Colin Tilney Oct. 31, 1933 – Dec. 17, 2024
Colin Tilney’s passing is a great loss to the harpsichord and Early Music Community. A student of Gustav Leonhardt, Tilney was an influential researcher and contributor to historically-informed performance practice, a beloved instructor by many, and a much-admired performer and recording artist. Obituaries have been posted widely, including in The Telegraph UK, The Globe and Mail Canada, Classics Today, Y!Entertainment… Colin Tilney issued over 70 commercial recordings, and his final album, produced at age 89, offers a wonderfully rich, almost sultry, interpretation of Bach’s Partitas (J.S. Bach: Harpsichord Partitas, BWV 825-830). Among his many other acclaimed and influential albums is ‘George Frideric Handel – The Harpsichord Suites’ (ARCHIV Production), widely considered a benchmark. Tilney was also an ardent proponent of contemporary music for harpsichord, commissioning some himself. His recordings were often made on original instruments, but also on some of the many instruments in his own, sizeable collection. Amongst his collection was a much-loved after-Zell, built in 1983 by Colin Booth ,which he used extensively in concerts and recordings including ‘Jewels: Treasures, Old & New, for the Harpsichord’. In 2023 Colin passed this instrument on to a new owner who, following some restoration, makes it available to Capriccio for concerts. Colin Tilney was delighted to know that this instrument’s lovely voice would continue to be heard and enjoyed by lovers of harpsichord music.
