Author, a fan of Biber; but also of Bach, Beethoven, Telemann, Vivaldi, et al.

Author, a fan of Biber; but also of Bach, Beethoven, Telemann, Vivaldi, et al.

A fan of Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann, Handel, Mozart, jazz, and Biber, just to name a few...

My name is John Hendron and since 1995, I have used the handle (not Handel, eh?) biberfan to identify myself online as a music enthusiast, especially for music written between 1600-1780, roughly considered the baroque period. I have been collecting music recordings since 1989.

I have a bachelor’s in music (composition) and a master’s degree in music & music education (conducting). Today I work in the public education space but enjoy this maintaining this site as something I knew I would have enjoyed finding in my formative years.

Curation. During my college years, I’d steal time away from study to curl up in the corner of the library to read music reviews from magazines such as Early Music and Gramophone. Since 1998, I have been publishing content online through weblogs, including my own reviews. This website is dedicated towards the review of baroque and classical music, and musings on the performance of music and whatever else suits my interests. I am curator of the site, having discovered the music of Bach and "classical" composers in the late 1980s. And with that pedigree, I am not trying to boast, but rather to clearly establish my fandom is for old music, not Justin Bieber.

My parents liked music. Growing up before I spoke, I took to my mom’s organ and enjoyed listening when my dad played records. My love of older music was a discovery I made on my own. From a young age, through graduate school, I’ve studied piano, trombone, conducting, and composition.

Sound quality matters.  Not all reviews I read regularly mention the quality of the recording. But making a recording is not just the musicians, there are artists behind the scenes that can make or break our aesthetic experience from a recording audition. It’s almost impossible for me to not take notice of the quality of the recording. I try to include some comments in my reviews about the work done by the sound engineers. They’re the unsung heroes of recorded music.

Reviews

With all the music at our disposal now, I tend to focus on choosing albums that I like to review. In the end, what I can do to promote the albums that really speak to me and help artists get more exposure, sales, etc., is being a good musical netizen.

However I will run across major releases that maybe don’t sit well with me. You’ll find some of those as well in the catalog of reviews. I try and be as honest as I can in terms of my own feelings and reaction to recordings. My personal rule is, I won’t publish a less flattering review if I haven’t already published a generally positive one in the past.

Ultimately, what gets chosen is about providing a diversity of recordings for readers. If you have something you’d like me to review, I’m open to suggestions.

In 2024, I began adding stars to the reviews as a type of objective comparison for readers. However I need to explain what these mean to me.

⭐️ - I do not recommend this recording and cannot see its merit. I hope never to use this rating.
⭐️⭐️ - This album has some merit to it, but over all, it might not be something I will not return to listen, except maybe to compare it to newer albums with the same repertoire
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - This is a solid album. The music is played well, generally. The sound quality is okay, maybe not superb. Thinking of a bell-curve, most of my collection of physical CDs are probably three-stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - This album is one you should buy (if you collect recordings). The technical aspect of playing is matched by an interesting and moving performance that moves you emotionally.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - This is a so-called desert island album, it’s one you can’t imagine parting with. Everything comes together—music production, sound quality, and extremely engaging playing/singing. Some may consider these their reference-class recordings, the one others get compared to.