[Dissertation] The History of Mechanically Bowed Keyboard Instruments with a Description of Extant Examples

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THE HISTORY OF MECHANICALLY BOWED KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS WITH A DESCRIPTION OF EXTANT EXAMPLES

by Carolyn Wood Simons

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music in the Graduate College of the University of Iowa

December 1996

Thesis supervisor: Professor Emeritus Edward L. Kottick

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UMI Number: 9715196

Copyright 1996 by Simons, Carolyn Wood All rights reserved.

UMI Microform 9715196 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.

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Copyright by CAROLYN WOOD SIMONS 1996 All Rights Reserved

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Graduate College The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

PH.D. THESIS

This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of

Carolyn Wood Simons

has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music at the December 1996 graduation.

Thesis committee: Thesis supervisor

Member

Member

Member

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To the Giver o f every good gift, who gave me my husband and my dad.

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May the gracious Lord look compassionately down on us as our coarse voices and wagging tongues intone the canticles of praise and prayer of the holy patriarchs, prophets and apostles in this our transitory life; and in the eternal life now approaching, when we rejoice and sing together with all the divine singers and angels and archangels before the throne of the Lord, may He help us to hold with them an everlasting concert, celebrating with alternating choruses the joyous marriage of Our Holy Groom, Jesus Christ, extolling God the Lord and the indivisible Trinity with our joyous shout of praise . . . and thus praise and glorify the Kingdom and the Power and the Salvation and the Might of Christ our God for ever and ever. Michael Praetorius, Syntagma Musicum, II

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to the many people who contributed to this work in a number of ways: those who sent information, those who offered technical help, and those who made it personally possible for me to complete the project. I am particularly indebted to the Fulbright Commission for the grant for a year's study in Germany, and to Ulrich Littmann, Executive Director of the Fulbright-Kommission in Bonn, Germany, and Reiner Rohr, Director of American Students, for their generosity and kindness, making the year rewarding and satisfying. I thank my friend and mentor, Dr. Edward L. Kottick, for his selfless dedication to his students, for his example of high academic and professional standards, and for being a caring, attentive, and demanding professor and advisor, inspiring and leading me to work better than ever before. I am also indebted to Dr. John Henry van der Meer, for graciously sharing his vast knowledge of the subject of bowed keyboards and giving me invaluable advice and help, as well as being a charming host and friend. I appreciate the kindness and enthusiasm of Dr. Dieter Krickeberg, who went out of his way to assist me at the Germanisches National Museum, making the streichklavier accessible on several occasions, providing the museum's documentation and helping look for additional information, and who served as my academic overseer for the Fulbright-Kommission. I am also grateful to GNM restorers of historical instruments, Klaus Marthis and Kathrin iv

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Schulze, for their observations and help as I inspected the instrument; and to Martin Kimbauer, who offered advice on the scope of the project, and made important contacts for my application for the Fulbright grant. Other museums were equally opened to my research, and my appreciation goes to Dr. Hubert Henkel, curator of the music instrument collection of the Deutsches Museum, Munich, for his patience and help with a lengthy examination of the piano-quatuor and for sending me important museum documents; to Magister Peter Donhauser of the Vienna Technisches Museum and his assistant, Ingrid Prucha, for disassembling parts o f the Hofinann-Czemy streichklavier for my photographs and helping me understand its operation, and Gerhard Hnatek, formerly of the museum, for graciously sending me museum documents and copies of the patent information; to Dr. Winfried Schrammek, director of the University of Leipzig Musikinstrumentensammlung, for preparing the piano-quatuor for my visit and allowing me to study it, and to the curator of the collection, Willand Hecht, for assisting me and politely fielding many questions; to museum assistant Christian Rieche of the Halle Haus museum for giving me information on the piano-violon; to Pascale Vandervellen of the Brussels Music Museum for his friendly and immediate responses to my querries; to Dr. Christian Vaterlein, curator in the WQrttemburgisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart for inviting me to examine the pianoquatuor undergoing restoration, and to the restorer, Stefan Schneider, for his generous hospitality and beneficial insights as he worked with me. Three builders deserve special recognition for their dedication to this study. William Morton shared details on his geigenwerk and also sent valuable information from v

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other sources. Kurt Reichmaim and his wife, Heinke, invited me to stay in their home, took me to his workshop and the museum in Lifiberg where I studied and played the geigenwerk, and gave me a tape recording of the geigenwerk in concert. Akio Obuchi showed the same sort of interest in assisting the study, and courteously sent me complete information on his instrument. I am grateful for the more than 200 responses I received to letters sent to curators, instrument builders, collectors, and musical instrument enthusiasts throughout the United States and Europe. Many sent comments or suggestions guiding me to other people or to sources, and often included photocopies of articles or book excerpts. Although I cannot thank them all individually here, some contributors were especially helpful: Eszter Fontana, Leipzig; Patrizio Barbieri, Rome; Marco Tiella, Rovereto, Italy; Frances Palmer, London; Cristina Bordas Ibanez, Madrid; Beryl Kenyon de Pascual, Madrid; Prof. Dr. Ulrich Feigner, University of Tubingen, Germany; Dr. Herbert Heyde, Andrew Mellon Fellow, formerly o f Leipzig; Dr. Franz Krautwurst of Erlangen, Germany; Uta Henning, Ludwigsburg, Germany; Dr. Peter Andreas Kjeldsberg, Ringve Museum, Trondheim, Norway; Dr. Laurence Libin, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Dr. Frederick Crane, The University of Iowa; and Bart Hopkins, Experimental Music Institute, Nicasio, California. Others I would like to thank for their encouragement and willingness to help, are Dr. Gerhard Stradner, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Dr. Isabel Freire de Andrade, Lisbon; Dr. Marianne Brocker, Germany; Dr. Howard Mayer Brown, University of Chicago; and Dr. Andreas Beurmann, Hamburg.

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My thanks to the museums and libraries for permission to use their materials and my photographs, and to Dover publishing company for permission to use the figures and photographs from the "Truchado" article by F. J. de Hen in Edwin Ripin's book Keyboard Instruments. Credit for photographs taken by others goes to Dr. Edward Kottick, for his photograph of William Morton’s geigenwerk, to Kurt Reichmann for the studio photograph of his geigenwerk in his workshop, and to Akio Obuchi, for the photograph of his geigenwerk, for which he graciously sent me a silk-screen, camera-ready original. In addition, I thank my friend Nancy Bastian, who graciously loaned me a Nikormat camera for a year which I used to take pictures of the museum instruments. Technical support came in diverse areas. I thank my committee for their time and help in carefully examining and responding to both the content and form of the completed work. Credit is due to those who helped me translate old materials, difficult to both read and understand: Dr. John Nothnagle, Kathrin Meyer, Tim Parrot, Shirley Stroud, Jennifer Timblin, and William Morton. Dr. Irene Alyn, Chair of the Department of Nursing at Cedarville College, graciously allowed me to use department facilities for preparing the manuscript. I thank Cedarville College for helping to defray printing costs, and Carl Brandon, Head of the Library Media Resource Center, for his assistance. I am grateful for the personal encouragement from all those who prayed for me. My appreciation and love to my family is immeasurable: to my Father- and Mother-inlaw, John and Betty Simons, for their constant care and encouragement; to my parents, Kenneth and Della May Wood, whose love has been demonstrated all my life as they have faithfully supported all my endeavors, and without whose financial help the year in vii

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Germany would have been impossible; to our children, Marty, Peter, Kathryn, Stephen, Sarah, and Jonathan, for their patience with my time-consuming work, for their help in the home, and for their love, encouragement, and prayers. My deepest gratitude, love and devotion go to my husband, Jack, who inspired me to seek the degree, made it possible for me to finish, and who, in the process, lovingly gave far more than anyone else. Above all, I give my undying thanks and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Whom be all the glory.

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ABSTRACT

The combination of bowed strings with keyboard has intrigued instrument builders since the Middle Ages. The early examples such as the organistrum or hurdy-gurdy were bowed instruments with key-operated tangents to depress the strings. The shape was like a fiddle or a box, and the strings were excited by a rosined wheel. Near the end of the 16th century, Hans Haiden of Nuremburg took a different approach to the combination. Instead of adding keys to a string instrument, he began with a keyboard instrument and brought to it continuous bowing by a band of horsehair or by rosined wheels. Haiden created the geigenwerk in order to produce a keyboard instrument with the ability to crescendo on an indefinitely sustained pitch. He claimed it could also sound one voice louder than others and produce a number of special effects. His instruments met with some success during the 17th century, and were owned by royalty. Since then, many mechanically bowed, keyboard instruments have been attempted. These numerous inventions fall into two general categories: those that "bowed" the strings with a revolving band of horsehair or some other material and those that rubbed the strings with wheels. Ten museums house extant bowed keyboards, and three contemporary builders have designed and constructed them. ix

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This study details the first geigenwerk and its maker, traces the history of the inventions with a comprehensive list of builders, and gives a thorough description with photographs and copies of available patent information for extant examples, including contemporary instruments.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................

xv

INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................

1

PART I.

THE H ISTO RY.....................................................................

9

1.

HANS HAIDEN AND THE GEIGENWERK......................

10

2.

THE SIXTEENTH-TWENTIETH CENTURIES The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries........................ The eighteenth century ................................................... The nineteenth century ................................................... The twentieth century.....................................................

37 44 62 71

PART II.

EXTANT INSTRUMENTS...................................................

99

3.

ANONYMOUS STREICHKLAVIER C a se ................................................................................. Stringing.......................................................................... Action ............................................................................. Dam ping.......................................................................... Bowing mechanism.......................................................... Conclusion ......................................................................

100 102 104 105 106 107

PIANO-VIOLON AND PIANO-QUATUOR BY BAUDET Invention and general information.................................. Extant exam ples.............................................................. C a se .................................................................................. Action ............................................................................. Bowing mechanism.......................................................... Stringing..........................................................................

123 124 126 127 132 133

CHAPTER

4.

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5.

6.

7.

D am ping.......................................................................... Conclusion .....................................................................

134 134

STREICHKLAVIER BY HOFMANN AND CZERNY C a s e ................................................................................. Action ............................................................................ D am ping.......................................................................... Bowing mechanism......................................................... Stringing.......................................................................... Conclusion .....................................................................

163 164 166 167 169 170

OTHER EXAMPLES The Truchado geigenwerk.............................................. The Kaufinann harmonichord......................................... The Breiby claviola ....................................................... The Djemenjuk sostenente pian o ....................................

186 190 195 196

MODERN GEIGENWERKS .................................................

215

........................................................................................

230

CONCLUSION

APPENDICES ........................................................................................ 1 FACSIMILE OF MUSICALEINSTRUMENTUM, REFORMATUM.............................................................. 2 FACSIMILE OF COMMENTATIO DE MUSICALE INSTRUMENTO, REFORMATO.................................... 3 "GEIGENWERK" FROM SYNTAGMA M U SICA.................. 4 POEM BY DAVID HAIDEN................................................. 5 LIST OF GEIGENWERK OWNERS .................................. 6 HARPSICHORD BY LE VOIR Translation ..................................................................... Transcription................................................................... 7 MUSICAL KEYBOARD INSTRUMENT BY LE GAY Translation ..................................................................... Transcription................................................................... 8 SONATA FURS BOGEN-CLAVIER ................................... 9 BOWED PIANO BY PROFESSOR LUDWIG SCHNOLLER Translation ..................................................................... Transcription................................................................... Facsimile ........................................................................

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235 236 267 296 301 307 309 312 316 317 318 326 329 333

10

11

12

13

14 15

16

17

18 19

ANONYMOUS STREICHKLAVIER MEASUREMENTS C a se .................................................................................. Stringing ........................................................................ Keys and Action ............................................................ D am pers........................................................................... Bowing Mechanism ....................................................... ANONYMOUS STREICHKLAVIER DOCUMENTATION Facsimile ........................................................................ Transcription................................................................... Translation ...................................................................... PIANO-QUATUOR 1873 PATENT Translation ...................................................................... Transcription.................................................................... Facsimile ........................................................................ Diagrams ........................................................................ PIANO-VIOLON 1865 PATENT, WITH 1866 ADDITION Translation ...................................................................... Transcription................................................................... Facsimile ........................................................................ Patent Diagram s............................................................... Addition D iagram ............................................................ PIANO-QUATUOR MEASUREMENTS............................... KUHMAYER AND HOFMANN 1914 PATENT Translation ...................................................................... Transcription................................................................... Facsimile ........................................................................ D iagram ........................................................................... FRANZ KOHMAYER 1898 PATENT Translation ...................................................................... Transcription.................................................................... Facsimile ........................................................................ D iag ram ........................................................................... LEO KOHMAYER 1915 PATENT Translation ...................................................................... Transcription.................................................................... Facsimile ........................................................................ D iag ram ........................................................................... HOFMANN AND CZERNY STREICHKLAVIER MEASUREMENTS ....................................................... FACSIMILE OF HARMONICHORD DOCUMENTATION

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339 340 342 344 345 346 347 347 349 358 369 385 387 395 404 413 421 422 424 425 427 429 430 435 442 448 449 450 453 455 456 460

BIBLIOGRAPHY

463

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure

Page

1.1

Organistrum .......................................................................................

5

1.2

Hurdy-gurdy, 13th century..................................................................

5

1.3

Hurdy-gurdy, 18th century..................................................................

6

1.4

Viola organista.....................................................................................

7

1.1

Title page, Doppelmayr.......................................................................

24

1.2

Doppelmayr, page 212: "Hans Haiden" ............................................

25

1.3

Doppelmayr’s working copy (facing212)...........................................

26

1.4

Woodcut of geigenwerk in Syntagma M u sic a ...................................

27

1.5

Nuremberg festival of 1649 ...............................................................

28

1.6

Cenotaph of Leonhard W irsing..........................................................

29

2.1

Chronology.........................................................................................

74

2.2

Lyra panharmonica by V alentini........................................................

80

2.3

Combination instrument by Kircher...................................................

80

2.4

Combination instrument by Todini ...................................................

81

2.5

Lyrichord by Plenius...........................................................................

81

2.6

Bowed harpsichord by Le V o ir..........................................................

82

2.7

Claviol by Hawkins ...........................................................................

83

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2.8

Claviol in d e ta il..................................................................................

84

3.1

Bentside case decoration..................................................................

108

3.2

Case front

..........................................................................................

108

3.3

Cheek with crude c u ts .........................................................................

109

3.4

Keywell ..............................................................................................

109

3.5

Paneled lid ..........................................................................................

110

3.6

B o tto m .................................................................................................

110

3.7

The streichklavier as furniture ..........................................................

Ill

3.8

Keyframe rem oved.............................................................................

Ill

3.9

Treble stringing with damper r a i l ......................................................

112

3.10

Stringing at the t a i l ..............................................................................

112

3.11

Keyframe with a key rem o v ed ..........................................................

113

3.12

Keysprings rem o v ed ...........................................................................

113

3.13

Keysprings in place ...........................................................................

114

3.14

Underside of k e y s................................................................................

114

3.15

Keys with rollers on cord .................................................................

115

3.16

Roller pushing cord against s trin g s ...................................................

115

3.17

Damper dowels ..................................................................................

116

3.18

Key with damper dowel and roller kapsel .......................................

116

3.19

Key at rest; key depressed.................................................................

117

3.20

Damper r a i l ..........................................................................................

118

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3.21

Underside of clamper r a i l ....................................................................

118

3.22

Bowing mechanism ............................................................................

119

3.23

Pulleys and c o rd ...................................................................................

119

3.24

Pedal and w h e e l...................................................................................

120

3.25

Drive mechanism

..............................................................................

120

4.1

Advertisement for the piano-quatuor.................................................

137

4.2

The Munich piano-quatuor..................................................................

141

4.3

The Stuttgart piano-quatuor................................................................

141

4.4

The Leipzig piano-quatuor

................................................................

142

4.5

Cabriole legs ( U L ) ..............................................................................

142

4.6

Ornate brass handle ( D M ) ..................................................................

143

4.7

Elaborate iron ring assembly (UL) ....................................................

143

4.8

Keywell (D M ) .....................................................................................

144

4.9

Candelabras (U L )................................................................................

144

4.10

Fallboard (WB) ...................................................................................

145

4.11

Endblock (DM) ...................................................................................

145

4.12

Endblock (WB) ...................................................................................

146

4.13

Decorative pedals (DM) ...................................................................

146

4.14

Soundboard and hitchpins at pedals (DM) .......................................

147

4.15

Soundboard and hitchpins in the treble ( D M ) ..................................

147

4.16

Bundles of fibers supported by cotton string (DM) ........................

148

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4.17

Diagram from 1865 piano-violon patent............................................

149

4.18

Diagram from 1866 patent addition...................................................

149

4.19

Diagram from 1873 piano-quatuor p a te n t..........................................

150

4.20

Model of piano-quatuor a c tio n ..........................................................

150

4.21

Key at rest (D M ) ................................................................................

151

4.22

Key depressed (D M )...........................................................................

151

4.23

Keytail resting on keydip regulator (D M )..........................................

152

4.24

Keydip regulator screws (D M )...........................................................

152

4.25

Octave coupling, one key depressed (UL) .......................................

153

4.26

Knee levers at rest (UL) ....................................................................

154

4.27

Knee levers engaged ( U L ) ..................................................................

154

4.28

Drive mechanism (W B ).......................................................................

155

4.29

Pulley for cylinder (D M )....................................................................

155

4.30

Worm gear with eccentric cam (DM) ..............................................

156

4.31

Grooved cylinder (D M ).......................................................................

156

4.32

Divided nut (D M )................................................................................

157

4.33

Listing cord in bass (UL) ..................................................................

157

4.34

Listing leather in treble ( U L ) .............................................................

158

4.35

Hole in wrestplank (W B )....................................................................

158

5.1

Hofmann & Czerny advertisement......................................................

173

5.2

Streichklavier description....................................................................

174

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5.3

Streichklavier with lid clo sed .............................................................

175

5.4

Lid removed, nagshead swell raised .................................................

175

5.5

Holes in soundboard near spine ........................................................

176

5.6

Pulley under the soundboard .............................................................

176

5.7

Broken lever device ...........................................................................

177

5.8

Case t a i l ..............................................................................................

177

5.9

Side view of action..............................................................................

178

5.10

Front view of a c tio n ...........................................................................

178

5.11

View of action from above ...............................................................

179

5.12

Keylevers of varying lengths .............................................................

179

5.13

Keytails ..............................................................................................

180

5.14

Dampers

............................................................................................

180

5.15

Damper release ..................................................................................

181

5.16

Pulleys and revolving rollers .............................................................

181

5.17

Drive w h e e ls.......................................................................................

182

5.18

Double-stringing and b rid g e s.............................................................

182

5.19

Stringing and a c tio n ...........................................................................

183

5.20

Tuning hooks .....................................................................................

183

5.21

Sectional b rid g e ...................................................................................

184

6.1

Truchado geigenw erk.........................................................................

199

6.2

Truchado drive wheels and friction w heels.......................................

200

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6.3

Truchado strin g in g ..............................................................................

200

6.4

Truchado a c tio n ...................................................................................

201

6.5

Diagram of original harmonichord actio n ..........................................

202

6.6

Model of new harmonichord a ctio n ....................................................

203

6.7

Model of original harmonichord action .............................................

203

6.8

Kaufinann playing the harmonichord.................................................

204

6.9

Harmonichord at Buckingham Palace ...............................................

205

6.10

Patent drawing of Breiby claviola......................................................

206

6.11

Breiby claviola.....................................................................................

206

6.12

Djemenjuk sostenente p ia n o ................................................................

207

6.13

Diagrams of action and stringing ......................................................

208

6.14

Vibrato d e v ic e .....................................................................................

208

7.1

William Morton’s geigenwerk ...........................................................

222

7.2

Da Vinci’s viola organista..................................................................

222

7.3

Kurt Reichmann’s viola organista......................................................

223

7.4

Close-up of viola organista ................................................................ 223

7.5

Reichmann’s geigenwerk in his sh o p .................................................

224

7.6

Drive wheels reflected in a m irror......................................................

225

7.7

Reichmann tuning while Heinke c ra n k s.............................................

225

7.8

Close-up of w h e els..............................................................................

226

7.9

Geigenwerk a c tio n ..............................................................................

226

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7.10

Akio Obuchi’s geigenwerk..................................................................

227

7.11

Pull-down m echanism .........................................................................

228

7.12

Lever link action ................................................................................

228

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1

INTRODUCTION

Performers and instrument builders have long been fascinated with instruments that combine the sustained sound of bowed strings with a keyboard. As early as the twelfth century sculptors in France, Germany and Spain depicted a mechanically-bowed chordophone identified as an organistrum or hurdy-gurdy. Originally in the shape of a long-necked fiddle, the instrument was portrayed held across the laps of two people, and sounded by means of a hand-cranked wheel whose rosined edge rubbed against three strings. Two of the strings produced a drone, but the third was stopped by small wooden rods or tangents which were operated by a keyboard of about an octave (Figure 1.1). A thirteenth-century example, shaped like a box, appeared in a miniature from the Cantigas de Santa Maria (Figure 1.2). Later hurdy-gurdies took the shape of lutes or guitars. An eighteenth-century lute-shaped hurdy-gurdy (Figure 1.3) had a wheel in the center that maintained contact with all six strings: the two outer sets produced a drone, while the two inner strings were stopped by means of tangents, activated by depressing the keys on the side. In the sixteenth century Leonardo da Vinci sketched an instrument that took the hurdy-gurdy principle a step further; he called it viola organista (Figure 1.4). Various versions appear in his sketchbooks, some having four melody strings, each fretted by five

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2 to nine tangents, some apparently unfretted, with one string-or perhaps even two-per pitch, some using wheels, and some using bows to stroke the strings. However, it is unclear how the bows operated, as Da Vinci's drawings probably reflect an ongoing attempt to design a workable model, rather than a completed blueprint. Hurdy-gurdies represented a keyed string instrument with a friction wheel; da Vinci's four-stringed viola organista fell into this category (a modem reconstruction may be seen in Chapter 7). However, the late sixteenth century produced a new kind of instrument more along the lines of da Vinci's unfretted examples: a keyboard instrument, shaped, strung, and keyed like a harpsichord, but with an added bowing device. Invented by Hans Haiden of Nuremberg in 1575, this Geigenwerk became the first of four centuries of attempts to overcome the physical and acoustical difficulties of combining the beauty and flexibility of bowed strings with the convenience and versatility of a keyboard. Although a limited number of bowed keyboard instruments are documented in the seventeenth and twentieth centuries, inventions flourished during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, particularly in Germany, France, and Italy, with a few examples in other European countries. They offered a variety of sizes, shapes, and configurations, and were built-almost always as a hobby or experiment-by instrument makers, merchants, musicians, inventors, and "mechanics," that is, those knowledgeable in mathematics and engineering and skilled in designing mechanical devices.

