Just as Beethoven's thirty-two sonatas are at the core of the piano repertoire, harpsichordists have their major monument in the many works of J. S. Bach for their instrument. Though this repertoire has long been visited by pianists, often with stunning results, there are some insights that can only be had through listening to expert and imaginative harpsichord performances.

Listeners who remember Ottawa harpsichordist Thomas Annand's accounts of Bach's Goldberg Variations and the Chromatic Fantasy a few seasons ago will rejoice at his project for the coming season. He plans on doing all of the major solo harpsichord repertoire in seven concerts at St. Giles Church in the Glebe.

Organist and Music Director of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, harpsichordist for Thirteen Strings and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, founder and conductor of Capital Brassworks, composer . . . and on and on, Annand is surely one of the Ottawa area's most versatile and respected musicians.

A native of Hubbards, Nova Scotia (near Peggy's Cove), Annand began piano lessons at the age of seven. He studied organ at McGill where he found that the harpsichord came naturally.

I found him one evenng last month in St. Andrew's where he was practicing on his Yves Beaupré harpsichord.

Opus Pocus: Performing all of Bach's major keyboard works in one season is no small thing. Do you worry about running yourself into the ground?

Thomas Annand: It will be a lot of work, but I'm looking forward to it. I've been preparing for it for twenty years, ever since I was a student.

OP: You've chosen St. Giles for your venue.

TA: Yes, it's a wonderful little space with exactly the right kind of acoustic for the harpsichord. And it's a smaller space than St. Andrew's, so the harpsichord sound will fit it perfectly.

OP: Are you doing all the keyboard works?

TA: Not quite all. I won't do the Inventions or the Sinfonias, for example, and I won't do all of the little pieces like the little preludes and fugues. But I will do all the pieces that come in sets, the Six Partitas, the French and English Suites, the Goldberg Variations and, of course, the Well-Tempered Clavier. There will be some single pieces too.

I'll be doing the WTC in two evenings. Two long evenings. I've decided to start each concert at 7:30. There will be a long intermission, and that will be the time for meeting people and socializing, instead of after the concert.

OP: Speaking of the Well-Tempered Clavier, I understand that people are no longer so sure that Bach intended it to be played in our modern equal temperament. Will you be using equal temperament?

TA: No, definitely not. I'll be using a modified unequal tuning. Statistical analysis has shown that Bach probably was not thinking of equal temperament. For example, there is a strong tendency to avoid close thirds in "bad" keys and the tritone sometimes plays a crucial role. In equal temperament the effect of the tritone is lost. All these things lead us away from the standard tuning.

OP: So if I understand correctly, a musician using equal temperament could transcribe a prelude and fugue in C major, for example, to C-sharp major and only listeners with perfect pitch would know the difference.

TA: More or less. But with the tuning I'm using, it would sound very different.

OP: Do you have a favourite work in all this repertoire?

TA: Oh yes, I'd have to say the Goldberg Variations. They are so incredibly evocative and emotive, but also highly structured. There's an incredible discipline to them. And this is a true harpsichord work in every sense.

OP: You're at least as well-known as an organist than as a harpsichordist. Do you have a preference between the two?

TA: If I do, it would be the harpsichord. I have my own harpsichord and usually I can take it with me when I perform. With an organ, you don't really know the instrument unless you play it often. If you go to a new place, you only get a short time to become familiar with all the stops, for example. You're not entirely sure how they'll sound, and it’s diffificult to make all the music that’s within you.

OP: Are there any local organs that you particularly like?

TA: Of course the instrument I have here at St. Andrew’s is a wonderful organ, especially for baroque music. I'd like to say the big organ at the National Arts Centre too. It has a lot going for it, like it’s superb action, but it's a compromise between being portable and being as good as it could be. I particularly like the organ at Dominion-Chalmers. it has incredible variety of tonal colour, it's good to play and it's in a good space.

OP: Tell us a bit about your harpsichord.

TA: It was made by Yves Beaupré, modeled after 18th-century French instruments. It has two manuals and five octaves, which is a bit more than you need for Bach, actually. One nice thing about it is that it has a mahogany frame, whch makes it easier to keep in tune.

OP: Have you done any touring, or considered it?

TA: Yes, I did a fair bit of touring early in my career. I don't do much now, partly because I have young kids, five-year-old William and three-year-old Helen. I want to be around with them.

OP: I think you just answered my next question: What do you do when you're not making music? Does your family take up all the rest of your time?

TA: Almost. I've had a life-long interest in astronomy. I like history and scientific stuff, and I spend some time on those things. I also compose, mainly for myself and my choir. One way or another, though, it all comes back to music. That's the big thing for me.

Thomas Annand plays the harpsichord music of Bach
All recitals at 19:30 in St. Giles Presbyterian Church, 174 First Avenue at Bank.