Joseph Payne (harpsichordist)

Joseph Payne (harpsichordist)

Joseph Payne (1941 – 14 January 2008) was a British/Swiss German harpsichordist, clavichordist, organist and musicologist, best known for his pioneering recordings of early keyboard music.

He was born in the Chahar province of China in 1941, the son of a British father, Joseph Sr. (c.1909-1955), and a Swiss German mother, Mina, who were missionaries to Mongolia. During his birth during World War II he lived at an internment camp in Shanghai. The family subsequently moved to England, where Payne received his primary education, and then to Switzerland. While studying at College de Vevey, Payne exhibited an interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and started receiving musical education.

Payne's family moved again, this time to Connecticut, where Joseph Sr. became the pastor of Faith Assembly of God in Hartford. However, Rev. Payne's health had been compromised by the tortures of the internment camp, from which he never fully recovered. He served the Hartford church from 1951 till a fatal heart attack on November 12, 1955, at age 46. (His death was a blow to the church, which under his leadership doubled in size.). Meanwhile, Joseph Jr. studied at Trinity College and Hartt College of Music; his teachers included Wanda Landowska and Fernando Valenti. While at Hartt, he met cellist Phoebe Joyce, who became his wife in 1966. The young couple settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Payne found a job as lecturer at Boston University and started a recording career. He was widely known as a harpsichord recitalist. (Notable performances included a 1973 appearance in the Peabody Mason Concert series in Boston.)

In the early 1980s Payne accepted a job invitation from the Episcopal Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, and the family moved to Dorchester. Payne worked as organist and directed the church's choirs, including the Choir of Men and Boys.

After several years, Payne left the Ashmont church and concentrated on his recording career. In early 2000s this was cut short by a stroke, which left Payne unable to play with precision. He turned his attention to photography, and in late 2006 the family moved to Mount Vernon, Maine. On 14 January 2008 Payne died of a heart attack. He was survived by wife and his son Christopher Payne, photographer.

Payne's discography contains nearly 100 items, most being recordings of early keyboard music. This includes the complete organ works of Johann Pachelbel, the complete keyboard works of John Blow, recordings of music by numerous neglected composers such as John Bull, Gottlieb Muffat, Johan Helmich Roman and others. He also recorded large selections from various important early music manuscripts, such as the Buxheimer Orgelbuch, the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, the Andreas Bach Buch and the Dublin Virginal Manuscript, and the chorales of the Neumeister collection (of which he made the world-premiere recording, recorded and released prior to the recording by Werner Jacob). Record labels with which Payne worked included Bis, Naxos, Harmonia Mundi, Hänssler Classics and others.

Payne has worked for radio, producing several syndicated series such as The Bach Connection.