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3 Most of the inventions were original attempts to create a musical instrument. A few merely tried to copy earlier models, but even these forced the builders to wrestle with the acoustical challenges, requiring a good deal of inventing on their part. Of these many creations, some were exhibited and sold, many were built but not duplicated, some never made it past the drawings, and some have come and gone without leaving a trace beyond the inventor's name and city. Some are known because their success was documented; some are known because their inventor left good information behind or they ended up in important collections. Most are associated with a builder; only a few are anonymous, but often there is little information about the instrument connected with the name. These numerous inventions fall into two general categories: those that "bowed" the strings with a revolving band of horsehair or some other material, and those that rubbed the strings with wheels. Most wheels contacted the strings directly; in a few cases, such as the piano violon and harmonichord (Chapters 4 and 6, respectively), the wheel, or cylinder in these cases, rubbed an intermediary material (plant fibers or wooden rods) attached to the strings. Acoustically, the appendages acted as part of the strings, which is to say that the vibrations transferred to the strings. In these instruments, the intermediary material was pressed against the cylinder; in all other cases, the strings themselves were moved against the revolving band or wheels, or the band or wheels were brought into contact with the strings. Although the hurdy-gurdy and four-stringed viola organista are considered "ancestors" of the mechanically bowed keyboard instruments discussed here, there is a

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4 difference: they both have a limited number of melody strings which are fretted. Fretting was used in many keyed, bowed instruments throughout history, such as the clavecin-vielle of Cuisinie of Paris (1708) which had only six strings, and inventions such as the orchestrion which had violins, violas, and cellos built into it and merely fretted those instruments by means of keys. However, this study deals only with those instruments which have no fretting, but rather have a separate string or string set for each key. It is also limited to the traditional use of the keyboard, which excludes the experimental "bowed piano" of Stephen Scott, in which a handful of players used small nylon threads to rub individual strings over the soundboard.1 Taking an historical rather than a categorical approach, Chapter 1 introduces the first and possibly the most successful instrument, the late sixteenth-century geigenwerk of Hans Haiden of Nuremberg, Germany. Chapter 2 explores three and one-half centuries of subsequent inventions beginning in Haiden's day and continuing to 1965. Descriptions and photographs of extant museum instruments by three inventors comprise Chapters 3-5, while Chapter 6 reports briefly on four other extant instruments which were either inaccessible to the author or have already been thoroughly examined and described. Chapter 7 introduces contemporary instruments by builders who are continuing the tradition.

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5

Figure 1.1: Organistrum

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Figure 1.2: Hurdy-gurdy, 13th century

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Figure 1.3: Hurdy-gurdy, 18th century Metropolitan Museum of Art, Crosby Brown Collection

6

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Figure 1.4: Viola organista

7

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8

Notes 1.

Review of "New Music for Bowed Piano" by Stephen Scott (New Albion Records), "Recordings," Electronic Musician III (June 1985), 6-7. I am grateful to Bart Hopkins for sending me a copy of the article.

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9

PA R Ii THE HISTORY

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10

CHAPTER 1 HANS HADDEN AND THE GEIGENWERK

The earliest documented mechanically bowed keyboard instrument was the Geigenwerk built by Hans Haiden1 of Nuremberg. He completed his first geigenwerk by 1575, then came out with an improved version in 1599. The idea seems to have been his own, for even though da Vinci's viola organista (see Introduction) preceded the geigenwerk by almost a century and represents a forerunner in principle, it is unlikely that Haiden was influenced by them; as Georg Kinsky points out, only in the twentieth century have da Vinci's enigmatic Italian manuscripts been more completely plumbed and more clearly explained.3 According to the biographer Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (see Figures 1.1-3), Hans Haiden4 was bom on January 19, 1536,5 to a long-standing noble family of Nuremberg, the son of Sebald Haiden, prominent citizen, musician and superintendent of the Sebald school.6 Hans married Magdalene Kolb in 1562; she bore him seven sons and n

four daughters before she died in 1584. Two sons were musical, both of them composers and organists: the third son, Hans Christoff (1572-1617), and the youngest g

son, David (1580-1660), who became closely associated with the geigenwerk. From a family record written by David comes an account of his father's life and work:

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11 He first went to a Latin school and was taught in the Latin language, so that he understood it enough. At last he was sent to a court proctor named Preisentron, to improve and practice writing, which then helped in letter and other writings. After that he was apprenticed to a tradesman. . . but when he married in 1562 and made his home, he applied for factories and obtained them, and worked for Mr. Jacob and Hans Weltzer9 as a velvet, silk and spice tradesman, as demonstrated from his working contract of August 24,1570, which was for six years, and then in 1576 was extended six years. His salary was 300 Thaler and some additional benefits for his household. Weltzer added to his business in 1580, naming Pflintzingen, Schmidmeim and Joachim Finold to the Manfiseldische Bergwerks Company and Copper Business, and Haiden started to work there for 500 Thaler. He worked there thirty-three years to the very end (October, 1613). Even though he was tired and weak because of his advanced age, he worked hard to earn his pay. He traveled in the name of the Weltzer business in 1576 to Antorff, risking his own life because it was raided by the Spaniards at that time. He visited Frankfurt while on a business trip for the copper business to Geigerhtitten Grafenthal, Eifileben and Munich.10 Haiden's position as a businessman left him with time and money enough to be what Kinsky describes as "a man whose personality captivates us by the diversity of his talents: he combined within himself the multifarious abilities and inclinations of a merchant, mechanic, musician, instrument builder and author

which establishes the

inventor of the geigenwerk as a true offspring of the Renaissance."11 His son David describes him as "the great lover and follower of many arts."

12

He reports that as a

talented mechanic Haiden further refined Wenzel Jamnitzer’s improvement of Diirer's tool for aiding perspective calculations, tried his hand at a perpetual motion device, and especially made models "for all sorts of'war instruments' for Kaiser Rudolf II: making bridges, trucks for carrying away weapons, big wooden canons and other similar devices. . . . Haiden displayed these models personally to the Kaiser and for this reason travelled

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12 to the court in Prague several times."

13

A December 13, 1585 entry in the royal court's

treasury record says that Hans Haiden was given a gift of 100 Gulden for seven years' pleasing service and artistic work.14 Two of Haiden's products were still in the Dresden museum of mathematics-physics when Kinsky wrote his article for the Zeitschriftfur Musikwissenschqft in 1924: "an astronomical sun and moon clock which had been owned by Philip Melanchthon from 1553 and an artistic globus-clock from sometime before 1560."15 Although Haiden conceded that music was not his occupation and profession,16 he was, nevertheless, publicly active in music all his life. Kinsky points out that the small treatises he wrote on the geigenwerk demonstrate "a good knowledge of musical things, and many of his comments are noteworthy as contributions to the understanding of the musical practice and science of the instruments of his day."

17

Haiden grew up

around musical people in his home who helped him learn composition, and he won several contests. His son David relates that "since his early teenage years, he has had a great love for music and, because he practiced a lot without even having a teacher, he achieved a level of skill where he substituted for the organist in the St. Sebald church for a long time without pay for the glory of God."

18

Based on local records of church

organists, Kinsky conjectures that this must have been between 1565 and 1571.

19

Dunng

this time Haiden also rehearsed and conducted a choir in Orlando di Lasso's six-part hymn "Vexilla regis" for a reception given in honor of Maximillian H's visit to Nuremberg in 1570.

20

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13 Haiden's further knowledge in musical areas is manifest in David's report that he "distributed twenty-some instrument-tablature books written in his own hand."

21

From a modem perspective, Haiden's crowning achievement in the musical realm was his invention of the geigenwerk. He said that it "wasn't made without much trouble and many costs, and for which many practice pieces and models were made."

22

His first

instrument, completed by 1575 and given to elector August of Saxony for his instrument collection in Dresden, was so admired that the elector’s friend Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria, asked for it. In 1576 it was returned briefly to Nuremberg apparently for an overhaul, and then went to the Duke's collection in Munich where it was listed in a 1593 inventory.

23

While visiting Munich in 1581, Vincenzo Galilei got to know the new

instrument and included a description of it in his Dialogo della musica antica et della modema: A very ingenious and beautiful keyboard instrument Another example of a keyboard instrument which the Elector Augustus, duke of Saxony presented to the late great Albert of Bavaria, occurs to me in this regard, better than any other. This instrument has strings similar to those of the lute and they are bowed like those of a viola by a strand made ingeniously of the same hairs of which are made the hair of viola bows. This strand can very easily be made to revolve by the foot of the player and strikes (bows), by means of a wheel over which it passes, the number of strings wanted by the fingers of the player. When I visited that court two years ago,251 tuned this instrument in lute-like fashion and when well played it produced the sweetest sound, not different from an ensemble of Viols.26 The instrument described by Galilei is the original geigenwerk with gut strings and horsehair bow, while the instrument described in the 1619 Syntagma Musicum by Praetorius (Figure 1.4, Appendix 3) is the "improved" geigenwerk, which first appears in

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14 the Munich court treasury records of 1599, a gift from Hans Haiden.

27

In this new

model, gut strings had been replaced with steel strings in the treble and steel and brass strings wound with parchment in the bass.

28

In place o f the horsehair bow were

five or six wheels smoothly covered with parchment rubbed with rosin (just as is the violin bow). These wheels are governed by another large wheel and various rollers lying under the soundingboard, and are pedaled below by the player himself, or else pumped up above bv a bellows-pumper, in such a fashion that the wheels remain in constant motion. Strings were made to sound by being pulled against the revolving wheels; in this way, the sound of violins could be imitated from a keyboard.

30

Haiden published three treatises (Tract&tlein)31 the size of small booklets to explain his instrument and his reasons for inventing i t The first, with the title in black and red letters, was Musicale Instrumentum, Reformatum durch Harms Haiden den Eltern

32

33

(See Appendix 1).

No publisher or date is given, only the designation "in

Nuremberg," but as Kinsky points out, it presumably was published sometime between 1600, after the improved instrument was produced, and 1605, when the second treatise appeared.

34

In this 16-page booklet,

35

Haiden states that the treatise is intended for his

colleagues and friends, and comes out of his enthusiasm for music and its future. He elaborates on eight aspects of music, filling two sides o f seven pages: 1) The origin of music: a gift of God with which man should willingly give praise to God in the highest; 2) A history of music in the Bible and a summary of the history of music theory, with a mention of the music of the spheres and of the natural world; 3) The power of music to invigorate and refresh man's heart and to affect the natural world; 4) The necessity of

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15 music to have unity in performance, as man was created for unity with one another; 5) The ability of music to speak to all, whether trained in it or not, unlike the other disciplines (arithmetic, grammar, geometry, etc.); 6) Plato's comments: the study and knowledge of music civilizes man; 7) Plutarch's prescription: music heals the body and mind; 8) The spiritual power of music to rouse devotion in man's inner being, promoting fervent praise to God when it hears a beautiful text with appropriate melody in which the text is made alive through the notes. With this, Haiden launches into a seven-page argument for proper and effective performance practices, supported by evidence from the Scriptures, from history, from logic, and from his own experience. He is adamant that the voices should be clear, natural, and unforced, the parts easily distinguishable and subject to one another, and that the various moods should be recognizable. Presenting well­ moderated human voices as the ideal in music, he classifies the instruments according to their nearness in quality to the voice: violin, trombone, shawm, flute; and then reviews their capabilities and shortcomings. He points out that all instruments are limited and cannot produce moderation, expressed both in singing and speaking through rise and fall. The rise, or ability to produce a crescendo on a sustained pitch is impossible on any instrument; the organ, which can sustain notes indefinitely, increases or decreases in volume only abruptly, by changing registration. Stringed keyboard instruments continue to sound only if struck repeatedly, and this is contrary to the nature of grave music. Although bowed string instruments crescendo and decrescendo, they sustain only one bow-length in time before the bow stops and reverses direction. He explains his

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16 amazement that musicians have spent their energies daily flooding music with new things and forgetting the most important aspect, that of making moderation possible. Therefore, he has come up with a solution: an instrument with bowed strings, since the violin is the closest to the human voice; small and light enough to be portable; loud enough to be used with a choir in a roomy church, but also quiet enough to be used in a small chamber, with sheepgut strings for less sound and brass or steel strings for more penetrating volume; able to have accents without changing registers, but merely through finger pressure. Going into detail on the action, he stresses that the keys play easily since the dip is shallow and the keys can be made to lightly stroke the strings providing an echo effect. He also mentions the ability to make a tremolo or bebung. Haiden contends that this instrument is better than a group of six to eight violins, since one person controls the attacks of all the parts so that all parts can be always together. He declares that the instrument is free from the faults of all the others and has only one drawback: its inability to speak a text An organist playing it can produce a wide range of moods so clearly, that listeners will know whether his spirit is solemn, happy, melancholy, sad, or lighthearted. Furthermore, it can produce the two extremes in music: the violin, the loveliest, and the trumpets and drums, the most frightening. Haiden then gives some admonition to those who would play it, reminding them that it takes a sensitive, practiced touch to produce the delicate nuances; the person who thinks itis no different from a harpsichord should not be allowed to play it. Furthermore, there are those who know nothing of the moderation o f voices, whom he describes as "wooden organists with

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17 wooden fingers,” whose music sounds like that of a "self-playing instrument" Haiden implies that the instrument has not been well-received in his native land, but he is confident that it will be popular abroad, especially in Italy, where they take pleasure in the best music; they will also be amazed that a German came up with the idea. In closing, Haiden reviews that his intentions for his work came out of his enthusiasm for music and the future of music, as the new music has wiped out the old art, and needs instruments which can produce it without limitations. His hope is that his name will be well remembered, and he dedicates his accomplishment to God in gratefulness for His grace. The second tract, a Latin translation of the first tract, was published in 1605: Commentatio de Musicali Instrumento, Reformato aJohanne Heiden Seniore, Germanice primum conscripta et recognita, Nunc vero a Philomuso latinitate donata (see Appendix 2).36 The third tract, Musicale Instrumentum Reformatum, was published by the Nuremberg publisher Abraham Wagenmann and gives the date 1610. On the overleaf of the title page there is a poem of praise by Haiden's friend, the composer Hans Leo Hassler:37 This work of art surpasses without end All other instruments by far As Orpheus wth his lyre Was able to charm all animals into submission This instrument will do much more When one knows how to use the hand correctly, And the finger can moderate well Delicately convey soft and loud so pleasingly, So everyone will experience,

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18 That with this one can move Man's soul to strife and affection much more than Cytherea's art If you want to know who the man is Who alone can make such an instrument, Hanns Haidt the Elder is his name He lives at Nuremberg in his fatherland. He conceived it in his own mind And brought it to perfection. And applied great effort and diligence to it For which he will always have praise and glory.38 The third tract also contains a foreword, a hymn in praise of music, and instead of the general musical explanation, there is a thorough description of the instrument itself, almost identical to Praetorius's description in Syntagma Musicum, published nine years later. Haiden ends with: "[I have] written this tract in the 75th year of my life in order to best commemorate all the organists and instrumentalists."

39

Praetorius's description includes his own observations, along with a passage quoted from Haiden's third treatise describing fourteen effects possible on the geigenwerk, even though it had only one manual and required no special technique. First, despite the impossibility of producing words, the player could, through finger pressure, express his emotions, whether happy or sad. Second, he could alter the tempo, though this obviously was not unique to the geigenwerk. Third, one voice could sound suddenly loud and then suddenly soft again; fourth, two voices or choirs could be made to sound antiphonally. The fifth effect was an echo, the sixth the imitation of a lute, the seventh the ability to bring one voice out above the others, the eighth the bebung or tremolo

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19 produced by finger pressure, the ninth through twelfth the imitation of a peasant lyra, bagpipe and shawm, zither, and viola bastarda. The thirteenth effect promised court music and band music on it, making it sound as if twelve trumpets and clarinos were playing together. Then one can use small kettle drums with this violin-clavier-and some of them are provided with such drums, which are activated by a stop; and this does not sound badly at all.40 The fourteenth effect involved at least two lid positions, open and closed, which apparently affected the volume significantly: "When covered it produces a soft, still sound like violins and is lovely to hear in a small chamber; but if desired it may be used opened and made to sound so loud that it can be heard very well in an entire ensemble of singers and instruments."41 This does not seem to imply an adjustable swell device, but rather the muting capabilities of the closed lid in contrast to its ability when open to play loudly enough to fill a chinch. Haiden includes several warnings in his description: The performer must practice to coordinate the pedaling and the playing, and must be careful to apply the appropriate finger pressure lest he play too loud and "rattle" the strings, or play too soft so that the strings do not sound at all.

The virtues of the geigenwerk are further enumerated in a

poem by David Haiden (Appendix 4), apparently intended to be in a poetic style reminiscent of the Meistersinger of Nuremberg, Hans Sachs. Haiden's improved geigenwerk was granted a "Privilege" by Kaiser Rudolf II, dated January 24,1601, which was extended for an additional ten years on September 29,

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20 1612 by Rudolfs successor, Kaiser Matthias. The family chronicles records the transactions in a mixture of narrative and text from the letter: Hans Haiden the Elder, a loyal subject to the Reich, as he lets be known in small yet significant ways, did indeed, and not without longterm effort, hard work and great expense to himself, invent a previously unknown musical instrument which resembles a violin and is fitted with wheels, and with hand-operated keys, with which one can regulate the volume in order to achieve the desired affect, without pushing and pulling the register (as is commonly necessary); this instrument was brought to light and made ready for production, though production was almost halted because there are those who would claim imitations of Heyden's were their own in order to harm the true inventor (as has often been the case in such situations) by claiming the instrument is a copy or by exaggerating their own part in the invention of this instrument and in light of this we are compelled to enlist His Majesty the King's honorable privilege, which possibility had been made known to us by personal inquiry of the now reigning emperor Matthiam, who in humility contacted and pleaded our case before the King himself, whether he would provide such privilege. We ask, assuring you of our devotion to your honor and in light of your having granted this freedom, that you would see fit to extend for an additional 10 years beyond the date of this letter said privileges etc. etc.44 According to Doppelmayr, Haiden built at least twenty-three geigenwerks (the complete list of owners comprises Appendix 5). He sold nineteen and gave four away. No less than eight of the buyers were royalty, four of whom were Hapsburgs. The fourth instrument sold went to Michael Praetorius's employer, Duke Heinrich Julius of Braunschweig-Lfrneberg; this is presumably the instrument pictured in the Syntagma Musicum. The composer Hans Leo Hassler owned the twelfth geigenwerk, then sold it to Elector Christian II of Saxony. This instrument, still playable in 1715, was mentioned by Christoph Gottlieb SchrOter in his letter to the music director in Dresden, Johann Christoph Schmidt:

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21 . . . Nuremberg geigenwerk which I had never before seen nor heard. For reasons easy to comprehend, I naturally enjoyed playing this instrument more than the GrSbner45 harpsichord, which was to date in use; however, having to move both feet simultaneously, much like a linen weaver would, does not suit me at all and I have since found out that this does not suit other players either—whether they are male or female.46 Haiden gave the twentieth geigenwerk to Caspar Hassler, brother of Hans Leo Hassler, who used it in the S t Lorenz church in Nuremberg where he was organist Another (number twenty-two) was donated to Haiden's church, S t Sebald, and eventually went to the courthouse. It was used in several important concerts, one of which was city-wide, held in 1640. In May of 1643, an elaborate concert included a local citizen as special guest professor of theology, philosophy, philology, and famous lyricist Johann Michael Dilherr. Sigismund Theophil Staden led the lengthy concert with the fifteenth spot on the program designated "contemporary music," including instrumental music played by lutes, viols and gambas and "afterward the newly-invented Nuremberg geigenwerk of Mr. Haiden."

A“1

Contemporary vocal music by Hans Leo Hassler and Giovanni Gabrieli

preceded the instrumental segment This new music, reported to be vastly different from the "old art" [stile antico], greatly moved the listeners with its ability to convey the Affections. Following the instrumental music were two pieces by Staden.

io

In

celebration of the end of the Thirty Years War, a grand festival with a concert was given on September 25,1649 in honor of the Swedish fieldmarshall, Karl Gustav V, who later became King of Sweden. This concert was also directed by Staden, and the geigenwerk, played by the organist of St. Sebald, Valentin DreBel, served as a continuo instrument

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22 with a theorbo and a choir of eight violas da gamba. A picture of the musicians led by Staden at the banquet can be seen in the "Nuremberg" article of the New Grove,

49

and in

another copy of the same scene in Heinz Ziembauer's iconography of music in historic Nuremberg50 (see Figure 1.5). It is regrettable that the artist failed to include the geigenwerk. The twenty-third geigenwerk belonged to Haiden's son David, an accomplished organist who had studied composition and performance with Hans Leo Hassler in Augsburg. In 1653 David was visited by Adam Drese, court music director at Weimar, who was traveling in the service of Duke Wilhelm IV, observing the musical scene, collecting new music and looking at new inventions. Drese seemed impressed with his visit with David, then seventy years old, and wrote to the Duke on July 3: In Nuremberg I gained entry through a good Mend to see the geigenwerk; the businessman David Haiden (his father invented it) played various techniques for almost an hour, like violins, violas da gamba, trombones and similar effects . . . which sounded particularly good; and as I predicted, that kind is hardly let go for 100 Ducats.51 Kinsky adds that perhaps the high price caused sales to stop.

52

Since there is no

indication that new geigenwerks were being built, Kinsky may be referring to the exchange of existing instruments. However, the invention did not prove immortal; in 1758 Adlung reports that there were no geigenwerks left in the court at Weimar.

53

After David's death in 1660, his geigenwerk was brought to Florence by Don Medici, Archduke Ferdinand II (died 1670), and was later handed down to his grandson, Prince Ferdinand of Medici (died 1713).54 There is no mention of a geigenwerk in the

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23 inventory from 1700,55 but following the death of the prince in 1713, the September 1716 inventory compiled by Bartolomeo Cristofori, inventor of the pianoforte, describes instrument number 29 as "a wing-shaped instrument with ivory keys, equipped with five wheels for rubbing gut strings like a hurdy-gurdy, painted red and decorated with gold trim, covered with red damask, with inlaid as well as painted and gilded frame and a linen-lined leather cover."56 A similar instrument is described in the inventory of 1693,

57

but a connection with Haiden's geigenwerk has not been proved.

Although not listed among the owners, the Nuremberg businessman Leonhard Wirsing was depicted with a geigenwerk in a cenotaph from about 1600. Judging from the picture (Figure 1.6), the geigenwerk must have been one of his prized possessions.

58

After Hans Haiden's death in October, 1613, there is no record o f more geigenwerks being made by the family. Even though Haiden produced far more mechanically bowed keyboard instruments than did any other inventor in history, and even though many went to royal collections, none has survived. Some may have been destroyed during the Thirty Years War; others may have exchanged hands and disappeared after the plague of 1634. Perhaps some were simply allowed to go to ruin. The facts remain that, as SchrSter complained, the instrument was difficult to play, there were probably few good players and fewer teachers apart from David Haiden, and there certainly weren't many repairmen. If played when out of tune the cacophony would have been unbearable. Nevertheless, it is a loss that Haiden's enthusiastically conceived geigenwerk disappeared, its remarkable sounds left only to the imagination.

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Figure 1.1: Title page, Doppelmayr Germanisches National Museum, Nuremberg

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Figure 1.2: Doppelmayr, page 212: "Hans Haiden Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

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Figure 1.4: Woodcut of geigcnwerk in Syntagma Musica

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28

Figure 1.5: Nuremberg Festival of 1649 Zimbauer, Musik in der Alien Reichsstadt Numberg, plate 45

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Figure 1.6: Cenotaph of Leonhard Wirsing Zimbauer, plate 40

29

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30 Notes 1.

