| Albert Fuller |
James Estrin By ALLAN KOZINN
Published: September 25, 2007
Published: September 25, 2007
Albert Fuller, an influential harpsichordist, conductor, teacher and author, and the founder of two important early music
organizations, the Aston Magna Foundation for Music and the Humanities and the Helicon Foundation, died on Saturday at his
home in Manhattan. He was 81.
organizations, the Aston Magna Foundation for Music and the Humanities and the Helicon Foundation, died on Saturday at his
home in Manhattan. He was 81.
The cause was complications of congestive heart failure, James Roe, the artistic director of the Helicon Foundation, said.
In the 1960s and 1970s, when the period-instrument revival was gathering force, Mr. Fuller was one of several early-music
specialists who helped build an audience for Baroque music in New York, training two generations of performers in the early
music technique and interpretation.
specialists who helped build an audience for Baroque music in New York, training two generations of performers in the early
music technique and interpretation.
French music, which he studied in Paris in the mid-1950s, was one of his specialties, and his recordings of music by Rameau
are particularly well-regarded. But he was also a sensitive and eloquent interpreter of Bach, Handel and Scarlatti, and his 1977
recording of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, with his Aston Magna ensemble, the first American traversal of the set on period
instruments, was for many years a high-water mark of the early music discography.
are particularly well-regarded. But he was also a sensitive and eloquent interpreter of Bach, Handel and Scarlatti, and his 1977
recording of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, with his Aston Magna ensemble, the first American traversal of the set on period
instruments, was for many years a high-water mark of the early music discography.
In the 1980s, Mr. Fuller became interested in performances of 19th-century repertory using original instruments — fortepianos,
as well as violins, violas and cellos using gut strings — and he regularly coached younger players in the art of historical
performance.
as well as violins, violas and cellos using gut strings — and he regularly coached younger players in the art of historical
performance.
Like many early-music specialists, he devoted himself to producing authoritative editions of 17th-century works and to keeping
track of musicological discoveries and developments. But Mr. Fuller insisted that the performances informed by musicological
study reflect something of a modern musician's inner life.
track of musicological discoveries and developments. But Mr. Fuller insisted that the performances informed by musicological
study reflect something of a modern musician's inner life.
"The authenticity I'm interested in," he told The New York Times in 1989, "is our contemporary sense of the reality of the past,
and what the music we have inherited has to do with us today. I believe that music is a window into the unconscious, and the
miracle of it is that it lets us get close to what Beethoven , Bach and Mozart were thinking."
and what the music we have inherited has to do with us today. I believe that music is a window into the unconscious, and the
miracle of it is that it lets us get close to what Beethoven , Bach and Mozart were thinking."
Mr. Fuller was born in Washington on July 21, 1926, and began his musical studies at the National Cathedral, where he was a
boy soprano. He might easily have been drawn to opera: in an interview on the Web site of the Juilliard School, where Mr. Fuller
joined the faculty in 1964, he spoke about spending months listening to the 1939 Tullio Serafin recording of the Verdi Requiem.
(He also said he was drawn to conga recordings early on.)
boy soprano. He might easily have been drawn to opera: in an interview on the Web site of the Juilliard School, where Mr. Fuller
joined the faculty in 1964, he spoke about spending months listening to the 1939 Tullio Serafin recording of the Verdi Requiem.
(He also said he was drawn to conga recordings early on.)
But his real passion was the keyboard. He studied the organ with Paul Callaway at the National Cathedral and the harpsichord
with Ralph Kirkpatrick at Yale University, where he also studied music theory with Paul Hindemith. He completed his master's
degree in music at Yale in 1954, and continued his studies in Paris on a Ditson Fellowship. He made his New York recital
debut in 1957, and spent much of the next decade touring in Europe and the United States, and building an estimable
discography that helped establish him as a colorful, imaginative performer.
with Ralph Kirkpatrick at Yale University, where he also studied music theory with Paul Hindemith. He completed his master's
degree in music at Yale in 1954, and continued his studies in Paris on a Ditson Fellowship. He made his New York recital
debut in 1957, and spent much of the next decade touring in Europe and the United States, and building an estimable
discography that helped establish him as a colorful, imaginative performer.
In 1972, Mr. Fuller founded the Aston Magna Foundation, which included an annual summer festival and institute in Great
Barrington, Mass., and an ensemble, which he conducted from the harpsichord. He expanded the organization's mission in
1978, when he founded the Aston Magna Academies, a forum where musicians, scholars and aestheticians could exchange
ideas.
Barrington, Mass., and an ensemble, which he conducted from the harpsichord. He expanded the organization's mission in
1978, when he founded the Aston Magna Academies, a forum where musicians, scholars and aestheticians could exchange
ideas.
Mr. Fuller broke with Aston Magna in 1983, when the foundation's board resisted his desire to delve into the 19th-century
repertory. In 1985, he set up the Helicon Foundation, named after the mountain where Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of
memory, conceived the Nine Muses. Like Aston Magna, the foundation spawned its own flexible ensemble, which covered
everything from chamber music to works for orchestra and chorus, presented at concerts and symposiums.
repertory. In 1985, he set up the Helicon Foundation, named after the mountain where Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of
memory, conceived the Nine Muses. Like Aston Magna, the foundation spawned its own flexible ensemble, which covered
everything from chamber music to works for orchestra and chorus, presented at concerts and symposiums.
Mr. Fuller was also the author of "Alice Tully: An Intimate Portrait" (1999) and translated "Hugues Cuénod With a Nimble
Voice: Conversations With François Hundry" (1999).
Voice: Conversations With François Hundry" (1999).
No immediate family members survive.