San Francisco Classical Voice

The Bay Area's special and nationally prominent early music community lost a major figure with the death from a rare heart disease, amyloidosis, last Tuesday of Joseph Spencer, 64. He was known to readers of San Francisco Classical Voice for his characteristically informed, urbane reviews, but that hardly scratched the surface of his contribution to our musical life in the 20 years of his presence here. Joe Spencer was musical leader and general partner of The Musical Offering (a unique, exceptionally inviting and well-stocked CD store and café/bistro in Berkeley), a producer of harpsichord CDs through his Wild Boar recordings, and a radio broadcaster. As host of a popular two-hour early music program, Chapel, Court & Countryside, heard weekly here, at one time or another, on KKHI, KDFC, KMZT, and most KPFA and in Los Angeles, he offered choice performances of the best medieval to Baroque music available on records, interviewed artists and announced a calendar of performances in the area.

Almost immediately on his arrival from Los Angeles in the 1980s, Mr. Spencer became very active in the San Francisco Early Music Society, was a board member and,from 1995 to 1997, its president. He knew most of the major performers and presenters in the Bay Area and quickly became involved in promoting early music events. He was an important factor in the establishment of the biennial Berkeley Festival and Exhibition for Music before 1850 at UC Berkeley in 1990. Mr. Spencer insured that the local community was represented among the Festival's performers and planners, and for several years was responsible for the concurrent Exhibition (of instrument builders, publishers, and service organizations). “He was one of a handful whose unique combination of talents and passions helped shape the Bay Area's early music community and turn it into America's center for historical performance,” observed Jonathan Harris, spokesman for the San Francsico Early Music Society.

At The Musical Offering, across Bancroft Way from UC's Zellerbach Hall, he presided more like genial host than proprietor. This quality, along with his knowledge and taste, drew patrons, won their confidence, and made the shop/café a popular destination, helping it prosper in the face of the competition of Internet shopping. With the depth of its stock and the staff's knowledge, The Musical Offering became a mecca. The key was the Spencerian combination of taste, knowledge and passion for early music, and his keen sense of what was stylish, musical and generally fine in performance. This was apparent in his elegant radio program, a model of excellent, selective programming and presentation.

He started the broadcast series, Chapel, Court and Countryside, on KPFK in Los Angeles while pursuing his career renting, tuning, regulating and otherwise maintaining keyboard instruments for the record and movie industry. In that period, he, with his wife, Jean, and a friend helped start the Southern California Early Music Society, which functioned successfully until he left for the Bay Area. In Los Angeles, he presented Philharmonia Baroque during its 2nd season, helping raise for the two concerts audiences of 1000 each. It is said that there has been no comparable success since for an early music concert in Los Angeles.

Mr. Spencer was born in Cleveland in 1937, and schooled in industrial design in at the Cleveland Institute of Art and in London. Then he changed the direction of his life, going on to receive a B.A. in music at UCLA. In 1986, some time after his arrival here, when the record industry had turned to CDs, he and his wife started The Musical Offering, with William McClung as their partner. Joe Spencer also founded a CD recording company called Wild Boar, from the middle English for his middle name, Wilbur. Several months ago, when he was in Ann Arbor recording the harpsichordist Edward Parmentier playing the second volume of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, he suffered the attack that was subsequently diagnosed as caused by an incurable condition. He is survived by his wife Jean, and son Joseph.

Two weeks ago, over one hundred of his friends attended a two-hour tribute, organized by the early music doyenne and harpsichordist, Laurette Goldberg, “A Celebration of a Life . . . Joseph Spencer,” at the St. Joseph The Worker Church in Berkeley. Several associates spoke, and there were, of course, musical performances. Mr. Spencer, on oxygen, as he had been for three months, rose from his wheel chair, addressed his friends, and with the audience, most of whom were musicians, sang the chorale “Wachet auf.” A moving farewell.