According to Georg Kinsky, "Hans Haiden, der Erfinder des Ntimbergischen Geigenwerks," Zeitschriftfu r Musikwissenschaft VI (Jan.-Feb. 1924), 194, footnote 5, the surname appears with the most varied spellings: Haid, Haiden, Haidt, Haidten, Hayden, Haydn [!], Heiden, Heyd and Heyden. We are choosing 'Haiden' since the name appears in this form on two of Haiden's printed tractates and in his handwritten letter to Cassel (1608). (The name 'Hans,' according to the old custom, is written instead of'Hanns.') Several people helped me with the translation of this twenty-two-page article: Tim Parrott, Jennifer Timblin, Kathrin Meyer, Shirley Stroud, and William Morton.

2.

Ibid., 198.

3.

Ibid., 193-94.

4.

Most of what is known about the life and work of Hans Haiden comes from a family record written by his youngest son, David. Although this manuscript has disappeared, valuable information was taken from it by Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr for a proposed revision of his biographical dictionary, Historische Nachricht von den Ntimbergischen Mathematicis und Kunstlern (Nuremberg, 1730), now in the Germanisches National Museum library (Sign. 2° Bg 531 aa). His revision never reached publication, but his working copy, which consisted of a copy of the first edition with extra pages inserted containing handwritten notes (Figures 2.1-3), also survives in the GNM library (Sign. 8° Cg 195/30). I am gratefUl to the GNM library for allowing me to photograph the working copy, and to Dr. John Henry van der YMeer for helping me locate it. Kinsky (see note 1) drew from the Haiden family record, Doppelmayr, Praetorius, archival material and other documents for his article in Zeitschriftfur Musikwissenschaft (193-214). A recent article by John Henry van der Meer in the Basler Jahrbuch fu r Historische Musikpraxis X III1989 (141-181, with five plates), provides a summary of the first two centuries o f bowed keyboard instruments, reviewing the important aspects of Hans Haiden’s contribution and mentioning some of the more well-documented builders.

5.

An incorrect birth date of 1530 is given in E. Sandberger, "Bemerken zur Biographie H. L. Hasslers," Denkmaler der Tonkunst Bayern, ed. Adolf Sandberger, introduction to volume 8 (1903-10), xci. The error is reiterated in footnote 5 on the same page, where Haiden's lifespan is given as eighty-three years instead of seventy-seven, his date of death being 1613.

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31 6.

Kinsky, 194.

7.

Doppelmayr (revision), facing 212.

8.

Ibid.

9.

According to Kinsky on page 195, this is referring to the independent Niimberg company of the Augsburg trade families of Weltzer since 1517, which were back then, next to the Fuggers, the richest and most esteemed German tradesmen. They carried on a far-reaching merchandise trade, but also got involved in big and risky speculations, even though not to the extent of the Fuggers.

10. Cited in Kinsky, 195. Translated by Jennifer Timblin. Er wurde anfanglich zur Lateinischen Schule gehalten und in der Lateinischen sprach wohl unterrichtet, daB er dieselbe zur Gendge verstanden, endlich wurde er zu einem Gerichts Procuratoren Namens PreiBenkron gethan, sich in der Schreiberey zu ilben und etwas concipiren oder [schriftjstellen zu lemen, welches ihme dann sehr wohl gentitzet, daB er in Brief und Schrifften=Stellen es manchem Doctori bevor gethan. Nachdeme ist er zu einem Handelsmann. . . in Diensten kommen. . . , als er aber sich A. 1562 geheurathet und sein hauBwesen angestellet, hat er sich um Factor[e]ien beworben und deren unterschiedliche an sich gebracht, dann hat er sich hemach zu Herm Jacob und Hanns Weltzem, als Sammet= Seiden= auch Specerey Handler in Dienste begeben, wie seine Dienst=verschreibung de dato 24. August A. 1570 ausweiset, die auf 6. Jahr lang gerichtet, hemach wurde solche A. 1576 wiederumb auf 6. Jahr lang prolongiret, auf 300. Thaler Besoldung und einen ehrlichen HauBzinns gerichtet Als aber bemeldter Herr Hanns Welser neben dem Herm Im Hoff, denen Pflintzingen, Schmidmeim und Joachim Finold A. 1580 die ManBfeldische Bergwercks=Verlag und Kupffer=Handlung iibemommen, ist er auch zu solcher Saigerhandlung gezogen, bestellet und ihme 500 f. Besoldung samt einer verehrung gedungen worden, deren er dann anfanglich neben der Welserischen Schreibstuben obgewartet, endlich aber hat er selbige fahren lassen, und ist in der Kupffei= oder Saiger=Handlung in die 33 Jahr lang bis an sein Ende [Oktober 1613] geblieben, da man ihme als er letztlich wegen hohen Alters etliche Jahre gar unvermdglich an leibskrSfften. . . mtid worden, dennoch noch fort seine Besoldung reichen lassen Seine gethane Reisen belangend ist er A. 1576 in seiner Herren der Welser Geschaffte nach Antorff verreiset, und sich eben damahls, als selbige Stadt von den Spaniem flberwaltiget und eingenommen worden, nicht mit geringer Gefahr Leibes und Lebens darinnen befunden, er hat nach Franckfurt in die Messen,

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32 auf die Geigerhiitten Grdfenthal, EiBleben und DreBden Reisen in des Kupfferhandels Geschafften verrichtet. 11.

Kinsky, 194.

12.

Cited in Kinsky, 197.

13.

Kinsky, 197.

14.

Jahrbuch der Kunsthist. Sammlurtgen des. . . Kaiserhauses VII (Vienna 1888), 220 (Reg. 5458). Cited in Kinsky, 197.

15. Kinsky, 197. 16. Hans Haiden, Musicale Instrumentum, Reformatum durch Hanns Haiden den Eltern (Nuremberg, before 1606), 13 overleaf. 17. Kinsky, 203. Sandberger makes a similar observation (xcii, footnote 1). 18. Cited in Kinsky, 197. With the importance of German organ building and the central role of the church in the community, the position of church organist was a prestigious and competitive one. 19. Kinsky, 197-198. 20. Emil Reicke, Geschichte der Reichstadt Numberg (Nflmberg 1896), 924. 21. Cited in Kinsky, 203, footnote 3. 22. Haiden, 13 overleaf. 23. Kinsky, 198-199. 24. Emanuel Wintemitz clarifies the word translated as "strand" ([matassa) by pointing out that it also refers to a skein of yam as held on a persons' two wrists while being wound (41). This pictures clearly the endless bow, or circular revolving band of Leonardo da Vinci's viola organista. 25. Kinsky notes that on this occasion Galilei met Orlando di Lasso (199, footnote 4). 26. Vincenzo Galilei, Dialogo della musica antico et della modema, (Florence, 1581), 48, cited in Emanuel Wintemitz, "Leonardo's Invention of the Viola Organista," Raccolta Vinciana XX (1964), 40.

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33 27.

1,418. Sandberger, Beitrage zur Geschichte der bayerische Hofkapelle.. .m (1895), 238. Cited in Kinsky, 200.

28.

In his treatises, Haiden prescribed steel and brass as an improvement over gut strings which broke more easily and did not hold their tune as well. Furthermore, the metal strings produced a more defined clarity. Although he is said to have "returned" to gut later on, it seems more likely that he built instruments to various specifications for customers.

29.

Michael Praetorius, The Syntagma Musicum o f Michael Praetorius, Volume 2: De Organographia (Wolfenbflttel, 1619), trans. by Harold Blumenfeld (New York: Da Capo Press, 1980), 68.

30. Ibid. 31. Apparently only the first two treatises remain. Kinsky records in 1924 that examples of the first (before 1606) and third (1610) were to be found in Munich and Liegnitz (204, footnotes 1 and 4), and the only example of the second tract (1605) was in Berlin. However, now the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich holds only the first treatise (see endnote 33), and it is unknown whether the Liegnitz copies still exist The Berlin Staatsbibliothek's copy of the second is available (see endnote 36), but a copy of the third treatise was lost in World War II. 32. Haiden adopted the use of "den Eltem" to distinguish himself from his sons, one of whom was named "Hans" (Kinsky, 196-97 footnote 6). 33. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich. Catalogue number: 4 Mus. th. 596 (microfilm). 34.

Kinsky, 203. Van der Meer prefers to designate it "before 1606."

35.

The sixteen leaves to the booklet are printed on both sides with the exception of pages 1 and 16, so the text itself is thirty pages long.

36.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Catalog number: Mus. ant theor. H 15 (Hans Haiden). Van der Meer reports that the family chronicles give as the translator Professor Conrad Rittershausen of the University at Altdorf (145).

37.

Kinsky, 204. Kinsky relates that not only were Hassler and Haiden good friends as alluded to in the poem, Hassler's older brother Caspar was married to Haiden's third daughter Esther (bom in 1566). In addition, Hassler owned one of Haiden's geigenwerks, which he passed on to his employer, Christian II (205 and 207).

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34 38.

Sandberger, xci. Kinsky included only the last eight lines, while Sandberger reproduced the whole poem. The translation is by William Morton. DiB Kunstwerck (ibertrifft ohn Endt Sehr weit all andre Instrument; Dann so Orpheus mit seiner Geigen All Thier hat kdnnen zu ihm neigen. Viel mehr wirdts thun diB Instrument, Vann man weiB zbrauchn recht die Hendt, Und d'Finger wol kan Moderim, Auff still und laut sein lieblich fiihren, So wirdt erfahren jedermann, DaB man dardurch bewegen kan DeB Menschen Gmiith zu streit und gunst Viel mehr als Cytharedi Kunst. Wilst wissen we doch sey der Mann, Der solch Werck allein machen kan, Hanns Haidt der Alt ist er genannt, Wohnt zu Ntirmberg in seim Vatterlandt. Der hats auB seinem Sinn erdacht, In solch Perfection gebracht. Und gwendet drauff groB miihe und fleiB Drumb hat er allzeit Lob und PreyB.

39.

Cited in Kinsky, 205.

40.

Praetorius, 69-71.

41.

Ibid., 71.

42.

Ibid.

43.

Kinsky, 205-206.

44.

Cited in Doppelmayr, facing 212; also in Kinsky, 201. Translated by Shirley Stroud. Es hat uns unser und des Reichs lieber getreuer, Hans Haiden, der eltere, in UnterthSnigkeiten zu erkennen gegeben, welchermaBen er nicht ohne schwere langwiirige Miihe, Arbeit und grosen Unkosten eine neue zuvor unbekandte Invention eines Musicalischen Instruments, so auf Geigenart mit Rddem gerichtet, und deB Clavis also beschaffen, daB dieselbe allein durch eine freye Hand, ohne

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35 ab= oder zu=ziehen der register (wie sonsten gebrauchlich) moderirt und je eines jeden Affecte nach, laut oder still gemacht werden kan, an Tag gebracht und ins werck gerichtet, dieweilen er aber fast in Sorgen stehen mOfite, dafi ihme Heyden solches werck von andem zu ihrem Vortheil und [seinem] Schaden (wie in dergleichen Sachen offtmals zu geschehen pfleget) alB gleich nachgemacht und er also seiner darauf gewandten Miihe, Arbeit und Unkosten schwerlich ergotzet werden mdgte, als hat er uns gehorsamst angerufFen und begetten, dafi wir ihme zu Furkommung dessen mit unserm kayserlichen Privilegio u. hoheit zu versehen genSdiglich geruheten. . . darauff hat uns itzt regirenden Kayser (Matthiam) demiithigst selbiger angerufFen und gebetten, ihme solches von hochwurd. Ihr May erlangte Freyheit nicht allein wiederum. . . zu renoviren, sondem (iber die vorbestimmte noch femer auf andere 10 Jahr von dato difl Brieffes an zu richten und zu erstrecken; das haben wir angesehen solche des Haidens unterthdnige gehorsame Bitte, und solches nicht allein continuiret, sondem auch weiter extendiret etc. etc. 45.

Johann Heinrich Grabner, harpsichord builder in Dresden during the first half of the nineteenth century, according to Early Keyboard Instruments, ed. Stanley Sadie (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 89.

46.

From Marpurg's, Kritischen Briefen uber die Tonkunft m (Berlin, 1764), 139. Cited in Kinsky, 209. Translated by Shirley Stroud. . . . Niimbergisch Geigenwerck welches ich vorher niemals gesehen noch gehoret. Dieses gefiel mir aus leicht zu erachtenden Ursachen freilich etwas besser als das [bisher gespielte Grabner'sche] Clavicymbel; dafi ich aber im Spielen auch zugleich als ein Leinweber mit beiden Ftifien arbeiten sollte, dies stund mir gar nicht an, imd wie ich nachgehends erfahren, noch vielweniger andem Spielem mdnnlichen und weiblichen Geschlechts.

47.

C. A. KrOckeberg, "Ein Historisches Konzert zu Numberg im Jahre 1643" Archiv fu r Musikwissenschaft I (1919), 590f. Cited in Kinsky, 212.

48.

Willi Kahl, "Das NQmberger historische Konzert von 1643 und sein Geschichtsbild," Archiv fu r Musikwissenschaft XTV (1957), 287. My thanks to William Morton for sending me a copy of the article.

49.

Harold E. Samuel, "Nuremberg," The New Grove Dictionary o f Music and Musicians, 20 vols, ed. Stanley Sadie Xm (London: MacMillan, 1980), 454.

50.

Heinz Zimbauer, Musik in der Alten Reichsstadt NUmberg: Ikonographie zur Niirnberger Musikgeschichte (Ntimberg: Gaa-Verlag, 1966), plate 45. From a

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36 copper engraving by Wolfang Kilian after a painting by Joachim von Sandrart in the Nuremberg Stadtbibliothek. 51.

Adolf Aber, Die Pflege der Musik under den W ettinem. . . bis 1662 (Biickeburg and Leipzig (1921), 147-148. Cited in Kinsky, 211. My translation. Zue NQrenberg hab ich durch beforderung eines guten Freundes das Geigenwerk zue sehen bekommen; der kaufinann David Heyd (dessen Vater es erfunden) liefl sich fast eine Stunde lang darauf hdren, spielte vielerley arten darauf, ohngeachtet es keine Register hatt, als Violinen, Violdigamben, Posaunen u. dergleichen art. . . war sonderlich wohl zu hdren; und wie ich vorstanden wird dergleichen kaum umb 100 Ducaten vorlassen.

52.

Kinsky, 211.

53.

Adlung, Anleitung zur musikalischen Gelahrtheit (1768), 566. Cited in Kinsky, 211, note 4.

54.

Kinsky, 211.

55.

Vinicio Gai, Gli Strumenti Musicali Della Corte Medicea e R Museo Del Conservatorio 'Luigi Cherubini' Di Firenze (Florence, 1969), 4-5.

56.

L. Puliti, Cenni storici della vita del. . . Ferdinando dei Medici (Florence, 1874), 103. Cited in Kinsky, 211. My translation. The description of this well-decorated instrument closely resembles the extant geigenwerk by Truchado (see Chapter 2). Perhaps the Truchado was restored to match this description. Un Cimbalo con tastatura d'avorio, con invenzione di cinque Ruote per toccar le corde di budella ad uso d'una ghironda, tinto di rosso, e filettato d'oro, con riquadrati cop[er]ti di dammasco rosso, con suo piede intagliato, tinto color1sim., e dorato, con sua sopracop[er]ta di coramo fod[erat]a di tela.. . .

57.

Pierluigi Ferrari, "Ancora sulla collezione medicea di strumenti musicali: gli inventari inediti del 1670 e 1691" Studi in Onore di Giulio Cattin, ed. Francesco Luisi (Rome: Istituto di Paleografia Musicale, 1990), 253. See Chapter 2 for more information on this entry in the Medici inventory. My thanks to Patrizio Barbieri for sending me copies of pertinent pages of the book.

58.

Zimbauer, plate 40.

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37

CHAPTER 2 THE SIXTEENTH-TWENTIETH CENTURIES

The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Haiden's geigenwerk is the best known example of the genre in the history of bowed keyboard instruments (see Figure 2.1 for the chronology). Although it represents the earliest approach to obtaining a bowed string sound from a keyboard instrument, it also may have been the most successful invention of its kind. Succeeding generations often looked to the geigenwerk as the standard, imitating major aspects of its design; in fact some of the earliest imitations were out-and-out copies. The first such copy, the Geigen-Instrument of 1593, preceded Haiden's Privilege, and is credited by many sources to court organ builder George Kretzschmar of Dresden as both maker and inventor. The next unauthorized copy came in 1608, only seven years after the Privilege was granted, infringing the inventor's legal rights. The offender, Conrad Rot, a former apprentice in Haiden's shop, built an "amateur copy," as Haiden put it in a letter to Rof s employer, the Landgrave Moritz of Hessen-Kassel. Haiden complained to the Landgrave about the infringement, then sent his son Hans Christoph there with an instrument destined for Frankfurt am Main to demonstrate an authentic geigenwerk.1 The text of the letter, dated October 26, 1608, follows:

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38 Dear Prince and Sir: Several years ago I re-invented a very charming musical instrument (in my opinion) which is a violin type of clavier, on which one can moderate the voices (which up until now has been impossible on other keyboard instruments), and for which I received from the Emperor Matthias a 10year Privilege preventing anyone from copying i t In order to build this instrument I hired an apprentice named Conrad Rot who was bom 3 miles from Kassel or Marburg. I had him work in my house for awhile, but I had to finally let him go because he was stubborn and did not have a lot of talent for the work. When he started working for me and also before he had to leave, I showed and read to him my Emperor's Privilege and also explicitly warned him not to misuse his knowledge and about the penalty he would have to face. But in spite of my warning, I found out that the same instrument was done in an amateur fashion and sold by Georg Weissland who is an organ builder in Kassel. If then, one has violated the Emperor's Privilege and has taken my honor away for all the efforts and expenses I had put in and that this instrument is done in an amateur way to my disgrace, I am hopeful that Your Honor, who is a well known protector for art and artists, will be displeased with this precedence. Therefore, Your Honor, I ask you most humbly that you may give the order for the appropriate prosecution for everyone who like Conrad Rot has misused the Emperor's Privilege, so that my son who has the same right is protected as well. I have the opportunity to send one of my improved works, which is destined for Frankfurt, with my son Hans Christoph, to present it to Your Honor, so that you may see that it is better than the first one.2 Some confusion surrounds a geigenwerk that may have gone to Spain; Edmond van der Straeten reported that a violicembalo by "Johann Heyden" had been found in the Escorial in 1872.3 Van der Meer suggests that the instrument previously served the Cathedral in Toledo, and was transported to the Escorial by Philipp HI.4 That would certainly have provided the model for Friar Raymundo Truchado's 1625 geigenwerk, a Spanish version of Haiden's invention, now belonging to the Musde Instrumental of Brussels (a fuller description of this instrument appears in Chapter 6). Marcuse, however, says that the "assertion to the effect that Philip m o f Spain (1598-1621) ordered a geigenwerk and that this was found in the Escorial in 1872 seems to rest on confusion with the rediscovery of a similar instrument built by Truchador."5 Finally, Brdcker

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39 quotes the notice in the February 18, 1872 edition of the Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris6 which states that the instrument in the Escorial was invented by "Johann Heyden" o f Nuremberg in 1606, and that Philippe HI had it brought to St. Lorenz. The subsequent description of the instrument would, of course, be virtually the same whether for Haiden's geigenwerk or Truchado's. Rene de Maeyer, former curator of the Brussels museum housing the Truchado geigenwerk, pursues the origin and history of that instrument in his article for a 1985 exhibition of historic Spanish instruments, trying to answer the question of whether that instrument was the lira coeli of the cathedral at Toledo in the 17th and 18th centuries, and whether it was at the Escorial. He brings a wealth of information together concerning the instrument's origin and history.

O

Meanwhile, there are references to two other bowed keyboards between 1595 and 1608. A 1595 inventory of instruments sold by Archduke Albert to his friends before his departure from Madrid to the Netherlands lists an orgue a roues built by the German Ludwig Luren, a possible copy of the geigenwerk. Then in Florence in 1608, according to Marcuse, the harpsichord and organ builder Vincenzo Bolcione filled an order for "an instrument which sounds like a concert of viols" (m o instrumento che suoni concerti di viole) placed by the composer Marco da Gagliano whose patron was Cardinal Ferdinand Gonzaga. The price was 100 Roman scudi, compared with the sixty-scudi price of an elaborate clavicytherium. Marcuse concludes that while Bolcione's instrument could not have been a copy of Haiden's geigenwerk since the Medici instrument had not yet come to Florence, it is possible he had read Galilei's description or a copy of Haiden's treatise.10

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40 The next bowed keyboard instrument to surface is known through a reference in a recently discovered encyclopedia manuscript Musica, written about 1650 by Juan Caramuel Lobkowitz, a priest under Ferdinand III.11 Caramuel, a theorist who used logarithms to calculate intervals and string lengths as a means to determine equal temperament for harpsichords, records descriptions and diagrams for three bowed keyboard instruments. The two he invented, the lyra organica and lyra tetracylclia, fall short of inclusion here, as the lyra organica is designed like a hurdy-gurdy, and the lyra tetracyclia has only four strings per octave, meaning it also must be fretted. However, the third instrument, a lyra panharmonica invented by Giovanni Valentini, maestro di cappella o f Ferdinand m, bears striking similarities to the geigenwerk. Pressing a key brings the string into contact with one of four wheels, set in movement by a pedal supplied with a flywheel. The diagram accompanying the description (Figure 2.2) shows the plan view of the lyra panharmonica ABCD with an enlarged example of the action to the right, with its string stretching above the diagram of the instrument The key depressed at I pulls down a rod H which moves a hook £ against the string EE near the nut E, forcing it against wheel K (shown in the plan view as N). E appears to represent tuning pins, which would place them along the slantside rather than near the keyboard of the instrument The similarity to the geigenwerk is not surprising since Ferdinand II owned one of Haiden's instruments; further, Haiden's brochures may have been available, and as Barbieri points out, these instruments were not a novelty by the middle of the seventeenth century, Vincenzo Galilei having already described the geigenwerk in his Dialogo della

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41 musica antica e moderna.

12

The lyra panharmonica was taken to the museum in Vienna

by Valentini, and upon his death passed into the imperial treasury where it was put with other curious instruments which Valentini left, along with his music, to his friend and pupil, Ferdinand ID.13 Another close cousin to the geigenwerk, though not similar visually, was unveiled by Athanasius Kircher in his Musurgiae Universalis of 1650. This "wonderful harpsichord" (clavicymbalis mirabilis) was a combination organ, harpsichord, and geigenwerk (Figure 2.3).

