Grant and Priscilla departed early for their flight back to the States and Bob and Joan took one more walk in the city, along the beach and the harbor in the early morning light, before taking a local train to the town of Sant Cugat to the north of the city. There we were met by Katy Elkin, a music colleague and former student of Bob’s at Temple University.
We drove with Katy to the home of Josep Borras, a dulcian and baroque bassoon player, and a major figure in the Spanish early music world. Pep, as he is called, was quite familiar with Piffaro, having heard many of our CDs, and he lauded us for our playing and programming, and for the work Piffaro has done to develop the sound of early double reeds. He teaches at, and is currently the director of, the Barcelona Conservatory, one of the largest in Spain, and also at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland. In addition he performs frequently with Jordi Savall, and in Ensemble Zefiro directed by the baroque oboist Alfredo Bernadini.
Pep has done a tremendous amount of research on Spanish dulcians, carefully examining and measuring them, and has provided valuable information to instrument makers. We spent almost two hours with him, discussing dulcians and Spanish music of the Don Quixote period, and viewing and playing some of his many instruments. On parting he gave us a copy of the facsimile of a second manuscript written out for the Lerma wind players. This manuscript, housed in a library in Utrecht, is not as comprehensive, nor as readable and clear as the one in Lerma itself, but a valuable resource nonetheless. In addition, Pep promised to send us electronically some of his research and writings on dulcians. This visit was surely one of the highlights of the week, providing useful information and a contact that we will nurture as we develop our Don Quixote project.