Memory lane

The baroque ensemble from Italy who contacted me play the same repertoire that my harpsichord teacher's ensemble does. I remember a concert that my teacher's ensemble gave at St John's, Smith Square. The last piece was a five movement suite for solo harpsichord, each movement of which had a quasi-classical name (such as Florence Smith, her allemande).
I was expecting an allemande. Instead of that, the harpsichordist beat his instrument with alarming ferocity. The music was completely chaotic. I burst out laughing while the rest of the audience maintained their dignified sobriety and gave me dirty looks. The other movements were just as bizarre. My harpsichord teacher told me later that I was the only person who had understood it. The whole thing was a joke.