14

The action was in principle identical to Haiden's: depressing

a key caused a rod with a loop on the end to pull a string down against a revolving wheel. The wheel was rosined, or was covered with rosined horsehair. Forty-nine strings for a four-octave compass were exclusively of gut, and when bowed at their shrillest point near the bridge, supposedly sounded like a harp, although it is somewhat difficult to imagine comparing a bowed sound with a harp. The gear-operated drivewheel was powered by a handcrank, or automatically by weights, waterpower, or a pinned barrel. Although its six-foot length conformed to the proportions of a harpsichord rather than of a viol, its appearance bore little resemblance to other keyboard instruments, looking more like an oversized box-shaped hurdy-gurdy. It had one bowing wheel, and the soundboard, stringing, bridge, and lid conformed to the wheel, giving the whole instrument a domed top. Van der Meer observes that evidently Kircher's image is reversed, since the long strings are at the right side of the instrument15 The diagram letters AC arching above the keyboard X Z represent the location of the tuning pins, and BQ at the tail indicates the

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42 nut. Hooks to pull down the strings are along HL near the wheel GN. with the bridge at

QE. The Arched Viall, probably a similar instrument, was heard at a music meeting in London in 1664 and chronicled by the critic Samuel Pepys in his dairy for October 5: The new instrument was brought called the Arched Viall, when being tuned with Lute strings and played on with Kees like an organ, a piece of parchment is always kept moving: and the strings, which by Kees are pressed down upon it, are grated in imitation of a bow by the parchment: and so it is intended to resemble several Vialls played with one bow, but so basely and so harshly that it will never do. But after three hours' stay, it could not be fixed in tune and so they were fain to go to some other musique of instruments.16 Another person in attendance, John Evelyn, gave a clearer description of the instrument, "being a harpsichord with gut strings, sounding like a Concert of Viols with an organ, made vocal by a wheel and zone of parchment that rubbed horizontally against the strings."

17

The organ mentioned here was probably not a literal organ, although

combination instruments were fairly common. Rather, as van der Meer suggests, the sound was like an organ.

18

In the 1670 inventory of the possessions of Giacomo Ramerini of Rome, a maker of harpsichords and organs, a listing appears for a keyboard instrument called concerto delle viole, sounded by means of rotating wheels.

19

Added to the inventory list in 1693

was a keyboard instrument called le viole, which sounded by way of wheels and could produce both soft and loud dynamics. The case description sounds similar to the Truchado: covered with red velvet, framed in walnut with gilded brass studs and bosses.

20

A third instrument in 1674, an organ "con arte di viole" may have been a

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43 combination instrument with organ pipes and bowed strings, possibly some sort of "organized" or combination geigenwerk.

21

An extraordinary combination instrument in the Galleria Armonica in Rome built by Michele Todini apparently included a harpsichord and geigenwerk in an Italian baroque case coupled to an organ, a virginal, and two Italian octave spinets (Figure 2.4). However, the limited information about the instrument, coming mainly from woodcuts and Kircher's Phonurgia nova of 1673 and Bonanni's Descrizione degl'istromenti armonici of 1776, is ambiguous. For example, Kircher records that two streichklaviers were coupled to the harpsichord, one that sounded like a violin and one that sounded like a hurdy-gurdy, but no details are given about how they worked.

22

Van der Meer offers

four possible solutions: I) the instrument was equipped with both a revolving horsehair band and one or more wheels, so the gut strings could be brought against one or the other; 2) that the hurdy-gurdy effect was accomplished simply by adding a drone to the violin sound; 3) a combination of 1) and 2); and 4) that a real violin, viola and cello were in the case, providing a difference between the violin and hurdy-gurdy sound. The last possibility stems from an observation by Charles Bumey in 1771 that "under the frame is a violin, tenor and base, which, by a movement of the foot, used to be played upon by the harpsichords keys."

23

Van der Meer points out that "under the frame" could mean either

under the lid or under the soundboard frame.

Regardless, the extra depth of the

harpsichord case would allow plenty of room for any kind of geigenwerk action. There is no more information on the meaning of Burney's comment regarding a "movement of the foot," and therefore, no understanding of the mechanism involved. By the time Bumey

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44 arrived on the scene the instrument was no longer playable and "there was no one to explain it, the old Cicerone being just dead."

25

The Eighteenth Centwry German inventions in the eighteenth century began with the Gambenwerk or Claviergamba of Johann Georg Gleichmann who was bom in 1685 in the town of Stelzen in Thiiringen. He served as organist first in the nearby town of Schalkau in 1706, then in 26

Ilmenau in the Sachsen-Weimar region in 1717. organist of his day ("die Meister seiner Zeit").

27

Schilling describes him as the best

In 1744 he was named "Bflrgermeister,"

an office he held until his death in 1770. Having been endowed with mechanical talent along with a love of music, Gleichmann built his first instrument-a small clavier-at the age of twelve; other instruments soon followed. However, his music studies began to take all his time, and it was not until 1709, at the urging of his brother-in-law not to waste his talent, that he returned to instrument building. Schilling calls him the second inventor or the improver of the gambenwerk (Haiden being the first).

28

In addition to the bowed

keyboard, or claviergamba, Gleichman also built a lautenclavier, a gut-strung harpsichord. The claviergamba, in shape and appearance like a harpsichord, was smaller in scale; its case was only the length of the longest string of a viola da gamba, which would have made it about 650 mm as compared with the 1058 mm length of the Truchado geigenwerk. The gut-strung claviergamba had five wheels driven by a larger wheel operated by a foot treadle. The wheels rotated near the bridge, and the strings were pulled down on them from their normal position above the wheels by little hooks. It was necessary to rosin the wheels frequently, and the strings were wound with something (mit

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45 etwas umwickelt) at the bowing point to prevent them from wearing out too quickly. Adiung described the sound of the instrument that, to everyone's surprise, not only naturally imitates the sound of the viola da gamba, as though it were cut out of the same mold; but also because of its unbelievable charm and adjustable intonation can be played with extreme confidence, since the instrument is equipped to handle quick variations from forte to piano without any noticable effect Another early source, Ernst Ludwig Gerber's historical-biographical dictionary of musicians of 1790-1792, refers to Wahlfried Ficker of Zeitz, builder of organs and other instruments about 1730, who built a gambenwerke invented some 100 years earlier by Hans Haiden.30 About 1730 the familiar name of Pachelbel became associated with bowed keyboards. Adiung reports that Johann Pachelbel's sons, Johann Michael (bom in 1692) and Wilhelm Hieronymous, both of whom were organists at St. Sebald in Nuremberg, built two geigenwerks like Haiden's, using gut strings and wheels. He further refers to a 31

1738 source discussing a newly opened music library

that tells of Michael Steinert,

organist at S t John's in Leipzig, who bought a similar instrument and restored it to good playing condition. 32 The mid-point of the eighteenth century in Germany saw an imitation of 33

Gleichman's gambenwerk, built by his relative Matthias Risch

of Ilmenau in Weimar in

1758.34 According to Gerber, it had seven small rosined wheels driven by a larger wheel connected by a pulley, and put into motion by pedals. Depressing the keys brought the gut strings into contact with the wheels. What sets this instrument apart is that it is only one of a few mechanically bowed keyboard instruments known to have had music written

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46 specifically for it. About 1756 Risch had a copper engraving made of a Sonate by Hafhem in Nuremberg. However, the music and the engraving seem to have disappeared. Risch produced and traveled with his instruments, playing them and selling them when he could. In 1752 he played in Berlin, then in 1759 took a gambenwerk to Sondershausen and sold it to the prince.35 Marcuse notes a Daniel Bertin who, along with Risch and Pachelbel, allegedly built a bowed keyboard in about 1750.

36

A significant invention came from Johann Hohlfeld, who was bom in Saxony in 1711.37 His Bogenflugel incorporated a horsehair band and gut strings, similar to Haiden's original 1575 geigenwerk. As with the other versions, hooks operated by the keys brought the strings to the revolving bow, set in motion by pedals and a flywheel. The instrument has been described as looking like a small harpsichord, from which van der Meer infers that the builder more or less used string-instrument string lengths.

38

Hohlfeld's invention caused a sensation among the prominent men in the Academy—to the extent that one of them allowed him to room in his house free of charge. Prior to the bogenfliigel, Hohlfeld had invented a device to punch holes in a paper roll as the instrument was being played.

39

C.P.E. Bach demonstrated his enthusiasm for the

bogenfltlgel when he said, "It is unfortunate that the bowed clavier, Hohlfeld's fine invention, has not yet come into general use. Until it does, its characteristics cannot be described in detail. Certainly, it will prove a useful accompanying instrument."40 Marpurg also praised it, saying that it produced changes of piano and forte better than a clavichord 41 Sometime between 1753 and 175742 Hohlfeld played his instrument before King Frederick II and then later gave it to him,

perhaps during the time from 1765 to

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47 1771, when he was receiving a pension from the King.44 According to Marcuse, the King put the instrument in the Neues Palais of Potsdam shortly before his death in 1771. In the same year C. P. E. Bach wrote a setting for a song published in the Hamburger Unterhaltungen entitled, "Bey dem Grabe des verstorbenen Mechanicus Hohlfeld" (At the grave of the deceased mechanic Hohlfeld).

45

A news item about a bowed keyboard instrument appeared in the September 20, 1777 issue of the Augspurgische Ordinari Postzeitung. It reads: Hamburg, September 11. Several days ago a musician came here from Mecklenburg with a musical instrument that deserves the recognition of any music lover. It has the approximate form of a so-called Pantalon, has in the bass single, yellow [brass] and in the discant normal white [iron or steel] keyboard strings. The tone is created when the strings come in contact with a bow controlled by the feet, and as on a normal keyboard instrument, by bringing the strings to the bow through the activation of the keys. The tone is sustained as long as the bow is in contact with the strings. The sound is excellent, and is similar to the [glass] Harmonica.46 Often inventors began with existing keyboard instruments and combined them with a bowing device. Such was the case of Johann Carl Greiner from Wetzlar, 17431798.47 He began by building a Bogenclavier in 177948 after the bogenfliigel by Hohlfeld, then at the instigation of Abb6 Vogler made a combination instrument by 49

adding piano action. He called it the Bogenhammerclavier.

According to Marcuse, his

term "bogenclavier" came to be the generic term in Germany for any bowed keyboard instrument. Apparently Greiner overcame one of the inherent difficulties in this kind of action, because his was reported to be able to handle fast music.50 Gerber says the instrument measured five feet, eight inches by one foot, eight inches, and had a piano action with wire stringing above and a bowed set of gut strings underneath, which could

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48 be coupled together.51 At the end of his life, Greiner passed the instrument on to his cousin and helper of nearly twenty years, Hans Greiner. Schilling added that it was unknown whether Hans continued the work, and no one produced an imitation.

52

However, Fetis completes his entry on Greiner by listing a reproduction by Schmidt, a German maker living in Paris, who displayed it at an exposition of industrial products in 1806. Fetis then goes on to say that since then Schmidt made many attempts at various systems of bowed keyboards, but one by [Johann Christian] Dietz's son (see page 64) "remains the least imperfect"53 It was probably Greiner's instrument that inspired C. P. E. Bach to write his "Sonata fOrs Bogen-klavier," a copy o f which appears as Appendix 8. So says Marcuse,54 though Buchner claims it was written for Hohlfeld's instrument,55 as also does William Mitchell, translator and editor of Bach's Essay on the True Art o f Playing Keyboard Instruments,

and Helm in his thematic catalog of Bach's works.

However,

Bach's comments about Hohlfeld's bogenflugel and his song setting at the inventor's death may have convinced some to also attribute the sonata to this instrument Van der Meer states that it was for Greiner's 1782 bogenhammerclavier that C. P. E. Bach composed a sonata in g major in 1783. He goes on to give Heinrich Christoph Koch's 1802 description of the qualities of Greiner's combination instrument: Despite the small body, the upper register, equipped with down-striking action, has such a penetrating sound that it can be heard over the loudest fortissimo in the orchestra. This intensity is not its only capability, but one can also make the most sensitive piano, and proceed through a crescendo up to the strongest fortissimo. If one couples the two manuals, which is accomplished through a single knee lever, he will think he is hearing a full-voiced concert58

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49 Vogler said o f this instrument: "The tone is smooth, as that of a violin, piercing, like an oboe, and powerful, like a gamba stop on an organ. When one plays on it melodically, it is like the vox humana on the organ; intensify it, however, and, especially in the bass, one will think he is hearing a gamba or a cello."

59

The Harmonika, invented by the organ builder H. Schmidt in Rostock, Germany in 1782 may have been a "clavicytherium" type of bowed keyboard. It is described as looking like a harp in the upper part, with bass strings made of brass and upper strings of steel. A foot-operated bow bought forth lovely and even tones like an especially good, "organised" cello tone. The compass was FF-f2.60 No more information is forthcoming on Schmidt61 A slight departure from Haiden's approach came about 1790 with Garbrecht of K5nigsberg who, along with a pastor Wasiansky, a friend and biographer of Kant built what Kinsky calls a somewhat incomplete bogenfliigel,

62

though Marcuse says it was

highly praised in the early 1800s.63 Schilling gives more detail on the instrument in which vibrations were set up not by rubbing the strings themselves, but by exciting appendages attached to the strings: The tones are produced when the thin silk strings are struck against the gut strings. A band rotates around two rollers so that the beginning of the band produce the same quality of sound. The outermost layer of the band is carefully sewn with horsehair. The two rollers were driven by a flywheel and a pedal. The instrument combines the sound of violin, viola and violincello; however, the tone was rough, because the horsehair was not able to excite the strings adequately evenly and smoothly.64 Since intonation is affected by stretching the string, Garbrecht and Wasiansky made a significant attempt to circumvent this by using the string appendages. Here was an

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50 instrument influenced by its era: at the same time Ernst Chladni, the acoustician famous for his visual demonstrations of vibrational patterns, was building musical instruments with vibrating friction bars.65 His model was applied to the bowed keyboard, so that strings were excited by vibrations set up in bars or fibers attached to the strings, avoiding any pressure on or stretching of the strings. Nor was this the last attempt at such an approach; the Garbrecht and Wasiansky bogenflfigel appears to be a clear predecessor to several nineteenth-century instruments. A variation of the geigenwerk's bowing mechanism was developed by Carl Andreas von Meyer, called variously Meyer zu Knowow, Knowow being the area from which he came; Mayer zu Gorlitz, for the place of his residence at his death; and simply Hr. v. Mayer. According to Gerber, after attending the Academy in Leipzig, Meyer eventually ended up in Gdrlitz, where he enjoyed projects associated with nature, mechanics, and especially musical instruments. He built aeolian harps and glass harmonicas. About 1794 he invented a bogenflfigel based on an idea given to him by Ernst Chladni. A little more complicated than its predecessors, Meyer's bogenflfigel was described in a contemporaneous monthly magazine as wing-shaped like a harpsichord, strung with gut with a compass of C -f3. Going through the middle o f the instrument at right angles to the strings sat a perpendicular square frame. The frame held separate horsehair bows strung vertically, one for each string, and was moved up and down by a foot pedal. Instead of bringing the string to the bow, the bow moved to its corresponding string. The instrument was also equipped with what was called a flageolet stop, in which a "bridge" containing metal pins hung over the midpoint of the strings, that when dropped

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51 sounded the strings an octave higher.66 Van der Meer adds to this description that the strings would not only have sounded an octave higher, but that they would have had a more ethereal, romantic timbre.67 Across the border in Prague, Thomas Anton Kunz followed Meyer’s lead and built an "improved" version of the bogenflfigel. A composer and instrument builder by trade, Kunz produced orchestrions, two-manual organs, a pianoforte and a positif organ with ten registers. He improved the bogenflfigel primarily by making it easier to play. Schilling explains that Kunz retained the voicing, bow frame, and basic form of the bogenflfigel, but improved the key mechanism, bridge, and movement of the bows, as well as extending the compass to FF-a3. Kunz was also able to achieve a greater equality and lightness of the bowstroke on the strings than Meyer had been able to manage. The keys responded easily and quickly to finger pressure to provide loud and soft nuances, and the sound was much closer to that of violins in the treble and cellos in the bass. Although the bow frame design required stopping the bow between strokes instead of having uninterrupted sounds as was possible with wheels or continuous bands of horsehair, Schilling says that it could be operated without making a perceptible interruption of sound; the only noticeable bow change could be heard close to the instrument with the lid open, but then it sounded as if many string instruments were playing. Like Meyer's instrument, adjusting screws helped keep the strings in tune. Schilling names two problems with the instrument: first, the elasticity of the bows caused them to be either too loose or too tight; second, the up and down movement of the bowframe prevented any kind of real accentuation.69

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52 France produced a number of builders in the eighteenth century. About 1709 a man named de Chales invisioned but may have never built a gut-strung instrument he called a lyre (leyer), described in his Cursus seu mundus mathematicus7° It consisted of a large, gut-strung harpsichord with a hand crank operating a large wheel and three smaller ones. Strings were moved against the wheel by keys situated above the strings. De Chales believed such an instrument would come into good favor.71 A book by Colombe Samoyault-Verlet of Parisian harpsichord makers from 15501793, which includes biographical notes and documents, introduces another instrument in the tradition of Haiden, this one by a M. Le Voir, a valet of Madame Amelot, who tried his hand as an inventor between 1730 and 1755. In 1742 he presented to the Academie des Sciences an extraordinary harpsichord, described as a more complicated derivative of the geigenwerk. The Duke of Luyne, "who has witnessed this instrument function, made a long description and great eulogies. He notes that on this date, September, 1755, Le Voir had already produced eight or ten instruments of this genre."

72

According to a

description submitted to L'Acad&nie Royale des Sciences (see Appendix 6),

73

the

harpsichord case contained a cello and a violin on which sat several bridges o f varying height. Strings passed from one end of the case to the other over the bridges, and each string was divided in the middle into two segments, so that the instrument had fifty keys for only twenty-five strings. Each string apparently had two distinct pitch possibilities, the specific pitches depending on the length and tension of the segment. The strings attached to one end of the case with tuning pins, and passed over moveable bridges to the other end of the case. Since the bridges were of unequal heights, some strings were at a

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53 higher level than others. The stringing was such that adjacent strings were at different levels. Between these levels passed the bow, or rather, bows, without touching any of the strings. The bows consisted of seven separate, horsehair bands moving at right angles to the strings, seen in Figure 2.6 at the cheek, where the jackrail would be found on a harpsichord. The bands passed over pulleys on the sides of the instrument (inside the box-like projection) and attached to two wooden rods (NO). The rods were pulled down alternately by cords which passed over the pulleys R, which were set in motion by the bow TV. which in turn was moved by the rod VX as it responded to the balance beam X attached to the pedals. Le Voir used three types of keys, each simple in invention, to press the moving band against the strings. Some of the keys were designed to approach the band from above and some from below. Drawings for two types of the keys are missing.

*7 A

The

third (see Figure 2.6) shows a key designed to approach the band from below. Depressing this key at L pulls down on the string X which pulls down the lever above it at a, which lever pivots at point h, thereby raising the end £ , which carries a small roller upward, engaging and pushing the moving horsehair band HK against the string EE. This type of key pushed the horsehair band upward onto the corresponding strings, thereby serving the strings passing over the taller bridges. The keys approaching the strings from above carried the horsehair band downward onto their corresponding strings; therefore they serviced the strings passing over the lower bridges, under the horsehair band. Figure 2.6 delineates twelve sets of two tongue-like levers (represented by a£ in the diagram of the action) at the keyboard end of the instrument pointing toward the tail, with the top

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54 lever of each set extending above the horsehair bands and the lower one passing below. It is not so difficult to imagine how these keys work; it is more puzzling to try to figure out the placement of the remaining 13 keys, and even more so, what segment of the strings they excited. Le Voir points out that the rollers spin easily and do not put any drag on the horsehair band. He also claims that the action enables the performer to control dynamics by finger pressure, thus achieving the sought-after crescendo and diminuendo. A few minor improvements to the instrument also appear in the patent, but more significant changes are described by an eyewitness, whose account accompanies the document: In the month of March 1749,1 saw at the home of M. le Voir an instrument of this species that he had just devised, to which he had applied a movement of weights [clockwork] and a pinned cylinder, by means of which the instrument plays by itself, and changes the song itself, without the help of anyone: there was, among other things, an escapement in this mechanism for the movement of the bows, which appeared new to me and very well devised; the body of the instrument was composed o f two violins, a viola, and a large cello; it plays two or three parts. Finally, M. le Voir had the courtesy to get up on the instrument, and to play it in my presence; it seemed to me that it produced only the effect of a very harmonious concert and perfectly executed.75 One difference between Le Voir’s instrument and Haiden's geigenwerk, the backand-forth bowing motion as opposed to the continuous band, is worth mentioning because the continuous sound was important to Haiden. Le Voir's bow would have necessarily come to a stop at each end of its movement, thus producing the same effect as normal string instrument bowing. Another French instrument appeared in 1745, an epinette a archet (bowed harpsichord) by Renaud of Orleans. Identified as an ingenious artist by Pontecoulant in

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55 his Organographie of 1861, Renaud added a bow made of horsehair sewn onto a belt, and brought the gut strings to the belt by means of a lever on the keytail. Pontecoulant also describes the epinette a orchestre that followed in about 1750 in Paris, no builder named, but perhaps also by Renaud. Four ordinary string instruments were placed horizontally on a table, each having one bridge; but the bridges were much larger, covering all the distance between the F holes, and were straight instead of being arched. Over each bridge stretched fourteen gut strings, and above each instrument a large bow moved back and forth, operated by a pedal-driven wheel. Depressing a key moved the string against the bow; the performer controlled how hard he pressed the key, and therefore, how loudly the instrument sounded.

76

An instrument similar to Le Voir's was created by Le Gay, also of Paris. A 1762 entry from the History o f the Royal Academy o f Sciences is reproduced with translation in Appendix 7. It describes a keyboard instrument whose gut strings conform to a hollow cylinder in the body and are bowed by a leather-covered wood wheel operated by the foot It differs from a vielle in that the strings only touch the wheel when their corresponding key is depressed. In other words, there are no drone or bourdon strings always rubbing the wheel. Furthermore, loud and soft sounds are possible through varied finger pressure. The account goes on to describe additions to the instrument, a pedal keyboard that operates similar to the keyboard, and a second manual corresponding to another string register, not using the wheel, but rather using hard leather plectra. The resulting sound was one

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56 closely approaching that of a theorbo or of the guitar; the harmony of this instrument is agreeable and resembles a concert of viols; it is able to be extremely varied by different touches on the keys: this instrument seems ingenious and merits the author's efforts in the design, in order to give it all the improvement to which it is predisposed.77 Marcuse describes a similar instrument Le Gay submitted to the Academie in 1760. A gut-strung harpsichord with pedalboard and a second manual with gut strings and leather plectra, it differed from the earlier description in that it had a horsehair bow. This 122string instrument, which Marcuse suggests had two choirs of sixty-one strings each (five octaves), was called the clavicordium. Whether this was a variation of his earlier instrument or a new one has not been established.

78

In 1792 Anselme Montu produced his violon harmonique, with a mechanism similar to Le Voir’s, in which treble- and bass-violin resonating boxes with sixteen bridges and fifty-eight strings were placed inside a harpsichord case. Key action selected the strings to be sounded by means of a circular bow whose speed was controlled by a knee lever.

79

The earliest eighteenth-century English invention was the lyrichord, patented in 1741 by Roger Plenius, a Dutchman who emigrated to London between 1736 and 1741 (Figure 2.5). Eric Halfpenny's article in the Galpin Society Journal reproduces a description of the lyrichord from the August 1755 issue of the periodical, The General Magazine o f Arts and Sciences, edited by Benjamin Martin. The unnamed author describes the stringing as fifty-nine strings grouped in five systems: each system had three sets with four strings in each, except for the longest set which had only three strings.

80

Although the article does not clarify the compass, van der Meer reasons that it

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57 gi

was probably about GG-f3.

