the city, almost immediately being pulled to the curb by a very polite policeman, who explained the rules of the road. Small country, lots of rules.

The visit with Gustav came about through Clyde Holloway, who was studying harpsichord with him, along with his organ studies with another professor. The small house sat right on the banks of a canal, and was filled with musical instruments and small children, family life lived where it fell. I was thrilled to see the harpsidhords, and listened as Gustav played Bach and children played at his feet. Clyde explained that Gustav was "the person" to go to, as he was at the forefront of Baroque performance practices at that time. Having been to Yale, where there is one of the great instrument collections in the world, and having studied with Emanuel Winternitz, the curator of instruments at the Metropolitan Museom of Art, I was no stranger to this world. In fact, my dissertation at Yale was directed by Ralph Kirkpatrick, whose performance style was well known to me. Kirkpattick was a difficult man, personally and musically. He laid down the rules, and that was it. Gustav, by contrast, was completely at ease with himself, and made you feel welcolmed into his home.

At that time Gustav had already formed his small consort, and done recordings for the Bach Guild, all released by Vanguard Records. He talked about his study in Vienna, and his dislike of his courses, leading him to spend all his time in the libraries copying manuscripts...literally dozens of them. He also said he came to the harpsichord during the Second World War, went he and his family were hanging on by a thread, living in the countryside with very little to eat. How well I remember my Dutch friends telling me they ate tulip bulbs in the depths of hunger.

So although my visit was brief, it still is bright in my memory. He ended up being a transformative figure in baroque music, yet remained down to earth and stayed in his charming home until his death.