I recently came across 2 CDs  of the 6 Partitas of Bach played on
Harpsichord by Ralph Kirkpatrick.  These were 1958 ARCHIVE tapes that
have been re-mastered in 1995 by a company called BOSTON SKYLINE, in a
series called "From the Vault".  I had never heard of them, but have
always enjoyed much of what I heard from ARCHIVE / ARKIV in the past.
The original LPs are: 198003, 004 and 005.

I am not well-versed in harpsichord lore, but these are very interesting
and quite wonderful performances.  The recording is not always pristine
(they even apologize for "the loud airplane that seems to have flown
overhead between the Courante and the Sarabande of Partita No. 3!) The
sound can get a bit murky at times, but not excessively so.  The liner
notes from the originals speak about Mr. Kirkpatrick playing on a
harpsichord "modeled on those played by Bach himself".  As I went through
all the partitas, I heard what could easily have been many instruments.
At times it sounded metallic, at times like gut; Sometimes it was very
rich and full of reverb, others it was short and thud-like.  At times
it even sounded like vibes.  The notes also say that Kirkpatrick is
arguably the father of the harpsichord revival of the 20th century.

Does anyone know how true this is (about this harpsichord - and Kirkpatrick)?
Is his "style" any different from current harpsichord playing?  How true
is the claim about this particular harpsichord?

If you are not aware of these re-masterings, here are some more from the
series:

THE SIENA PIANOFORTE - Charles Rosen Playing Scarlatti and Mozart
THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS - Seymour Hayden, Harpsichord (1977)
SCARLATTI BY HAYDEN - 13 sonatas
J.S. BACH - FOUR CONCERTI TRANSCRIBED - ASMF & Neville Marriner
MASTERWORKS FOR THE HARP - Osian Ellis, Desmond Dupre, Thurston Dart,
Marisa Robles, ASMF & Marriner - (L'Oiseau-Lyre & Argo)
DANCE MUSIC OF THE RENEISSANCE - Praetorius, Wildman & Schein,
Collegium Terpsichore & Fritz Neumeyer

Miguel Muelle
http://mmuelle.home.mindspring.com