The account goes on to describe the strings as not all made

of the same material, but some made of gut, some wire, and the largest overspun with silver wire, like doublebasses. String lengths, ranging from six to thirty inches, were shorter than a harpsichord's, but close to the length of large string instruments. For each set of four strings there was a wheel, making a total of 15 wheels which rotated at different velocities, with shortest strings bowed fastest Instead of resin, tallow was applied to the wheels. Plenius used weights in two parts of the instrument. A large weight on the back part operated a flywheel, and clock-work action took the place of pedals. He also attached weights to the ends of the strings, hoping that the same degree o f tension would maintain the instrument's tuning indefinitely, particularly when the strings were displaced by hooks in order to sound against the wheels. Hooks used to pull the strings to the wheels were similar to Haiden's. Two types o f dynamic effects were possible, along with the tremolo (bebung): by varying finger pressure, it was possible to achieve loud, soft, close shake, crescendo and diminuendo; raising or lowering the pedaloperated lid provided a swell.

82

Hipkins adds that because of heavier stringing, "steel

arches" (like the gap spacers on pianos a century later) were used for the first time to maintain

the distance between the wrestplank and belly rail. In addition, the second

patent (1745) calls for "bushing" the keys; that is, lining the mortises with cloth to avoid rattling. He also designed a pedal-operated buff ("Welch Harp") stop.

83

Marcuse records

that the instrument passed to the ownership of the piano builder Frederick Neubauer until his death in 1772, when it was sold at Christie's in London.

oa

She gives no further

information about ownership or location of the instrument after the sale.

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58 Conflicting information accompanies the instrument known as the celestina. Alexandr Buchner credits William Mason with the invention of the celestinette in England about 1761, and Adam Walker with the celestina about 1772. Described in the patent as having a friction system in which discs were pressed against the strings, the celestina, in Buchner's opinion, was probably never fully developed.

85

Hipkins, on the

other hand, attributes the celestina to Walker, patented in London in 1772, adding that it had formerly been attributed to Mason, perhaps rather the patron, who had simply described it in his correspondence with Mary Granville, and who "played upon it with great expression."

or

According to his description, the harpsichord-shaped celestina was

only two feet long, had one, two, or three strings made of wire or gut, and the bow, which was controlled by weights or springs and operated by the performer by hand, was composed of silk, wire, flax, leather, etc., and could be placed above or below the strings. Along with the celestina came a celestina stop for harpsichords, patented by a several people including Walker and Mason, in which a hand-worked bow attached to the harpsichord.

87

The remains of some sort of celestina stop can be seen on a 1785

Kirkman harpsichord in the private collection of Dr. Andreas Beurmann of Hamburg, Germany.

QO

Thomas Jefferson ordered such a stop on a Kirkman harpsichord in 1786,

saying that it was good for slow movements and vocal accompaniments.

89

Building bowed keyboard instruments invariably represented a hobby or sideline for people in a variety of professions, whether they were merchants like Haiden, church musicians like Truchado, theorists like Caramuel, organists like Gleichmann and Pachelbel's sons, inventors like Le Voir, or, like most of the others, builders of traditional

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59 instruments. One of the more flamboyant personages was John Joseph Merlin, a London mechanic and inventor of all sorts of devices, many of them relating to musical instruments. His foray into the invention o f bowed keyboards resulted in an instrument called either the vocal harp or celestial harp, which may even have been confused with the band of keyed instruments.

90

In his essay in a book prepared for a Merlin Exhibit at

the Homiman Museum in London in the summer of 1985, Frances Palmer documented information on the instrument. An 1803 catalog entry described it as "the body of Welch Harp, strung with catgut, and laid on one side; forming an instrument somewhat similar to a Harpsichord. It has a regular set of keys, by playing on which the most melodious and pleasing sounds may be obtained, alternatively resembling Violins, Violoncellos, Tenors, Flageolets, Eolian Harps, and a full Organ." Further details followed in a sale notice in 1837: Amongst them will be found The Celestial Harp, and full Band of Keyed Instruments. This surprising and powerful Keyed Instrument is capable of producing all the effects of a full Orchestra, equal in power to four or six Violins, the same number of Tenors and Violoncellos, and other powerful accompaniments may be added. By means of a catgut worked by brass circles, the whole is made to sound. The performer is also enabled by one of the pedals acting as a mute to give the instrument all the effects o f the Welsh Harp. As a source of profit for an Exhibition, this instrument might prove a fortune in the hands of a spirited speculator.91 Palmer points out that the use of catgut for a bow was an unusual feature, unlike the wheels Haiden used, although he doesn't mention the horsehair on the original geigenwerk. It may have been the vocal harp that Sophie von la Roche described after visiting Merlin's inventions in 1786: "He has tuned a grand-piano to sound as if all the instruments were invisibly emerging from it. The work and labour expended on this

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60 achievement call for respect, although I should consider myself unfortunate if I had to listen to it daily!"92 Similar bowed keyboard activity was going on in Spain, with Francisco Florez, a Madrid harpsichord and piano maker. In her article, "Dos Constructores de Pianos en Madrid: Francisco F16rez Y Francisco Femdndez," Cristina Bordas Ibdfiez presents documents showing that in 1791 Florez built some pianofortes, harpsichords, and a glass harmonica with a register of sustained voice (yoz sostenida) that imitates the violin, viola, and cello. The listing of instruments built in 1795 shows a fortepiano with several added registrations, including the same register for sustained voice, but this time specifies gut strings (cuerdas de tripa).

93

Although the documents do not tell what kind of mechanism

was used, Ibdfiez supposes that it was some sort of bowing mechanism.

94

The document

also mentions some instruments Florez made that were "like those constructed by Merlin in London."95 In fact, Florez seems to have been the "Merlin" of Spain; an advertisement in Diario de Madrid of November 25, 1795, reads: Don Francisoco Florez, piano-builder to His Majesty's Chamber announces that, wishing to perfect himself and make advances in this art, he went to London with a pension from His Majesty and that not merely has he succeeded in building instruments as perfect as those that are made there, but the touch is better than any known hitherto. As proof of his advance, he has just had the honour of presenting to Their Majesties an instrument in which he has employed all the knowledge he has gained from observation. This fortepiano, which has received royal approval, has the following registers: 'harpa' and 'lleno' (harp and full), two organ registers and one o f gut The latter is special in that it sustains the sound as though it were a wind stop. It imitates a violin in the treble, a viola in the middle range and a cello in the bass. The instrument also has two kettledrums of skin. Whoever likes this type o f instrument and wishes to have one built will be satisfied. Florez also adds organ registers to fortepianos and has invented a method of supplying wind more easily than hitherto. He also builds quill and piano 'claves' [keyboards] and with other registers, as Merlin does in London, of whatever compass is requested.

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61 He makes glass harmonicas which sustain the sound and are played from a keyboard. He builds barrel organs with clockwork or other types of movement. Finally, he makes pianos for 25 doubloons which cannot be had from London for less than 40.96 In Scandinavia in the meantime, a Viola da Gamba Claveer produced in 1746 by Johan Daniel Berlin of Trondheim, Norway, was said to have its strings bowed with a wheel, like Haiden's 1601 geigenwerk. However, van der Meer casts doubt on its resemblance to that instrument.

97

Its name would seem to imply a viola da gamba shape

with keys added to fret the strings, rather than a harpsichord shape with added bow. Peter Andreas Kjeldsberg, curator of the Ringve Museum in Trondheim, Norway, also doubts that it had any kind of mechanical action in it, even though it has been interpreted to be some kind of geigenwerk. He speculates that it could have been an experimental variation of the viola da gamba with some kind of keyboard and the strings activated by a bow. He adds that Berlin was a composer, town musician, organist, a sort of musical jack-of-all-trades in Trondheim, and also had an extraordinary collection of musical instruments.

98

A Swedish reconstruction of the geigenwerk by Nils Soderstrom, an organ builder in Nora bom in 1730, was patented in 1765. According to Tobias Norlind in his Systematic der Saiteninstrumente Stockholm, 1936, the reference to the instrument in a 1772 book by Hiilphers has an accompanying picture of Haiden's geigenwerk.

99

The only eighteenth-century Italian instrument, by Gerli of Milan in 1789, is listed simply as "an instrument in the form of a harpsichord in which the strings are put in vibration by horsehair bows."100

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The Nineteenth Century Activity in German-speaking countries in the nineteenth century came mostly before 1810 and after 1890, with only one exception: an 1833 two-manual piano by Heinz of Tolz, about which little is known other than that it had one manual for the piano, and one bowed.101 A tum-of-the-century bowed keyboard now housed in the Germanisches National Museum in Nuremberg may or may not be German; instead of having a record about a builder whose instrument no longer exists, this extant example has no accompanying information about the builder. Dated about 1800, the mechanics of this anonymous Streichklavier in the Neupert Collection are the reverse of the geigenwerk invented two centuries earlier in the same city: rather than bringing the string to the bow, it uses small rollers attached to the bottom of each key to bring a revolving cord against the strings. The harpsichord-shaped instrument is not full size, but rather its longest string has a string length of 650 mm: like Gleichmann's claviergamba, about the length o f a gamba string. It is fully described in Chapter 3. An anonymous miniature of this streichklavier sits in a "puppet city" in the Schlofi Museum in Amstadt, Germany.

102

Three men in Vienna-two of them piano makers-invented a portable piano called the Orphika. Although this was not a bowed instrument, Gerber explains that it inspired one named the Xanorphika. Of the men, Carl Leopold Rollig, Joseph Dohnal and Mathias Muller, Rollig designed the xanorphika, and Muller produced it in Dohnal's shop. Based on Meyer's and Kunz's concept of separate horsehair bows on a perpendicular frame, the 1801 instrument reversed the positions, and bowed vertical

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63 strings with horizontal bows-a square piano with a vertical harp at the back. A fashion journal from 1801 describes the xanorphika: This structure of this instrument is a two feet, five inches wide and two feet, five inches long table; on the front end is a keyboard and sitting on the other end an orphica [sic] or perpendicular free-standing harp. On this elongated rectangular enclosure hang the violin bows, which are equal in number to the strings and which are set in motion by means of pedals. Through the lightest pressure the key, the stroke of the bow is brought on the inner stationary strings. The range of this instrument goes from deepest cello c up to f3 and has in the highest register the sound of the viola d'amour, and in the deepest register that of a gamba. . . however, much acuteness is exercised in the invention and fine tuning of such a bogenfliigel, it is nonetheless a most regrettable process. How often must one replace the strings? How much more often must it be tuned? How easily can moths infest the bow? And finally, when the instrument is at its best, how much does it go out of tune? Should instead Dr. Chladni's clavicylinder or Riffelson's melodikon have been successfully brought to completion, it would have ensured, and rightfully so, a more all-around pleasurable listening experience, in which there is neither restringing, nor anything to voice. The eventual owner of a simplistic instrument such as these are, since they are made with few parts, would assure himself a lifetime of musical delight.103 Schilling goes into more detail describing the horizontal bowframe, whose pedaloperated movement permitted the player to control bow direction and pressure on the strings, so that all kinds of expression were possible. He deems this a correction of the problem with the vertical bows in Kunz's earlier instrument. The bowframe's range of movement was about twenty inches, giving about sixteen and one-half inches of actual bowstroke; it deviated vertically not more than one-half inch from the bowing point of the string. Each bow was carried to its string by a lever on the corresponding keytail, situated about one inch from the strings. A register change moved the lever three and one-half inches away from the strings, presumably by pulling the keyframe toward the player. The modified bowing point was said to have produced a sound like a glass

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64 harmonica. Strings could be steel or gut, although steel stringing afforded more volume. Depressing a key even lightly moved a lever on the keytail, which brought the bow against the string as the bowframe moved the bows back and forth between the strings. Each rosined bow could move to its string quickly and independently; the action was so good, Schilling reports, that trills could be executed easily. He describes the overall tone of the xanorphika as graceful, strong, and dignified: the most beautiful sound came from the middle register, which sounded deceptively like a cello. The upper register was somewhat shrill and the lower a little rough. As a solo instrument it sounded like a clavicylinder; as an orchestra instrument it served best as accompaniment for a recitative, because it sounded like a cello, but had more fullness and more versatility of timbre. Schilling also pointed out that since it had no rollers and no wheels, it could perform without unwanted noise. Chladni even said the xanorphika was regarded as the "older brother" of his own clavicylinder.104 Sachs records that later Muller improved the instrument,105 and Marcuse adds, gave concerts with it.106 No doubt similar instruments followed; Buchner briefly names one by Anton Friedl, also of Vienna, a large, upright xanorphika, built a year later.

107

The Harmonichord Friedrich Kaufmann invented in 1809 has survived to the present; an example built by Kaufinann's grandson belongs to the Deutsches Museum in Munich. Chladni's influence is obvious in this upright piano housing a cylinder that "bows" wood friction bars which are connected to strings. Information from the museum and photos of a model of the action appear in Chapter 6.

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65

In 1810 a builder named Weidner in Fraustadt combined a streichklavier and Euphone. He was also responsible for the Triphon, a harmonichord without a t

i

,108

keyboard.

Significant inventions were conceived during the 1890s. A streichklavier patented by Kuhmayer of Pressburg may have never been realized, but it became the first in a succession of three similar patented instruments that resulted in a bowed piano built in about 1913 by the Hofmann and Czerny piano firm, now belonging to the Technical Museum in Vienna. The instrument is built in a grand piano case, double strung with wire, and has revolving bands (one band for two adjacent pitches) which are brought into contact with the stationary strings by means of rollers operated by the keys. The bands were set into motion by an automatic mechanism, now missing. A complete description of that instrument along with the three patents comprises Chapter 5 and Appendices 1518. Along with the significant inventions were others about which nothing is known beyond the date, maker’s name and city: 1890, Vorbrodt of Magdeburg; 1891, Linhardt of Munich; 1894, Krotoschin of Berlin.109 The 1895/96 Zeitung gives a little more information on a "pedalviolin" by Muller-Braunau, reporting that the strings are actually strummed by a pedal-operated bow, which is a leather strap guided in a zigzag over rollers.110 The strap idea bears striking similarities to the Kuhmayer invention (see Chapter 5). In the same edition, an instrument constructed by R. Traubl in Dresden is drawn as having a horizontal, round bow that strokes strings standing upright,111 which brings Hawkins' 1802 claviol to mind (see below and Figure 2.7).

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66 In France, bowed pianos first appeared in 1803 and in 1806: the earlier one, the piano-harmonicon by Tobias Schmidt of Paris, could be built in either square or grand piano form. It contained a single choir of strings that were moved to the bow, some sort of flexible band of unknown material. In 1806 Johann Christian Dietz, Sr. of Paris, introduced the organo-diapazo in a Paris exhibition, but it is described merely as being smaller than a piano.

112

Dietz represents a family not only of piano builders, but also of

inventors; in 1827 Johann Christian Dietz, Jr. originated thepolyplectron, reportedly with a continuous bow for each string.

113

Other inventions about which little is known are the

plectro-euphone created by Gama of Nantes in 1828, which is thought to have been a bowed keyboard although its construction is unknown,114 and an unnamed one by Barutto o f Lyon about 1870.115 Two significant inventions, which still have original examples in museums, are the piano-violon of 1865 and the improved version, the piano-quatuor of 1873, both by Gustave Baudet of Paris. These instruments, resembling upright pianos, contained cylinders which rubbed plant fibers tied to the strings. They are described in Chapter 4. In the United States, John Isaac Hawkins of Bordentown, New Jersey came on the scene in 1802 with the claviol, an instrument that most scholars116 have confused with the claviola, an 1897 bowed zither by Ole Breiby of Jersey City, New Jersey, belonging to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (see Chapter 6).

11 n

In fact, the 1903

catalog o f the museum mistakenly credits their instrument to Hawkins. The error is corrected by Laurence Libin in his 1985 book, American Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum o f Art, which gives information on the invention and also includes

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the little-known fact that Thomas Jefferson had tried in vain to acquire one. Details of the instrument, which was also called a claviole or finger keyed viol, appear in an illustration in Figures 2.7 and 2.8.

118

Unlike the small, twenty-five-key hand-bowed

claviola, the claviol was a grand instrument with a compass of more than five and onehalf octaves, standing half again as tall as an upright grand piano. In fact, it was in every way an upright geigenwerk, with a large, treadle-driven flywheel that turned four smaller wheels, horizontal to the player, set in a row behind the keyboard. Four sets of vertical strings were hitched in semi-circles to conform to the front half of the wheels. Depressing a key brought the string into contact with a revolving wheel. 119 When Hawkins, an English immigrant and ingenious engineer known for his novel pianos, presented his invention in Philadelphia, the New York Commercial Advertiser ran this announcement on June 12, 1802: We are informed the lovers of Music will have a grand treat in the course of the ensuing week. Mr. John I. Hawkins, has just completed a Musical instrument, on a construction entirely new; he calls it a Clavial [sic], from Clavis, a key and Viol. The Music is produced from gut strings by horse hair bows rosined, it is played on with finger keys like the organ or Piano Forte. This instrument, we are told, produces the sweet enchanting tones of the [glass] harmonica, the rich sounds of the Violin, and the full grand chords of the Organ.120 Hipkins reports that the claviol was brought to London in 1813.

121

At the 1851 London Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, a pianoviolin by American J. S. Wood was awarded Honorable Mention and £50 to cover construction costs.

However, no further information could be found for Wood in

patent records or in American biographical lexicons. On May 9,1871 a patent was issued

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68 to Elisha D. Blakeman of Mount Lebanon, New York for an instrument combining the piano and violin. The abstract reads: This invention relates to a new musical instrument which combines the peculiarities of the piano and violin, being a bow instrument with keys. It is more particularly employed for the instruction of children and the playing of light music, and affords an excellent opportunity for training the ear to the sounds, their successions, and harmonious or inharmonious combinations.123 The brief description does not clarify whether this was a fretted instrument more like a hurdy-gurdy, or whether the "peculiarities of the piano" implied a full keyboard. One other American builder is identified as a man named Rider of New York, whose unnamed instrument is dated 1887.

12d

Nineteenth-century English inventions began with Isaac Henry Robert Mott of Brighton, whose sostenente piano (sustaining piano), patented February 1,1817,

125

had

rollers rubbing silk threads, whose resulting vibrations were transmitted to the strings.

126

This was the same principle seen in Garbrecht's and Wasiansky's bogenhammerklavier of 1790 and Kaufmann's harmonichord of 1803, which would be fully developed in mid century by Gustave Baudet (Chapter 4). Four decades later in England, after building a lyro-pianoforte, which was a combination piano and harpsichord action, Robert Thomas Worton patented two bowed keyboard instruments on November 16,1861, the vispianoforte and the iyro-vis-pianoforte. The latter combined the lyro-pianoforte and the bowed keyboard action of the vis-pianoforte.

127

In 1871, an improved version of Mott's

sostinente piano was built by Stead, who replaced the treadle with clockwork.

128

A man

named Glaser is recorded as having built an English bowed keyboard in 1882, but no other information is available.

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69

Norlind mentions another example in Great Britain, an 1823 work by Thomas Todd in Swansea, South Wales,

129

to which Marcuse adds the description that it had an

endless rosined band with two treadle-driven rollers.

130

Norlind also includes a claviolin

by Ch. Schmidt (no country given) from 1824, but with only the name, one wonders whether the claviolin was actually in a keyboard case or merely had keys added to the body of a string instrument.

131

An Italian variation of the earliest geigenwerk with a horsehair bow came in an 1820 violicembalo by Abbey Gregorio Trentino of Venice. Described in Pietro Lichtenthal's 1836 Dizionario e Bibliografia della Musica as being in the shape of a grand piano with a six-octave compass, the violicembalo attempted to more closely imitate the mechanics of the string instrument. It was single strung with gut, the lowest six strings overwound with brass. Just above the strings near the tail stretched a revolving "bow," a continuous band made of a woollen fabric with silk sewn over it, which continued horizontally from one side of the instrument to the other, crossing and encircling the strings. A lever, located on the keytail behind the revolving band, raised the string so that it pressed against the bow. Behind the revolving band was a deerskincovered rail, also stretching horizontally to the sides of the instrument. The lever, which was directly beneath the rail, pressed the string against the rail, determining the sounding length or pitch of the string, corresponding to a string player's fingers pressing against the fingerboard. The distance between the point of contact of lever and rail to the bowing point where the bow rubbed the string was in a similar proportion as the distance between the fretting point and the bowing point on a string instrument: in the treble it matched the

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70

violin, in the middle range, the viola, and in the bass, the cello. The bow revolved around two small metal rollers at each side of the instrument driven by a larger wooden wheel concealed in the lower left side of the case, which was pedal-operated by "the skillful foot of the performer."132 An unnamed instrument in Italian style is attributed to Taconi of Milan in 1820,

133

and Archotti of Rome is briefly mentioned as having built a bowed keyboard in

1830.134 A short 1880 reference comes from Gasparella's I Musicisti Vicentini, in which he expresses hopes that the research done by a local citizen, Luigi Gastaldon, on a piano with continuous sound would find a pleasing result in the efforts of piano-maker Paolo Morellato from Vicenza, so that it would bring honor to his fatherland to have made one of the greater discoveries that, up until then, had been attempted in vain.

135

The last

nineteenth-century Italian builder known was Bertinelli of Rome in 1894.136 A number of countries produced only one or two bowed keyboards during the nineteenth century. The first documented Russian instrument, the hand-cranked orchestrine, or clavecin harmonique, was built in about 1801 in Moscow by J. C. Hiiner and Pouleau. With a five-octave compass (C-c4), it was patented by Pouleau in Paris in 1805.

13*7

One other Russian builder is known only as Novinsky, with a date of 1887.

138

Belgium was represented in 1830 by H. Lichtenthal of Brussels, who showed his pianoviole at the Exposition Nationale. In 1838 Lichtenthal produced a piano a sons soutenus, an improvement of his earlier piano-viole.

139

•

.

.

.

*

A Yugoslavian combination instrument by

Joh. Bajde from Littai, Camiola (western Yugoslavia) was written up in the 1893/94 edition of the Musik-Instrumenten-Zeitung: "On the upper manual with ordinary piano

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71 keys one plays all the string instruments, on the lower manual zither, harp and glockenspiel. Both manuals may be played at the same time."140 A Hungarian example, also simply called by the generic name streichklavier, was invented in 1894 by Professor Ludwig Schnoller in Budapest. Designed like a grand piano, a revolving band, made of "appropriate material," was situated above the strings. The strings were pushed up against it through key action. The band was set in motion by a treadle. Appendix 9 contains a facsimile of the patent with diagrams and translation.141 The Twentieth Century In contrast to the plethora of inventions in the nineteenth century, the twentieth century has documented few unfretted, mechanically-bowed keyboard instruments. No ' instrument descriptions come with the six names found for the period between 1900 and 1909: about 1900 Schwab and Kurka, both of Vienna; Klos of Emmerich in 1903; Mez o f Baden-Baden in 1904, and in 1909, Racca of Bologna and Piatkiewicz of Chyrow, Galicia (now part of Poland and the Ukraine).142 Schwab is also mentioned in a catalogue from the international exhibition at Paris in 1900; in an overview of Austrian contributions to nineteenth-century progress, Felix Schwab and Franz Kuhmeier are listed as contemporary bowed piano inventors.

