Joan Benson

Joan Benson, born October 9, 1925, in Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota, is an American keyboard player specializing in the clavichord and fortepiano. Educated at the University of Illinois (B.Mus., M.Mus. 1951) and Indiana University (1953), she received instruction in Europe from Edwin Fischer, Guido Agosti, Olivier Messiaen, Viola Thern, Fritz Neumeyer, Ruggero Gerlin, and Macario Santiago Kastner before returning to the United States in 1960 to pursue dual careers as a concert keyboardist and university professor. She debuted on the clavichord at the Carmel Bach Festival in 1963 and went on to perform at many concerts in the United States, Europe, and the Far East. From 1968 through 1976, she taught at Stanford University until joining the faculty at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where she taught through 1987. In 1980, she also joined the faculty of the Aston Magna Music Festival in Massachusetts. Among her varied interests is Buddhist meditation. She has been credited with helping to revive interest in the fortepiano and the work of C. P. E. Bach.

• Joan Benson, Clavichord (Repertoire Records, LP, 1962), reissued by Bridge Records, 1972.
• Music of C. P. E. Bach (Orion Master Recordings, Giveon Cornfield, LP, 1976); clavichord and 1795 Broadwood pianoforte
• Works of Haydn and Pasquini (Titanic Records, Ralph Dobmeyer, LP, 1982); original Tosi and Schiedmayer clavichords from Boston Museum of Fine Arts
• Clavichord Music of Johann Kuhnau and C. P. E. Bach (Focus Recordings, Peter Nothnagel, Early Music Institute, Indiana University School of Music, cassette, 1987 and CD, 1996)
• Artistry of Joan Benson, Early Music Institute, Barry Phillips; issued with Clavichord for Beginners, Indiana University Press, CD (2014)
• The Clavichord, Vision and Voice of Joan Benson, Early Music Institute; issued with Clavichord for Beginners, Indiana University Press, DVD (2014)

• "Joan Benson, Clavichord". WorldCat. OCLC 16959600. Retrieved February 7, 2015. 
• "Music of C. P. E. Bach". Orion. 1976. OCLC 3531828. Retrieved February 6, 2015. 
• "Works of Haydn and Pasquini". Cambridge, Massachusetts: Titanic Records. 1982. OCLC 8970132. Retrieved February 6, 2015. 
• "Clavichord Music of Johann Kuhnau and C. P. E. Bach". WorldCat. ISBN 9780253388810. OCLC 20440485. Retrieved February 7, 2015. 
• "The Clavichord: Music of Johann Kuhnau and C. P. E. Bach: 18th Century". AllMusic. Retrieved February 6, 2015. 
• ^ Brauchli, Bernard (2015). "Clavichord for Beginners by Joan Benson". Performance Practice Review. 20 (1): 1. doi:10.5642/perfpr.201520.01.02. Retrieved October 4, 2016. 

Books

• Clavichord for Beginners, Indiana University Press, 2014

Articles in books

• "The Effect of Clavichord Technique on the Fortepiano", Internationaler Joseph Haydn Kongress, Wien, 1982, G. Henle Publishing House, Munich (1986)
• "The Clavichord in 20th-Century America", in Livro de Homenagem a Macario Santiago Kastner, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon (1992)
• "Clavichord Technique in the Mid-Twentieth Century", Proceedings of the International Clavichord Symposium, Magnano, 9–11 September 1993, Istituto per I Beni Musicali in Piemonte, Torino (1994)
• "Clavichord Perspectives from Goethe to Pound", De Clavicordio VI, The International Centre for Clavichord Studies, Musica Antica a Magnano, Italy (2004)
• "Studying with Macario Santiago Kastner a Half-Century Ago", De Clavicordio VIII, The Clavichord on the Iberian Peninsula, The International Centre for Clavichord Studies, Musica Antica a Magnano, Italy (2008)
• "The Interplay of Clavichord and Piano", De Clavicordio XI, The International Centre for Clavichord Studies, Musica Antica a Magnano, Italy (2014)

Articles in magazines

• "Recollections of Edwin Fischer" (T. Tikker), Journal of the American Liszt Society, Vol. 21, January−June 1987.
• "Bach and the Clavier", Clavier Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 2, February 1990.
• "Qigong for Pianists", Piano and Keyboard, No. 194, September–October 1998
• "Piano to Clavichord (1925–1962)", Clavichord International, Het Nederlands Clavichord Genootschap, Vol. 10, No. 2, November 2006

Poems

• "Aged Woman Looking at a Man", Barren", "Antichrist 1986", Writers of Age, Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry, Spring/Summer 1981

• Benson, Joan (2014). "Clavichord for Beginners". Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-01164-0. Retrieved February 6, 2015. 
• ^ Knights, Francis (March 1995). "The Clavichord: A Comprehensive Bibliography". The Galpin Society Journal. 48: 52–67. doi:10.2307/842803. JSTOR 842803. (subscription required (help)). 
• "De Clavicordio [I]". OMI – Old Manuscripts & Incunabula. Retrieved October 4, 2016. 
• "De Clavicordio VI". OMI – Old Manuscripts & Incunabula. Retrieved October 5, 2016. 
• "De Clavicordio VIII". OMI – Old Manuscripts & Incunabula. Retrieved October 5, 2016. 
• "De Clavicordio XI". OMI – Old Manuscripts & Incunabula. Retrieved October 5, 2016.