Mentioning The Musical Offering made

Mentioning The Musical Offering made me take a quick peak at the site, and I found this, a tribute to Joseph Spencer. I met Joseph about a year and a half before he died. I was in the shop talking to one of the clerks about this and that and we got to talking about harpsichords. Now, harpsichordists are weirdos and we tend to seek each other out in a crowd, because we are more comfortable among our own kind. Outsiders tend to make fun of us, for some reason. Well, Joseph was there and it turns out that he is not only a huge fan of early music, but, surprise, surprise, a harpsichordist! Not only that, but we had the same teacher.

I had listened to Joseph's radio show for many years, and it was a treat to meet the man behind the music. I saw him periodically in the shop and had a meeting with him when a few local record labels were trying to get a Bay Area record label association rolling. He was knowledgeable, friendly, dedicated to running a business that was more about serving the common good than making scads of money, in short, a really good guy. He is sorely missed in the early music community, and it is somewhat in his spirit that I am offering the series of musical analyses. The great treasure that is called Western Art Music needs to be nourished and supported in order to continue, and there is little to no money in spreading the joy of music theory. So, those of us who love Western Art Music have a duty and obligation to help spread that joy, as Joseph Spencer did for many years.