143

Another instrument appeared in 1909, a Streichharmonium by Karl Beddies of Gotha, part of the Heyer collection which belonged to the University of Leipzig but was lost during World War II.144 Kinsky describes it this way: Each pitch has a special hollow violin-shaped resonator under its gut string. These pitch-resonators share a common soundboard, and are, when a key is depressed, brought into contact with a satin-covered,145 rotating leather band. In

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72

place of the planned pedal, which was to set the leather band in motion, this model is fitted with a cranking device designed to be operated by a second person. Compass: G-g3 (four octaves). Width 87 cm, depth 71 cm, height 1.09 m. 46 A note that follows mentions an instrument invented by Beddies in the 1880s using rosined sealskin moving over two rollers for a bow, that, although patented, was never practical.

147

Following the few listed above from the first decade, only two remain to be mentioned. The first, already referred to, and fully described in Chapter 5, is the Hofmann and Czerny grand piano style bowed keyboard of about 1913, based on a design evolved from Kiihmayer, in which revolving bands are pressed against the strings. The second, a Russian instrument from 1960 by V. I. Djemenjuk in Moscow, is introduced by Buchner in an article in the Revue Beige de Musicologie.

148

Shaped like a small

harpsichord, it uses an appendage on the underside of the key to press the string against a moving band. A part of the collection in the Glinka Museum, this modem instrument is described in Chapter 6. Thus, the history of unfretted bowed keyboard instruments began with its most influential, most copied example, Haiden's geigenwerk. Inventions that followed generally imitated various aspects of the geigenwerk, the bowing mechanisms using a continuous horsehair band or wheels, or action that brought the strings to the bow. However, other workable solutions were attempted, such as moving the bow to the strings using levers or rollers, or adding appendages to the strings to be bowed. Although no single design gained universal, or even limited acceptance, and almost all bowed keyboards built were re-inventions prevailing for only one generation, this creative

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73

industry continued unabated for four centuries, a tribute to the relentless determination of instrument builders to marry the qualities of bowed strings with the versatility of a keyboard.

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Figure 2.1: Chronology

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75

c.

c.

1575

Hans Haiden (1536-1613), Nuremberg: geigenwerk; improved version, 1601

1590

Georg Kretzchmar, Dresden, geigen-instrument

1595

Ludwig Luren, Germany: orgues a roues

1608

Conrad Rot, Hessen-Kassel: copy of Haiden’s geigenwerk

1608

Vincenzo Bolcione, Florence

1625

Fray Raymundo Truchado, Madrid: geigenwerk

1650

Giovanni Valentini: lyra panharmonica

1650

Athanasius Kircher: clavicymbalis mirabilis

1664

(From Samuel Pepys’ diary) London: arched viall

1670

Giacomo Ramerini (owner), Rome: concerto della viole Added to collection in 1693: le viole

1673

Michele Todini, Rome: archicymbalium symphoniarca

1709

Johann Georg Gleichmann, Ilmenau: claviergamba or gambenwerk

c. 1709

de Chales, France

c. 1730

Wahlfried Ficker, Zeitz: gambenwerk

1730

Johann Michael Pachelbel and Wilhelm Hieronymous Pachelbel, Nuremberg: geigenwerks like Haiden’s

1741

Roger Plenius, London:

1742

Le Voir, Paris

1745

Renaud, Orleans: epinette k archet

1746

Johan Daniel Berlin, Trondheim: viola da gamba claveer

1750

Renaud? Paris: epinette k orchestre

lyrichord

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76 Figure 2.1—continued 1750

Daniel Bertin and Johann Michael Pachelbel, Nuremberg

1752

Georg Matthias Risch, Ilmenau: gambenwerk

1753

Hohlfeld, Berlin: Bogenfliigel

1762

Le Gay, Paris

1765

Nils SoderstrQm (b. 1730), Sweden: clavier-gamba

1772

Adam Walker, England: celestina

1772

Anonymous, Hamburg: pantalon

1779

Johann Carl Greiner (1743-1798), Wetzlar: bogenklavier (or bogenfltigel); bogenhammerklavier

1780

John Joseph Merlin (1735-1803), London: vocal harp or celestial harp

1782

H. Schmidt, Rostock: harmonika

1789

Gerli, Milan

1790

Garbrecht and Wasiansky, Konigsberg: bogenhammerklavier

1791

Francisco Florez (d. 1824), Madrid: sustaining register on glass harmonica; 1795: gut strung sustaining register for fortepiano

1792

Anselme Montu, Paris: violon harmonique

1794

Carl Andreas von Meyer (Meyer zu Knowow, Mayer zu Gorlitz, Hr. v. Mayer), G6rlitz: bogenfltigel

1799

Thomas Anton Kunz, Prague: bogenfltigel

c. 1800 1801

Anonymous, Nuremberg: streichklavier Carl Leopold Rollig (1754-1804) and Mathias Mtiller (1770-1844), Vienna: xdnorphika

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77 Figure 2.1--continued 1801

J. C. Hiibner, Moscow: orchestrine or clavecin harmonique; patented by Pouleau in Paris in 1805

1802

Anton Friedl, Vienna: xanorphika

1802

John Isaac Hawkins (1772-1885), New Jersey: claviol

1803

Tobias Schmidt (fl. 1788-1822), Paris: piano-harmonicon

1806

Johann Christian Dietz (1773-1849), Paris: organ-diapazo

1809

Friedrich Kaufmann (1785-1866):

1810

Weidner, Fraustadt: combination streichklavier and euphone

1817

Robert Mott (fl. 1817-1825), Brighton: sostenente pianoforte

1820

Abbe Gregorio Trentino, Milan: violicembalo

1820

Taconi, Milan

1823

Thomas Todd, South Wales

1824

Ch. Schmidt, claviolin

harmonichord

c. 1827

Johann Christian Dietz, Jr. (1804-1888), Paris: polyplectron

c. 1827

Gama, Nantes: plectro-euphone

1830

Archotti, Rome

1830

H. Lichtenthal, Brussels: piano-viole; 1838:

1833

Heinz, Tolz

1851

J. S. Wood, United States: piano-violin

1861

Robert Thomas Worton, England: Vis-pianoforte and lyro-vis-pianoforte

piano a sons soutenus

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Figure 2.1—continued 1865

Gustave Baudet, Paris: piano-violon; 1873: piano-quatuor

1870

Barutto, Lyon

1871

Stead, England: improvements on Mott’s sostinente piano

1871

Elisha Blakeman, Mt. Lebanon, New York: violin piano

c. 1880

Luigi Gastaldon and Paolo Morellato, Venice

1882

Glaser, England

1887

Novinsky, Chotin, Russia

1887

Rider, New York

1890

Vorbrodt, Magdeburg

1892

Kiihmayer, Pressburg: streichklavier patented; similar patents in 1898 and 1913

1891

Linhart, Munich

1893

Bajde, Littai (Camiola)

1894

Schndller, Budapest

1894

Krotoschin, Berlin

1894

Bertinelli, Rome

c.

1895

R. TrSubl, Dresden

c.

1895

Miiller-Braunau, Germany: pedalviolin

1897

Ole Breiby, New Jersey: claviole

c.

1900

Schwab, Vienna

c.

1900

Kurka, Vienna

c.

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Figure 2.1-continued 1903

Klos, Emmerich

1904

Mez, Baden-Baden

1909

Racca, Bologna

1909

Piatkiewicz, Chryrow, Galicia

1909

Karl Beddies, Gotha: streichharmonium

1913

Hofinan and Czerny, Vienna: streichklavier

1965

V. I. Djemenjuk, sostenente piano

1985

William Morton, United States: Nuremberg geigenwerk

1985

Reichmann, Frankfurt, Germany: Nuremberg geigenwerk; built a second one in 1990

1993

Akio Obuchi, Tokyo, Japan: geigenwerk after Truchado

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80

Figure 2.2:

Lyra panharmonica by Valentino

Figure 2:3: Combination Instrument by Kircher

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81

Figure 2.4: Combination instrument by Todini

Figure 2.5: Lyrichord by Plenius

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82

Figure 2.6: Bowed harpsichord by Le Voir

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83

F oot flltr c i k Jin la n ee.

Figure 2.7: Claviol by Hawkins

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Figure 2.8: Claviol in detail

85 Notes 1.

John Henry van der Meer, "Gestrichene Saitenklaviere," Basler Jahrbuch fu r Historische Musikpraxis X III1989, 150. Marcuse incorrectly reports in her Survey o f Musical Instruments (see endnote 5) that Rot built the imitation in 1579, "clearly infringing the terms of the originator’s privilege" (312), when the privilege was not granted until 1601.

2.

Cited in Georg Kinsky, "Hans Haiden, der Erfinder des Niimbergischen Geigenwerks," Zeitschrififu r Musikwissenschaft VI (January-February 1924), 201202. Translation by Kathrin Meyer and the author. . . . Gnedigster Fiirst und Herr. Ich hab vor etlichen Jam (meines erachtens) ein sehr bequemes Musicalisch Instrument mit Clavim auf Geigenart, darauf man die moderation der stimmen (welches auf andem clavirten Instrumenten zu haben bifiher unmiiglich gewest) haben kan, von neuem erfunden imd darflber von Kay: Mt. ein allergnedigstes privilegium uf zehen jar nicht nachzumachen erlangt. Zur Fertigung defien ich ainen Schreinergsellen, so auf drey meil Wegs von Cassel oder Marburg burtig und sich Conrad Rot genanndt, ein zeitlang bey mir im HauB gehalten, aber ihne seines frutztigen Kopfs halben, weil auch die Kunst bey ihme so gros nicht gewest, endlich fahren lassen. Ich hab ihme aber ansenglich alspald, wie er bei mir angedretten, so wol auch hemach, da er von mire abgeschiden, obbemelts mein Kaiserlich privilegium vorgehalten, vorgelesen imd ihne treulich gewamt, das er sich mit nachmachen nicht vergreiffen, sonder vor der peen \poena], darein er fallen wtirde, hiitten solte. Ich vemim aber, das er ungeacht defien alien sich unterstanden, dergleichen werk vor disem bey Georg Weifiland, einem Orgelmacher zu Cassel, und seydthero auch in seinem Haimat fur sich selbst zu failem Kauf zu machen und nachzustiimpln. Wann dann durch diss dem Kay: privilegio zuwider gehandelt, mir auch die verhoffte ergefilichkait meiner sovil darauf gewendten miihe und costen endtzogen und dafi werk an ihme selbst zu mein (als defi authoris) schmach also verstiimplt wirdt, so bin ich gutter Hoffiiung, E.F.G. alfi ein sonderlich beriimbter fautor und schufi gutter Kiinst und Kiinstner werden an difiem beginnen kain gefallen haben. Gelangt demnach an E.F.G. mein underthenigste hochvleissigste bitth, dafi sie genedigst geruhen wolten zu befelhen, damit meinem Sohn vermiig seines von mire habenden Gewaldts gegen gemeltem Conrad Roten oder andem, so sich an difiem Kayserlichen privilegio vergriffen, mit gebiirlicher Execution mflg verholfen werden. Ich hab auch bey solcher gelegenhait diser meiner werk aines, wie ichs seider verbessert, so ohne das gehn Frankfurt gehdrig, meinem Sohn Hans Christoff mitgegeben, damit E.F.G. daran sehen miigen, wie sie jefit gestaldt sindt, und da E.F.G. ein solches begem, kan mit erstem aines gefertigt werden.

3. 4.

Edmond van der Straeten, La musique aux Pays-Bas avant le 19e siecle II (Brussels, 1872), 302. Cited in van der Meer, 151. Van der Meer, 151.

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86 5.

Sibyl Marcuse, A Survey o f Musical Instruments (New York: Harper & Row, 1975), 312.

6.

VII, 54.

7.

Marianne Brocker, Die Drehleier: Ihr Bau und ihre Geschichte (Bonn-Bad Godesberg: Verlag fiir systematische Musikwissenschaft, 1977), 175. My translation. The full text of the notice follows: An old instrument was discovered in Spain at the Escorial that appears to be the prototype of the piano-violons and piano-quatuors of our day. It is a pianoviolin, a kind of bowed keyboard, invented by Johann Haiden of Nuremberg in 1606, that King Philippe HI had brought to St. Lorenz. The cylinders, covered with resined parchment, are put in motion by a crank; the finger-operated keys produce, through the intermediary of metal tongues, contact of the cylinder with the strings, and consequently a sound approaching that of the violin and instruments of the same family. On a retrouve en Espagne, a l’Escurial, un vieil instrument qui parait etre le prototype des pianos-violons et pianos-quatuors [by Baudet; see Chapter 5] de nos jours. C’est un violicembalo, sorte de clavecin a archet, invente par Johann Heyden de Nuremberg, en 1606, et que le roi Philippe III a fait venir a SanLorenzo. Des roues cylindriques, frottees de colophone, sont mises en mouvement, par une manivelle; les touches attaquees par les doigts produisent, par 1’intermediate de lames mdtallique, le contact des roues avec les cordes, et par consequent un son se rapprochant de celui du violon et des instruments de la meme famille.

8.

Rene de Maeyer, "Le ’Geigenwerk’ du Musde Instrumental de Bruxelles," Instrument de Musique Espagnols du X V f au X D f Siecle (Brussels: Exposition Organis^e par la Generate de Banque 17 Oct.-18 Dec. 1985), 115-138.

9.

BrScker, 175.

10. Marcuse, Survey, 312. 11. Patrizio Barbieri, "Gli ingegnosi cembali e ’violicembali’ inventati da Juan Caramuel Lobkowitz per Ferdinando III (c. 1650): notizie inedite dal manoscritto M usica" Le meraviglie del probabile: Juan Caramuel, 1606-1682, atti del convegno intemazionale di studi, Vigevano, October 29-31, 1982 (Commune Di Vigevano, 1990), 91-112. My thanks to the author for sending me a copy of this article, as well as information on Giacomo Ramerini in Ferrari’s article (endnote 19). 12. Florence, 1581, 48.

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87 13.

Barbieri, "Gli ingegnosi cembali," 97.

14.

Athanasius Kircher, Musurgiae Universalis sine Artis Consoni & Dissoni (Rome, 1650), 341. This instrument was also represented in Caspar Schott, Magiae Universalis Naturae et Artis II Acustica (Bamberg 1674).

15. Van der Meer, 154. 16. Cited in Frances W. Galpin, Old English Instruments o f Music, (Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1911), 101. 17. Cited in Galpin, 101. 18. Van der Meer, 156. 19. Pierluigi Ferrari, "Ancora sulla collezione medicea di strumenti musicali: gli inventari inediti del 1670 e 1691," Studi in Onore di Giulio Cattin, ed. by Francesco Luisi (Rome: Istituto di paleografia musicale, 1990), 237. My thanks to Patrizio Barbieri for sending me a copy of pertinent pages of the inventory, and for including the information on the organ in his letter of March 20, 1991. 20. Ferrari, 253. 21.

Patrizio Barbieri, "Cembalaro, organaro, chitarraro e fabbricatore di corde armoniche nella Polyanthea technica di Pinaroli (1718-32), con notizie sui liutai e cembalari operand a Roma, Ricercare (1989), 134.

22.

Athanasius Kircher, Phonurgia nova, (Kempton 1673), 167-170. Cited in van der Meer, 157-158.

23. Charles Burney, The PresentState o f Music in France and Italy, 2nd ed. (London, 1773), 393.Facs. New York: AMS Press, 1976. 24.

Van der Meer, 158.

25.

Burney, 393.

26.

Johann Gottfried Walther, Musicalisches Lexikon (Leipzig, 1732), 284. Cited in Van der Meer, 161.

27.

Gustav Schilling, ed. Encyclopadie der Gesammten Musikalischen Wissenschaften, oder Universal-Lexikon der Tonkunst IR (Stuttgart, 1840), 46. My thanks to Dr. Herbert Heyde for directing me to this source.

28.

Schilling, III, 246.

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88 29.

Jakob Adlung, Musica Mechanica Organoedi: Griindlicher Unterricht (Berlin, 1768), 126-127. Translation by Shirley Stroud. Zu jedermanns Verwunderung die ordentliche Violdigamba nicht nur natiirlich imitirt, als ob sie mit dem Bogen gestrichen wiirde; sondem auch wegen seiner unglaublichen Niedlichkeit und beweglichen Intonation iiberaus galant traktirt werden kann, indem es augenblicklich und ohne die geringste Veranderung des Instruments forte und piano hdren zu lassen eingerichtet ist.

30.

Ernst Ludwig Gerber, Neues historisch-biographisches Lexicon der Tonkunstler, II (Leipzig, 1812-1814), 119. Cited in van der Meer, 162.

31. Lorenz Christoph Mizler, Neu eroffhete musikalische Bibliothek 1/6 (Leipzig 1738), 99. 32. Jakob Adlung, Anleitung zu der musikalischen Gelahrtheit (Erfurt, 1758), 566567. Cited in van der Meer, 161. 33. Listed as "Riesch" in Donald H. Boalch, Makers o f the Harpsichord and Clavichord 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1974), 126-127, and in the 3rd ed. (1995), 156. Marcuse implies that he came from Nuremberg (Survey, 314), possibly because of the copper engraving he had made there. However, Gerber and Schilling also list him as coming from Ilmenau. 34.

Schilling, III, 246.

35.

Ernst Ludwig Gerber, Historisch-Biographische Lexikon der Tonkunstler 17901792 II (Graz: Akademische Druck u. Verlagsanstalt, 1977), 294. Cited in van der Meer, 164.

36.

Marcuse, Survey, 314.

37.

Schilling, III, 612-613.

38.

Van der Meer, 164-165.

39.

Gerber (1790-1792), 657.

40.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Essay on the True Art o f Playing Keyboard Instruments, trans. & ed. by William J. Mitchell (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1949), 172.

41.

Marpurg cited in Marcuse, Survey, 315.

42.

Van der Meer suggests the broader range of 1753-1757; Heyer says 1753, Sachs says 1754.

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89 43.

Van der Meer, 164-165 passim.

44.

Schilling, III, 613.

45.

Marcuse, Survey, 315.

46.

My appreciation goes to Professor Dr. Franz Krautwurst of Erlangen, Germany, who was kind enough to send me several pieces of information from his private files, including this news item, in a personal letter, September 24, 1990. My translation. Hamburg, den 11. Sept. [1777]. Vor einigen Tagen ist hier ein Kiinstler aus dem mecklenburgischen mit einem musikalischen Instrument angekommen, das die Aufinerksamkeit der Liebhaber der Tonkunst verdient. Es hat fast die Figur eines sogenannten Pantalons, hat im Bafi einfache, gelbe, und im Discant weifie gewohnliche Klaviersaiten. Der Ton entsteht durch beriihrung der Saiten von einem Bogen, der mit dem FuBe regiert wird, und dem die Saiten durch den Anschlag der Tasten, die so, wie auf einem gewShnlichen Klavier beschaffen sind, genahert werden, dauert so lange fort, als der Bogen die Saiten beriihrt. Der Ton ist vortrefflich, und hat viel Ahnlichkeit mit dem Ton der Harmonica.

47.

Schilling, III, 302. F. J. Fetis incorrectly gives 1753-1798 as Greiner’s dates, but also records that he lived 55 years, which would correspond to a 1743 birth date in Biographie Universelle des Musiciens et Bibliographie Generate de la Musique, 2nd ed. IV (Paris, 1874), 97. Facs. Brussels: Culture et Civilisation, 1963.

48.

Georg Kinsky, Katalog: Musikhistorisches Museum von Wilhelm Heyer in Coin I (Coin, 1910), 383.

49.

Schilling, III, 302.

50.

Marcuse, Survey, 316.

51.

Gerber (1790-1792), 541-542. Schilling gives the dimensions as 3’8" long, 1’8" wide, and 1’ high.

52.

Schilling, III, 302.

53.

Fetis, IV, 97-98. My translation. Cette combinaison de Greiner offrait beaucoup d’imperfections; Schmidt, facteur allemand, fixd a Paris, l’a reproduite dans un instrument qui a ete &I’exposition des produits de I’industrie en 1806. Depuis lors, il a et6 fait, d’apres divers systemes, diffdrents essais d’instruments k claviers, k cordes et k sons soutenus; celui de M. Dietz fils est reste jusqu’i ce jour le moins imparfait.

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90

54.

Marcuse, Survey, 316.

55.

Alexandr Buchner, "Das Sostenente Piano," Revue Beige de Musciologie, XXXIV-XXXV (1980-1981), 134.

56. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1949, 172, footnote 1. 57. E. Eugene Helm, Thematic Catalogue o f the Works o f Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 63. Judging from Helm’s comments in which he refers to Mitchell’s translation, it may be fair to assume he merely echoes Mitchell’s information. 58.

Koch cited in van der Meer, 170. My translation. Ohngeachtet dieser Korper klein ist, so hat das obere Clavier, das mit abfallenden Hammem versehen ist, doch einen so durchdringended Ton, dafi es auch Piano machen, und durch ein crescendo bis zum stdrksten fortissimo fortschreiten. Koppelt man aber erst beyde Tastaturen zusammen, welches durch einen einzigen Kniedruck bezweckt wird, so glaubt man ein vollstimmiges Concert zu horen.

59. Cited in van der Meer, 170. My translation. Der Ton ist streichend, wie jener der Geigen, schneidend, wie der hoboen, und stark wie ein Gamben-Register der Orgel. Wenn man sangbar darauf spielt, so gleichet es der Menschenstimme in der Orgel; stofit man aber ab, und besonders im Basse, so glaubt man eine Gambe oder Violoncell zu hdren. 60. Norlind, 49. 61. Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 360. 62. Kinsky, Heyer, 383. 63. Marcuse, Survey, 316. 64.

Schilling, II, 691. My translation. Die hervorbringung der T6ne wurde durch das Streichen eines schmalen seidenen Bandes auf den Darmsaiten bewirkt. Das Band lief um 2 Rollen so, dafi der Anfang des Bandes und das Ende seiner Befestigung keine Erhohung bildete. Auf der Mufiersten OberflSche dieses Bandes waren Pferdehaare sehr sauber aufgenSht. Diese beiden Rollen wurden durch ein Schwungrad und einen Fufitritt mit einer Kurbel in Umtrieb gesetzt. Das Instrument vereinigte den Klang der Violine, Viola, und des Violoncells, doch blieb der Ton noch zu rauh,

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91

weil die Pferdehaare noch immer nicht den gehorig gleichen und leichten Anstrich an die Saiten haben konnten. 65.

Gerber (1812-1814), III, 415-417. Cited in van der Meer, 166-167. Some instruments influenced by Chladni are the euphone (1790), a sort of glass harmonica using glass cylinders rubbed by the player’s wet fingers; the clavicylinder (1799-1814), metal friction bars touched the glass by means of player-operated keys. Chladni’s experiments opened the door for a great number of "friction bar pianos," and other similar instruments.

66.

Lausitzischen Monatsschrift (October, 1795), cited in van der Meer, 166-167.

67. Van der Meer, 167. 68. Van der Meer, 168. 69. Schilling, II, 692. 70.

Volume 3, P. I. de Musica propos. 34.

71.

Adlung, Musica Mechanica, 128.

72.

Colombe Samoyault-Verlet, Les Facteurs de Clavecins Parisiens Notices Biographiques et Documents (1550-1793) (Paris: Societd Fran$aise de Musicologie, 1966), 56. The description and eulogies by the Duke of Luynes were published in Memoires XIII (Paris, 1860-1865), 73-75. I am grateful to William Morton for sending me this information and providing the translation.

73. In the description in Appendix approved inventions (VII, 183 Musikinstrumente (New York: Figure 4 apparently reproduce 2, 3 and 5 are omitted.

2.2 from theRoyalAcademy of Sciences’ ff,1742) inCurtSach’s Real-Lexikon der Harper & Row, 1975), 360-361, the drawings in the original figures 4 and 6; regrettably, figures 1,

74. Presumably figures 3 and 5 in the description. 75. Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 361. My translation. Au mois de Mars 1749, j ’ai vu chez M. le Voir un instrument de cette espece qu’il venoit d’imaginer, auquel il avoit applique un mouvement a poids, & un tambour nottd, par le moyen dequel 1’instrument jouoit seul, & changeoit d’air de meme, sans secours de personne: il y avoit entr’autre dans cette mecanique un echappement pour le mouvement des archets, qui m’a paru nouveau, & tr&s-bien imagine: le corps de I’instrument etoit compose de deux violons, d’une taille, & d’un grand violoncelle:il joue a deux & trois parties. Enfin M. le Voir eut la bonte de monter 1’instrument, & dele faire jouer en ma

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92

presence; il me parut qu’il produisoit seul l’effet d’un concert tres-harmonieux & parfaitement execute. 76.

Le Comte Ad. de Pontecoulant, Organographie: Essai sur la Facture Instrumentale (Paris: Castel, Libraire-Editeur, 1861), 291-292.

77.

Cited in Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 361. My translation. . . . assez approchant de celui du teorbe ou de la guitare; I’harmonie de cet instrument est agreable & ressemble a un concert de parties de viole; elle peut meme etre extremement variee par les differents manieres de toucher le clavier: cet instrument a paru ingenieux & meriter les efforts que 1’auteur est dans le dessein de faire, pour lui donner toute la perfection dont il est susceptible.

78.

Marcuse, Survey, 315.

79.

Albert Cohen, Music in the French Royal Academy o f Sciences (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981), 55.

80.

Eric Halfpenny, "The Lyrichord," Galpin Society Journal III (1950), 47-48.

81.

Van der Meer, 163.

82.

Halfpenny, 47-49.

83.

A. J. Hipkins, A Description and History o f the Pianoforte and o f the Older Keyboard Stringed Instruments (London: Novello Ewer, 1896), 96.

84.

Marcuse, Survey, 314.

85.

Alexandr Buchner, "Sostenuto Piano," The New Grove Dictionary o f Musical Instruments, ed. Stanley Sadie III (London: Macmillan, 1984), 420. Sachs gives the patent number and source in the Real-Lexikon (73): 1020, Aug. 29, 1772, Roll’s Chapel Reports, 6th, p. 161.

86.

Hipkins, 97.

87.

Marcuse, Survey, 315-316.

88.

I inspected this instrument in June, 1992. Dr. Beurmann had only recently discovered the marks of what appeared to have been a celestina stop.

89.

Anthony Baines, "Geigenwerk," The Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 129.

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93

90.

Frances Palmer, "Merlin and Music," John Joseph Merlin: The Ingenious Mechanick (Greater London Council, 1985), 91. I am grateful to the author for sending me a copy of his article.

91.

Ibid., 91-92.

92.

Sophia in London, 1786. Cited in Palmer, 92.

93.

Cristina Bordas Ibafiez, "Dos Constructores de Pianos en Madrid: Francisco Florez Y Francisco Fernandez," Revista de Musicologia IX/3 (SeptemberDecember 1988), 814-815, 844-845.

94.

Ibafiez, letter to the author, August 31, 1990.

95. Ibafiez, "Dos Constructores," 814. 96. Palmer, 96. The translation was sent to Frances Palmer in a personalletter from Beryl Kenyon de Pascual of Madrid. My thanks to both FrancesPalmer and Beryl Kenyon de Pascual for sending me copies of the article. 97.

Van der Meer, 160.

98.

Peter Andreas Kjeldsberg, letter to the author, October 19, 1990.

99.

Tobias Norlind, Systematik der Saiteninstrumente Stockholm, 1936 (Hanover, 1939), 48.

100. Pontecoulant, 289. 101. Marcuse, Survey, 318. 102. I am grateful to Dr. Dieter Krickeberg of the Germanisches National Museum for showing me a postcard of this miniature streichklavier. Although it is clearly a replica of the Neupert streichklavier, there is no additional information about it and the lid is closed so that the action is hidden. 103. Gerber (1812-1814). Cited in van der Meer, 168-169. Translation by Shirley Stroud. Dies Instrument besteht aus einem Tische, 2 Fufi 5 Zoll breit und 2 Fufi 5 Zoll lang, an dessen vorderm Ende sich die Tastatur befmdet u. an dessen entgegengesetztem Ende die Orphica oder eine freystehende Harfe perpendikular emporstehet. Diese unschleifit ein lSngliches Viereck, woran die Geigenbogan hMngen, deren so viel als Saiten sind, und welche vermittelst ernes FuBtritts in Bewegung gesetzt werden. Durch einen leichten Druck der Taste wird der Strich des Bogens an die innere ruhig bleibende Saite gebracht. Es

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94 geht vom tiefen Violoncell-c bis zum dreygestrichenen f, und hat in der Hdhe den Ton der Viole d’Amour, und in der Tiefe den einer Gambe . . . So viel Scharfsinn indessen zur Erfindung und Verfertigung eines solchen Bogenflugels auch immer gehoren mag, so bleibt es damit doch noch eine mifiliche Sache. Wie oft giebt es daran Saiten aufzuziehen? wie viel ofter zu stimmen? wie leicht konnen sich nicht Motten in die Bogen einnisten? und endlich, wenn auch wirklich alles im besten Stande ist, wie schwer und ungleich muB die Intonation darauf ausfallen? — Sollte hingegen des Herm D. Chladni Clavicylinder oder das Rieffelsensche Melodikon zu gehdriger Vollkommenheit gebracht werden kdnnen, so wurde dies zuversichtlich, und das mit vollem Rechte, ein allgemeineres Gliick machen. Denn auch dies Instrument giebt gleich jenem einen anhaltenden, aber wahrscheinlich viel reizenderen Ton; dabey giebt es weder Saiten aufzuziehen, noch etwas zu stimmen. Auch kann sich der Besitzer eines solchen Instruments, bey seinen wenigen und simpel zusammen-gesetzten Theilen, einen lebenslSnglichen ungestdrten GenuB versprechen. 104.

Schilling, II, 692-693.

105.

Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 424.

106.

Marcuse, Survey, 317.

107.

Buchner, Revue Beige, 134.

108.

Curt Sachs, Handbuch der Musikinstrumentenkunde (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hartel, 1930), 157.

109.

Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 360.

110.

Musik-Instrumenten-Zeitung (1895/96), 142f. Cited in Brockner, 180. My translation. Mflller-Braunau erfand eine ’Pedalgeige,’ deren Saiten man zwar abgriff, deren Bogen man aber durch einen im Zickzack iiber Rollen geftlhrten und durch ein Pedal bewegten Streichriemen ersetzte.

111.

Zeitung (1895/96), 778. Cited in Brdckner, 180. "Einen waagerechten Rundbogen, der senkrecht stehende Saiten anstrich, konstruirte R. Traubl in Dresden."

112.

Marcuse, Dictionary, 386.

113.

Marcuse, Survey, 318.

114.

Ibid.

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95 115.

Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 360.

116.

Among them, Sachs (Real-Lexikon, 88b), Buchner (New Grove Musical Instruments II, 420 and Revue Beige XXXIV-XXXV, 134), Norlind (Systematik der Saiteninstrumente, 50), Marcuse (Survey, 317 and Dictionary, 117).

117.

Patent number 581,688.

118.

I am grateful to Dr. Frederick Crane for showing me this print from his personal collection. He acquired it as a single page, and has not been able to determine its source. Information on the page reads: Miscellany: Hawkin’s Claviole or FINGER Keyed Viol. Plate XVI. Published as the Act directs, 1816, by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, Paternoster Row. J. Farcy del. Lowry So.

119.

New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1985, 142-143.

120.

Cited in Libin, 142-143.

121.

Hipkins, 97. This might help explain why the engravings of the claviol (Figures 2.7 and 2.8) come from an English printing house in 1816.

122.

Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851, Reports by the Juries on the Subjects in the Thirty Classes intowhich the Exhibition was Divided (London, 1852), 335.

123.

Jean M. Bonin, Piano-Beds & Music by Steam: An Index with Abstracts to Music-Related United States Patent Records, 1790-1874 (Berkeley: Fallen Leaf Press, 1993), 156. Patent number 114,520.

124.

Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 360.

125.

Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 352. Patentnumber4098.

126.

Hipkins, 97.

127.

Marcuse, Dictionary, 323,

128.

Marcuse, Survey, 318.

129.

Norlind, 51-52.

130.

Marcuse, Survey, 318.

131.

Norlind, 52.

582.

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96

132.

Pietro Lichtenthal, Dizionario e Bibliografia della Musica II (Milan: Antonio Fontana, 1836), 284-285. My translation. La forma esteroa somiglia ad un Pianoforte a coda coirordinaria tastatura di sei Ottave. Le corde sono tutte armoniche, o sia di budello, e sono sole, cioe una per tasto. La loro grossezza e varia gradatamente secondo la parte che sostengono. Soltanto le prime sei nel contrabbasso sono torte, o sia ramate. Portano esse 1’accordatura a perfetto corista senza patimento di soverchia tensione, e quindi non solo non hanno il difetto de spezzarsi facilmente, ma hanno anche il pregio di conservar a lungo l’accordatura. Una leva sulTestremM del tasto, che sorge orizzontalmente, e che e scorrevole ed ubbidiente alia mano, fa l’ufficio d'alzar la corda e presentarla all’arco, stringendola fra la sua testa, ch’e d’avorio, ed una sbarra fomita di grossa pelle di cervo distesa orizzontalmente al di sopra. E qui osservasi 1.° che l’avorio della leva, e la pelle della sbarra rappresentano la tastiera del Violino, della Viola, del Violoncello ec., ed il dito del sonatore. 2.° Che questa leva fissa il punto dell’accordatura competente alia corda abbreviandola dalla sua naturale estensione; la quale accordatura non potrebbe fissarsi nello stato orizzontale della corda stessa, o sia di distesa, come ne’ Pianoforti. 3 ° Che la detta leva . aggirandosi sopra un punto fisso, assicurata da una molla, la quale la lascia per6 libera neU’atto che incomincia a mettersi in azione, fa si, che si eviti I’inconveniente di allungare l’estensione della corda che produrrebbe stonazione, e di logorarla col ripetere 1’azione stessa. L’arco che nel Violicembalo trae il suono dalle corde, e composto di fili setacei, cuciti neU’estremiti sopra un tessuto di lana, ed e alquanto elevato nel mezzo. Quest’arco steso orizzontalmente sulle corde da una parte all’altra del piano armonico, gira perpetuamente intomo a due piccoli cilindri di metallo che sono alle due estremita. II moto dell’arco lo d i il piede destro del sonatore, agitando una calcola alta circa quaitr’oncie da terra, la quale comunica coll’arco stesso mediante una ruota di legno collocata al basso alia sinistra del sonatore; la quale ruota non apparisee, essendo lo strumento nella parte anteriore chiuso dall’alto al basso onde non riuscire inelegante.

133. Norlind, 51-52. 134. Marcuse, Survey, 318. 135. My sincere thanks to Patrizio Barbieri for sending me this quote and reference in his letter of March 29, 1991. His complete information follows: From Girolamo Gasparella, I Musicisti Vicentini, Vicenza 1880, Tip. Paroni, p. 42 (he has just spoken about Paolo Morellato, a piano-maker from Vicenza): 'To mi auguro che a felice risultato approdino gli studi del nostro concittadino, l’egregio ingegnere Luigi Gastaldon, sulla ricerca di un pianoforte a suono continuo, e faccio voti, perche alia patria di Morellato spetti l’onore di

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97 una delle piu grande scoperte, invano tentata sino ai nostri giomi." 136.

Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 361.

137.

Sibyl Marcuse, A Dictionary o f Musical Instruments, (New York: W. W. Norton, 1975), 378.

138.

Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 360.

139.

Marcuse, Survey, 318.

140.

Musik-Instrumenten-Zeitung (1893/94), 706. Cited in Brockner, 184. My translation. Auf dem oberen spielt man mit gewdhnlichen Klaviertasten alle Streichinstrumente, auf dem unteren Manuale Zither-, Harfen- und Glockentone. Es kann auf beiden Manualen zu gleicher Zeit gespielt werden.

141.

My thanks to Eszter Fontana, formerly of the music museums in Budapest, for sending me this valuable information.

142.

Sachs, Real-Lexikon, 361.

143.

Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1900 a Paris, Catalogue des Sections Autrichiennes (Vienna: Commissariat General Imperial-Royal d’Autriche, 1900), 114.

144.

Personal letter from the Musikinstrumentenmuseum o f the University of Leipzig, March 31, 1992.

145.

Marcuse says silk-covered. {Survey, p. 318). Inventory number 350.

146.

Kinsky, Heyer, 386. My translation, with assistance from Shirley Stroud. Fur jeden Ton is ein besonderer mit einer Darmsaite, bespannter hohler geigenartiger Resonanzkdrper vorhanden. Diese Tonkorper stehen auf einem gemeinsamen Resonanzboden und werden beim Niederdriicken der Tasten, mit denen sie durch SchnOre in Verbindung stehen, an einen mit Atlasseide bezogenen rotierended Streichriemen gedriickt. An Stelle eines geplanten Tretwerkes zur Bewegung des Streichriemens ist das Modell mit einer von einer zweiten Person zu bedienenden Kurbelvorrichtung versehen. Umfang der Klaviatur: G-g3 (vier Oktaven). Breite 87 cm, Tiefe 71 cm, Hdhe 1,09 m.

147.

Ibid.

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98 148.

Buchner, Revue Beige, 130-141. Djemenjuk’s instrument is presented on pages 134-137.

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PARTII EXTANT INSTRUMENTS

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100

CHAPTER 3 ANONYMOUS STREICHKLAVIER

An intriguing realization of the bowed keyboard principle, called by the general term streichklavier, is stored in the Germanisches National Museum (GNM) in Nuremberg.1 Acquired by the museum in 1968 as part of the Neupert collection,2 this well-preserved instrument bears little resemblance to the geigenwerk by Hans Haiden. Its dimensions are similar to those of a 4' harpsichord, its string lengths comparable to those of string instruments (see Appendix 10). It bears no signature, city or date; Neupert's records indicate only that it was built about 1800. The entry also includes the amount paid, 500 German marks; the year it entered the collection, 1930; along with a brief description of the instrument (see Appendix 11).3 Case The skillfully constructed case of the streichklavier is veneered in walnut with a reddish stringing of rosewood or red-dyed walnut (Figures 3.1-2). The walnut banding contrasts dark and light grain with a mirror effect. The main section of the lid consists of one wing-shaped panel; the flap is one rectangular panel. The spine is divided into three panels, the bentside and fallboard into two, and the tail and cheek have one. Adjacent panels are of identical grain.

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101

A wood vertical-grain molded strip is glued around the bottom edge of the case and capped by a quarter-round brass molding, giving the instrument an appearance faintly reminiscent of a harpsichord set into its stand. Most of the case is in fairly good condition, with the exception of a circular dark spot, possibly water damage, near the bentside. In contrast to the fine workmanship of the original case, some glaring alterations appear in the crude slits in the cheeks above the cord holes and in the two rectangular holes in the cheeks just behind the cord, cut to house a damper rail (Figure 3.3). These and other modifications may have been the work of a man named Rochow, who was employed by Neupert to restore instruments in his collection to playing condition.4 The keywell in the streichklavier is quite shallow. Since the action is located underneath the keys, the keyboard sits nearly flush with the top of the instrument (Figure 3.4). This is not to imply that the keyboard would feel high to a player; rather, the whole instrument is lower so that the player would find the keyboard at a comfortable height. There are endblocks on both sides of the keyboard, decorated with walnut veneer inlay to match the rest of the instrument. The naturals are covered with ebony, the sharps are stained fruitwood with ivory veneer. The fronts of the keys are plain walnut. There is no decoration on the interior of the case other than walnut veneer, no soundboard painting, and no rose (see Figure 3.8). The soundboard, probably made of fir, measures five mm thick at the hole by the wrestpins (see Figure 3.10). Downbearing rail, bridge and nut are made of fruitwood, possibly pear or apple. The hitchpin rail is solid walnut; the wood of the wrestplank is unidentifiable, since it is underneath the

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102

soundboard (Figure 3.10). The inside of the lid is paneled walnut (Figure 3.5). The case appears to be Northern in style. Construction began with the case rim to which some kind of interior bracing was added, and the bottom was then glued and nailed in place (Figures 3.6). Turned, tapered walnut legs have molding at the top and near the floor, just above the attached pedal platform (Figure 3.7). Furniture styles similar to that of the streichklavier can be found around the turn of the nineteenth century. A return to classicism in French furniture building, seen in the Directoire or Empire styles of the late eighteenth century, and borrowed in England by such builders as Heppelwhite and Sheraton,5 were adapted to middle-class German culture shortly after the turn of the century, resulting in a style known as Biedermeier. Instead of using mahogany, as might have been chosen in France or England, for example, Germans used local fruitwoods. Other Biedermeier elements seen in the streichklavier are rectangular lines, walnut veneer with brass molding, and tapered legs. More memorable Biedermeier trademarks, such as bulkiness, exaggerated amounts of metal decoration and carving,6 are not represented here. Stringing The streichklavier is strung parallel to the keys, just like a wing-shaped harpsichord, except that the wrestplank and tuning pins are located at the bentside and tail rather than behind the nut (Figure 3.8). The hitchpin rail is found in front of the name board, directly beneath the keys, with strings hitched near the front edge (Figure 3.9). From here the strings pass over a nut to the bridge, defining their sounding lengths. From the bridge they continue to a rail paralleling the bridge whose purpose is probably to

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insure appropriate downbearing, and then to the tuning pins. The string tails between the bridge and the bearing rail are interwoven with blue listing cloth which seems to be new. This stringing system provides a practical and efficient way to free the space at the keyboard end of the instrument for the action and the bowing device. Unlike Haiden's geigenwerk and many of the other bowed keyboards, the streichklavier is double strung. The strings are not equally spaced but rather grouped in wide pairs. Thus, as on a harpsichord, the unisons are separated by a greater distance than adjacent pitches, in this case ten mm between unisons contrasted with two mm between adjacent strings (Figure 3.10). Small pieces of paper glued to the downbearing rail label the string pitches with handwritten solfege syllables (La, La#, Si, ut, ut#, etc.). The pitch names "Ut" and "Si" are from the French system, perhaps implying French or possibly Alsatian authorship.7 This slender clue represents the instrument's only evidence as to its origin. The syllables are uniformly capitalized for all octaves except "ut" which is always lower case, with an extended crossbar for the "t." It is unlikely that the strings currently on the instrument offer any clues as to the original string gauges and materials. All of the modem stringing is intact except for two missing strings, the lower one from the pair f l and the higher from the pair f3. Interest­ ing to note is the extra tuning pin hole below the lowest string. Since it is unknown whether the soundboard is original, it is impossible to determine whether this represents an older method of stringing, an abandoned experiment, an error, or perhaps even the vestiges of a former, different instrument. However, if the soundboard was replaced by

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Rochow, it is entirely conceivable that the extra hole was merely a careless error. The tuning pins are made of iron, have wedge-shaped tops and are unthreaded. Action The compass,8 two octaves and a sixth, a-f3, produces a 4' streichklavier, almost corresponding to the range of a violin. The removable walnut keyftame houses a walnut balance rail with balance pins slightly more than half way toward the back of the keys. The key levers, made of linden wood, are guided by carved slips that fit into a walnut rack with a touchrail (Figure 3.11). Key dip, now set at about five mm, is governed by adjustable brass screws with felt pads in the touchrail above the ends of the keys. The screw tops protrude through the top of the rack. Each key is equipped with a spring of brass leaf to aid its return to normal position (Figure 3.12). Screwed into a walnut strip that stretches across the tops of the keyshafts, the brass springs reach to the end of the keys close to the touchrail (Figure 3.13). They are slightly bowed in the middle so that there is constant pressure on the ends of the keys, acting in the same way as the pocket clip of a ballpoint pen. Incised into the touchrail near the adjustable screw tops are numbers beginning w ith" 1" for the lowest key and counting up to the highest, "33." Corresponding numbers are on the keyshafts between the balance pins and the touchrail (Figure 3.13). The writing is similar to the syllables on the downbearing rail (Figure 3.10). The details of the action, like other aspects of the streichklavier, are relatively uncomplicated. Attached to the underside of each key is a brass kapsel with a freemoving concave brass roller (Figure 3.14). The rollers for both sharps and naturals are

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arranged along the underside of the keys in a straight line, directly above the cord as it passes underneath (Figure 3.15). As a key is depressed, its roller engages the revolving cord and, without interfering with its movement, pushes it down against the unison strings, causing it to rub against the strings and make them vibrate (Figure 3.16). Also mounted on the underside of the keys a short distance farther down the shafts are small maple damper dowels (Figures 3.14,3.17-18). As the key is depressed, the dowel presses against the damper, forcing it down away from the strings. Accordingly, at the same time the roller underneath the key pushes the cord against the strings, the dowel disengages the damper from the strings, allowing only the designated unison strings to vibrate (Figure 3.19). Dampjng The damper rail, made of walnut, is cruder than the rest of the instrument, almost certainly indicating it was one of the later additions or replacements (Figure 3.20). Writing on the damper rail, letters corresponding to note names (see also Figure 3.10), is not only considerably different in style from the other examples on the bearing rail, touchrail, and keyshafts, but the German alphabet is used instead of French solfege syllables for pitch names. The damper rail fits into notches cut through the walls of the case and sits just above the strings. Protruding from the underside of the rail are walnut dampers, one for each set of strings. The dampers are narrower at the rail in order to extend down between the strings. They broaden at the ends where they rest against the strings from underneath. The ends are covered with leather damping pads which are wide enough to dampen both unison strings.

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The normal position of the dampers is underneath and against the strings. When a note is played, the damper for that string pair is pushed down, allowing the strings to vibrate. When the damper is released, it rises back to its normal position against the strings, restored by a brass wire spring set into the underside of each damper (Figure 3.21). Bowing Mechanism The "bow" consists of a continuous cord that passes through the space between the strings and the underside of the keys and out the side of the instrument through a hole. It passes over a pulley attached to the outside of the cheek, over another fastened to the bottom next to the cheek edge, and on around the bottom arc of a large, decorative wrought iron wheel. From there it continues up the other side and back into the instru­ ment in the same manner as it exits the case on the opposite side (Figure 3.22). The upper, larger pulleys are adjustable along a brass track, enabling the wheels to be moved farther away from or nearer to the cheek (Figure 3.23). This allows the tension of the cord to be adjusted, presumably compensating for environmental effects or stretching of the cord. Whatever material used originally for the cord is unknown;9 the present one is made of plastic. The slits in the cheeks from the top down to the hole were cut later perhaps to facilitate replacing the cord. The lower pulley on the left side of the instrument is missing. The player sets the cord in motion by pumping the pedal on the floor under the instrument (Figure 3.24). A rod from the pedal, connected to the drive shaft by an aluminum cam (original material unknown), turns the large wheel which moves the cord.

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The drive shaft is held by iron supports screwed to the bottom of the case and housing a bearing (Figure 3.25). This revolving drive mechanism is similar to that found on a treadle sewing machine. An outer wheel on the large wheel may indicate that, like one of those old sewing machines, the movement of the cord was started by hand. Conclusion Little description can be offered of the sound of this streichklavier or of its musical role. However, its smaller size would seem to imply a chamber instrument, possibly for a private household. Since the timbre of the original instrument would have been strongly influenced by the bowing material, the modem plastic cord would offer little insight to the intended sound, even if it could still effectively initiate string vibrations. Whether the player could significantly control dynamic expression and create special effects is also unknown. Without the damper system, strings allowed to vibrate sympathetically would create a distinctive sound more like a glass harmonica than like viols. Given its date of about 1800 and its apparent absence of original dampers, it may have been intended to sound like a glass harmonica. External evidence concerning its provenance is sparse; internal evidence is limited to the presence of French solfege syllables. In short, little information survived with the instrument. Nevertheless, the streichklavier's construction, with reversed hitch pins and tuning pins, its integrated key action and damping along the revolving cord, and the attractive case decoration testify to a unique and significant realization of the bowed keyboard concept.

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Figure 3.3: Cheek with crude cuts

Figure 3.4: Keywell

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Figure 3.5: Paneled lid

Figure 3.6: Bottom

110

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Figure 3.7: The streichklavier as furniture

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Figure 3.8: Keyframe removed

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Figure 3.9: Treble stringing with damper rail

Figure 3.10: Stringing at the tail

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Figure 3.11: Keyframe with a key removed

Figure 3.12: Keysprings removed

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Figure 3.13: Keysprings in place

Figure 3.14: Underside of keys

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Figure 3.15: Keys with rollers on cord

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key at rest

key depressed

Figure 3.16: Roller pushing cord against strings

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Figure 3.17: Damper dowels

Figure 3.18: Key with damper dowel and roller kapsel

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roller dumper dowel

moving cord

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damper rail —

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damper with pad against strings

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damper dowel pushing damper off strings

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Figure 3.19: Key at rest; key depressed

roller pushing cord against strings

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Figure 3.20: Damper rail

Figure 3.21: Underside of damper rail

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Figure 3.22: Bowing mechanism

Figure 3.23: Pulleys and cord

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121 Notes 1.

I would like to thank Dr. Dieter Krickeberg, curator of the musical instruments collection, for allowing me to examine this streichklavier on several occasions between November 12, 1991 and April 22, 1992 in the GNM, and for generously giving his time and offering materials to aid the research. I am also grateful to the museum’s restorers of historical musical instruments, Klaus Martius and Kathrin Schulze, for their gracious cooperation and help. In addition, I extend my appreciation to Dr. John Henry van der Meer, former curator of the collection, who proved to be an invaluable source of information and advice.

2.

Inventory number MINe 257. Listed on page 264 of "Die Klavierhistorische Sam m lung Neupert" by van der Meer in Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums 1969 (Niimberg: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, 1969), 255266.

3. Lagerbuch des Sammlung Neupert, number 119. Unpublished record in the possession of the Neupert family. I am indebted to Dr. Krickeberg for furnishing a copy of these pages from the Lagerbuch, along with the following entry from the printed guide to the collection by Harms Neupert, (Das Musikhistorische Museum Neupert in Niimberg: Fuhrer, Niimberg, 1938, page 28, number 119): "Geigen-Clavicymbel, um 1800, unsigniert, 2 Oktaven + Sexte. Mechanik: Ein mittels Pedal in Bewegung gebrachtes Schwungrad setzt einen endlosen Bogen in Bewegung, der beim Niederdrticken der Taste die Saite zum Erklingen bringt." I am grateful to Wolf Dieter Neupert of Bamberg, great-nephew of Julius Neupert who founded the Neupert historical keyboard instruments firm and established the Neupert instrument collection, for also sending me a copy of this entry. Although the Neupert record gives the year 1800, the GNM guide book (Anzeiger) suggests the slightly later Biedermeyer period. Van der Meer concurs with the earlier date. 4. According to van der Meer, Rochow was probably responsible for such alterations as the current damper rail, slits, plastic cord, the aluminum cam, and the stringing. Since Rochow’s purpose was to make instruments playable rather than to restore them according to historical principles, none of his "restorations" can be relied on as clues to the original instrument. 5. Joseph Aronson, The Encyclopedia o f Furniture, 3rd edition (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1965), 50, 226-228. 6. John Gloag, A Social History o f Furniture Design from B.C. 1300 to A.d. 1960 (New York: Crown Publishers Inc., 1966), 175. 7. My thanks to van der Meer for bringing this clue to my attention.

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8.

The Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums 1969 incorrectly lists the compass as A-f2 (264).

9.

Krickeberg agrees with van der Meer’s suggestion that the cord at one time have been a band of horsehair.

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CHAPTER 4 PIANO VIOLON AND PIANO-QUATUOR BY BAUDET

Invention and General Information During the 1860s and 1870s the Parisian piano builder and inventor Gustave Baudet1 built and marketed a number of bowed keyboard instruments in the shape of an upright piano. The piano-violor? (piano-violin), patented in 1865 (see Appendix 13) and displayed at the Paris Exhibition of 1867, was described as having the ability to produce crescendos and decrescendos according to the touch of the performer.3 Equipped with pedals for driving the shaft and knee levers for octave coupling, the piano-violon produced its sound by means o f a revolving cylinder rubbing fiber appendages attached to the strings. The vibrations excited in these fibers transferred to the strings, causing them to sound. An "improved" version of the instrument, called piano-quatuor4 (pianoquartet), appeared in 1873 (see Appendix 12) and prescribed a different means of pressing the fibers against the cylinder. In an advertisement (see Figure 2.1) Baudet claims that the improved invention sounds like a string quartet and that any pianist or organist could play it with only a few hours' study. He promises that the instrument can produce all the effects of a string quartet including crescendo, decrescendo, legato, staccato, rapid runs, and a broad, full tone; faithfully interpret the works of Haydn,

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Mozart, and Beethoven; execute all musical styles written for piano or organ; complement any other instrument or ensemble, and even substitute for orchestral accompaniment for the voice. The brochure pictures a performer with a disproportionately long bow and extremely long, spider-like fingers simultaneously Setting and bowing four string instruments ranging in size from a small violin to a small cello. To further visualize the possibilities, Baudet includes the opening eight bars of an unidentified Andante for string quartet in the style of Haydn. Concerning technicalities of the instrument, he points out that since it is single strung it can be easily tuned by any piano tuner, and he assures the potential buyer that instructions come with every instrument Three sizes are advertised: size number one, five and one-half octaves, priced at 900 francs; size number two, seven octaves, 1,200 francs; size number three, seven octaves with doubling at an octave below for the keys in the octave below middle c and at an octave above for the keys in the octave above middle c, 1,500 francs. To give an idea of the comparative cost of the piano-quatuor, the same brochure lists grand pianos for 800-950 francs.

Extant Exam ples

The Museu da Musica in Lisbon, Portugal, and the Handel-Haus in Halle, Germany, have the only known extant piano-violons. Information from Portugal is not currently accessible; the Handel-Haus instrument,5 no longer on display, is described by museum records as a seven-octave instrument with octave doubling, built between 1865 and 1870. A photograph in the 1966 catalog of the collection shows an instrument

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almost identical to the piano-quatuor in the Wiirttemburgisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart. In an evaluation of the sound of the piano-violon, the museum record indicates that in the high and low ranges it sounds much like violins and cellos, but that it is also plagued with unpleasant noise. It places the piano-violon in the family of instruments heralded by Haiden's geigenwerk, and comments that not any of the inventions was free from acoustical problems, though Hupfeld's"Violina" (see Chapter 2) came closest. At least four piano-quatuors have survived. Three are in German collections: the Deutsches Museum in Munich, the Wiirttemburgisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart, and the University of Leipzig Musikinstrumentensammlung; one is in the Musee Instrumental of Brussels. Although there are minor differences among them, all represent the same invention. Therefore, their features will be discussed concurrently, with the Deutsches Museum's example serving as the basic model. However, since I have not seen the Brussels piano-quatuor, I am unable to add to the catalog description which lists it as a seven-octave instrument with octave coupling. No pictures accompany the entry, and the instrument is currently in storage.6 The piano quatuor in the Deutsches Museum (DM),7 dated 1867, was purchased from Otto Haake, a piano manufacturer in Hannover, on November 30, 1908. During 1950 and 1951 it underwent repairs, and was appraised at 100 Marks.8 Today it sits in an expansive climate-controlled storage depot in the basement of the museum, with a model of its action stored nearby9 (Figure 4.2). The Wiirttemburgisches Landesmuseum (WB) has restored their piano-quatuor since my photographs were taken in May, 1992.10 Although undated, the instrument

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was probably built between 1867 and 1875. The front board has an opening for observing the cylinder (Figure 4.3). The University of Leipzig (UL) also has an undated piano-quatuor.11 Acquired as part of the Heyer collection in 1926, it is stored on the top floor of the musical instrument museum and is no longer playable (Figure 4.4). Case Done in typical mid nineteenth-century upright-piano style with large, gracefully curved knee levers and veneered with rosewood, the Munich piano-quatuor (DM) was a handsome instrument: a brass plaque above the keyboard reads, "Maison F. de Romden a Paris/ Medailles/ Argent 1844 49 1—Classe 1855/ Prize Medal Londres, 1862/ ARGENT EXPOSITION U N I V ^ 1867"12 (Figure 4.2). Both UL and WB have cabriole legs with carved knees and lion's paws (Figure 4.5). Handles on the sides of the DM instrument are of ornate brass attached perpendicular to the case wall (Figure 4.6). UL has a hinged iron ring secured by an elaborate plate (Figure 4.7). Raising the lid of DM to expose the ivory and ebony keyboard reveals a music rack, two raised circular pads approximately nine centimeters in diameter covered with green felt, presumably for lamps or candle holders, and a convex ivory disc set in an ebony border, with the inscription in black ink, "Baudet/ Brevete/ Paris/18 et 20 Rue Favart" (Figure 4.8). In addition to felt pads, UL has two double candelabras on the upper front board. It is apparent that the music rack is not original since it prevents the lid from closing (Figure 4.9). Although WB has no accommodations for lamps or

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candles, the fallboard has the legend, "Baudet/20 Rue Favart/Paris" inlaid in brass (Figure 4.10). UL has a similar fallboard, but it is in need of repair. The compass of DM is 5 1/2 octaves: Cpf4. Both WB and UL have seven-octave compasses, Aj-a5. The endblock at the bass end of the DM keyboard, cracked in two places, has two circular holes drilled in it (Figure 4.11). Although it is possible to manipulate some moving parts through the holes, their purpose is unclear, and it is unlikely that they are original. The WB endblock has one hole toward the back, behind the fallboard (Figure 4.12). It is puzzling that both instruments have similar holes though differently placed, DM having two on the visible cheekblock and WS having one behind the fallboard; but their significance is indecipherable. Framing the patterned iron pedals of DM are two small decorative half-round pillars of black-painted wood topped with horizontally-reeded iron finials (Figure 4.13). The other two instruments have no decoration around the pedals; in fact, the lower board on WB is not original. The cloth covering the pedals on UL also is not original. The grain of the nine mm-thick soundboard is set diagonally to the strings. The wood frame is reinforced with an iron hitchpin plate that runs along the bottom of the instrument (Figure 4.14) and up the back on the right side, where the treble strings attach to the back case wall (Figure 4.15; for measurements of the instruments see Appendix 14). Action Unlike the principle of applying friction directly to the strings, as seen in the earlier geigenwerks, the piano-quatuor relies on indirect stimulation. Short appendages

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attached or tied to the strings are pressed against a revolving cylinder; vibrations set up in the appendages from this bow-like friction transfer to the strings, thus producing a bowed-string sound. According to the patent for the piano-quatuor (see Appendix 12), the appendages should be made of bundles of plant fibers called "tampico"-blades of hemp or a similar kind of grass or reed. Baudet lists this material as an improvement over the horsehair, silk, or metallic thread he had recommmended eight years earlier for the piano-violon. (He had gone so far as to designate the number of horsehairs per bundle: seventy in the bass contrasted with six in the upper register.) However, he chooses plant fibers over horsehair for the newer invention because they produce a brighter sound and do not wear out as quickly where they mb the cylinder. The appendages, which are seven cm long and as large as a stacked bundle of fifteen to twenty wide blades of common grass for the bass register and five to ten narrower blades for the treble, extend perpendicular to the string, straight outward toward the performer (Figure 4.16). They pass directly under the pedal-driven revolving cylinder, which is 4.6 cm in diameter and 121 cm long, and are held in place in front o f it by a horizontal string of cotton twine. The twine is tied around each bundle of fibers, continuing from one to the next, and is secured itself near each end of the cylinder by an iron rod protruding from the back case wall. The iron cylinder that mbs the fibers is covered with resin-treated parchment The appendage is pressed against the cylinder by means of a tangent extending upward out of the top of a jack. Baudet used different tangent shapes for each of the three patent diagrams he submitted: the 1865 piano-violon (Figure 4.17), an 1866

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addition to the 1865 patent (Figure 4.18), and the 1873 piano-quatuor (Figure 4.19; see also Appendices 12-13 for copies of the patents). The tangent d pictured in the pianoviolon patent (Figure 4.17) is shaped like a wheel with a flat edge about 2 cm wide in the bass and narrower in the treble, made of wood or other substance, covered with resinimpregnated felt, leather, or skin, or left uncovered. When the key is depressed, the tangent moves upward into contact with a smaller revolving cylinder c, which sets it in clockwise motion. At the same time it presses against the larger cylinder b, which is revolving counter-clockwise, sandwiching the bundle of fibers in between. The friction resulting from the two surfaces rubbing the ends of the fibers causes vibrations in the bundle, which transfer to the strings. Less than a year after this patent appeared, Baudet submitted an addition that eliminated the smaller cylinder b (Figure 4.17) and replaced the wheel-shaped tangent with a flexible shaft d' (Figure 4.18) made of bone, wood, or steel and covered with rubber that appears to be 4-5 cm in height shaped in a loop with the ends clamped in the top of the jack. The only variation in the tangents in the pianoquatuor patent (Figure 4.19) is the height; not only are they all consistently shorter, there are specifications for length, breadth and gauge for the deepest and the highest pitches. Baudet cites the improvement as enabling instantaneous initiation of notes without a nasal or grating noise, impossible with the former system. The tangents in the extant instruments were fairly round, steel loops, in accordance with the 1873 piano-quatuor patent (Appendix 12). In the action model from the Deutsches Museum (Figure 4.20), the tangent can be seen at the top of the jack pressing the appendage against the cylinder, shown as a disk with an arrow to indicate its counter-clockwise revolution. The sounding

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string, to which the appendage is attached, is suggested by the abbreviated vertical metal bar on the extreme left; the cotton twine securing the appendages in place along the base of the cylinder is represented by the shorter bar on the other end of the appendage, to the right of the cylinder. The upper part of each wooden jack has three screws; the topmost screw secures the tangent. A slit is visible below the top screw (Figure 4.16), that cuts about halfway through the jack and then cuts downward at a little more than a 90° angle and continues to a round hole at about the midpoint of the length of the jack. The two lower screws, which regulate the width of the slit, are for adjusting the jacks and loops forward and backward along the bundle. The jack itself, made of pearwood, is attached to a rail by upper and lower hinged arms, which guide the jack movement. Between the arms, in the middle of the rail, a block extends into an indention in the jack, further limiting its range of movement up and down. The block is padded with green felt on top and underneath (see Figure 4.20). The key system in the piano-violon is similar in principle to the clavichord, in which the distal end of a key forces a tangent directly against a string. The piano-violon patent addition shows the distal end of the key pushing a jack with a tangent directly up against the string appendage (Figures 4.18). This was modified in the piano-quatuor with the introduction of an intermediate lever b' (Figure 4.19) to allow for a gentler attack on the fiber appendage. In the same diagram, a spiral spring m' under the key a', maintained by a balance pin, controls the pressure of the tangent d' on the fiber appendage e',

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allowing for greater sensitivity in attack and release, thereby avoiding a grating sound, enabling more effects and regulating sustained sounds. Further modifications not on the piano-quatuor patent appear on the extant instruments and in the action model. Instead of one intermediate lever, there are two. The lower lever, resting on the distal end of the key, has a pivot at its other end that functions as an escapement. Figure 4.21 shows a key at rest; Figure 4.22 shows a key depressed, with a brass spring under the key for restoring power moved out of place to allow the key to stay down for the photograph. A coil spring with wooden knob on top of the upper lever restores the key to normal position when the depressed key is released. The screw directly in front of the spring controls the height of the distal end of the upper lever. As the key is depressed, the pivot end rises until the pressure of the spring on top of the upper lever pushes the pivot back down. At this point the player feels a sensation similar to that on a piano when the hammer goes into free flight. This action does not change the height of the distal end of the upper lever; it continues to raise the jack, pressing its tangent against the appendage and the cylinder. This apparent attempt to duplicate the piano touch probably was intended to entice pianists to an instrument with a familiar feel.13 In the action model (Figure 4.20) the distal end of the key is seen to rest on a flat rail covered with green felt. In the actual DM instrument, each key rests on an adjustable wooden button cushioned by red felt (Figure 4.23), which sits on a long threaded rod extending down through the base of the keyframe and protrudes underneath the keybed near the strings (Figure 4.24). This end has a loop in it, and turning it provides the means

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of adjusting key dip. These screws were found only on DM and UL, not on WB, and there was no mention of them in the patents. Knee levers for octave doubling are found on the DM and UL instruments. By means of tracker action, small wooden dowels attached to the bottom of the keys activate the corresponding note one octave lower for the octave below middle c and one octave higher for the keys in the octave above middle c when the levers are engaged (Figure 4.25). The knee levers work as a unit; moving either one swings both a short distance to the right to push the dowels upward, thus engaging the action for both octaves (Figures 4.26 and 4.27). Bowing Mechanism

The cylinder, which acts as a bow, is turned by the performer by means of a treadle (Figure 4.28). The pedals have narrow iron plates extending from the upper part that attach to cords (the patent suggested catgut overwound with cloth; WB had leather and DM had cotton) which circumscribe a pulley that drives a steel shaft. The other ends of the cords are attached to springs to restore the pedals to their rest position. The shaft is connected to an iron flywheel on one end and to a pulley on the other end. A leather belt connects this pulley to another pulley situated some distance directly above it which turns the cylinder (Figure 4.29). A brass tube to the pillow block to the right of the cylinder is a lubrication fitting, which, according to Baudet’s piano-quatuor patent, is for powdered graphite. He recommended graphite instead of oil as graphite will not change in consistency from age or from lack of regular use.

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On the opposite end from the pulley is a worm gear with an eccentric cam and a flat-faced follower that slowly shifts the revolving cylinder back and forth (Figure 4.30). This design protects the cylinder from becoming deeply grooved by the narrow tangents. Figure 4.31 shows some indentions, but they are dispersed into wide, shallow bands due to the shifting of the cylinder and the repositioning of tangent pressure. All three models of the piano-quatuor have similar equipment for the bowing mechanism, though with some minor variations. All have the flywheel on the right side at the base of the instrument, but on DM the pulley is found on the right side of the cylinder and the gear on the left, while UL and WB are reversed, with the pulley on the cylinder's left and the gear on the right. Stringing Advertised by Baudet (Figure 2.1) as easily tuned, the piano-quatuor is single strung. Strings hitched at the bottom of the instrument extend vertically to unthreaded, square-headed iron tuning pins set in the wrestplank just above the cylinder, or about eye level to the seated performer. Strings are steel, overspun with copper up to ab where the nut is divided (see Figures 4.31-32). One of the improvements listed by Baudet in the piano-quatuor patent was the addition of a small bridge under each string to increase the volume and string timbre of the instrument. The patent diagram (Figure 4.19) shows a small bridge/ on the soundboard a few centimeters below the appendage, or "bowing point" of the string, almost directly behind the upper part of the jack. However, this appears on none of the instruments I studied, nor on the action model.

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Damping There are no dampers on the piano-quatuor; however, there is listing cloth wound in and out of the strings that would have some damping effect. In addition to the normal use of listing cloth between the nut and hitchpins (see Figure 4.32) and between the nut and bowing point (see Figures 4.33-34), there is a double band of cloth on the sounding side of the nut from the lowest strings up to the divide on the lower part of the soundboard. No damping was present above the divide. The listing material on UL, instead of being flat cloth, is a heavy cotton cord that appears on the inside of both nuts in the lower three octaves, approximately (Figure 4.33). In the upper two octaves a strip of leather acts as listing between the tuning pins and the upper nut (Figure 4.34). There is no listing cloth on the strings in WB; however, there is a tell-tale hole in the wrestplank at the bass end of the stringing near the tuning pins in the same location that the cord is secured on UL, suggesting that listing was originally part of the instrument (Figure 4.35).14 It is impossible to be certain if any of the listing materials represents the original plan, although the patent drawing seems to indicate a cord wound in and out of the strings at the top, just below the nut (Figure 4.19). Conclusion The three piano-quatuors discussed probably were built within five years of one another and bear many similarities. The DM instrument seems to have been designed for display, with its decorative brass handles, felt pads, and ornate pedal area, even though it is only five and one-half octaves and has less ornate legs. The UL and WB instruments

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have identical legs and seven octaves, but WB seems to have been the simpler model, with no octave doubling and no extras such as ornate handles or candelabras; however, it did have a window for viewing the cylinder (Figure 4.3). Baudet's invention avoided one of the major problems of the streichklavier. Because pressure was not applied directly to the strings, but rather to the another medium which transferred vibrations to the string, there was no stretching of the sounding strings-an act which must inevitably affect intonation. However, his system of contacting the friction wheel with tangents would severely limit bowing subtleties, since the player would not bring the bow into contact with the strings in the traditional sense. Therefore the piano-quatuor would not be able to produce many of the effects claimed by earlier streichklavier makers, such as bringing out one voice above the others, producing a tremolo, or being able to imitate a variety of instruments. However, it may not have been Baudet's intention to produce those special effects; both the name he gave the instrument and his advertisement rather emphasize a claim to sound like a quartet of string instruments (violin, viola, cello, double bass). This would seem to indicate that Baudet was taking advantage of the nineteenth-century interest in “house music,” and the increase in keyboard transcriptions, to market his instrument, emphasizing that it would not only reproduce the parts of a string quartet, but would also approximate the sound of one. Apparently Baudet used the term "piano-quatuor" even for his earlier instrument, for a news item in an 1866 entertainment weekly describes "a new instrument, curious and interesting from every point of view" as being named “piano-quatuor” by its inventor, Baudet. Either the author is quite impressed with the capabilities of this instrument, or he

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is merely echoing Baudet's advertisement when he writes that it looks like an upright piano but is played "exactly like an organ with less difficulty of registration," and can be mastered in a short time. He goes as far as to suggest that the piano-quatuor might be used in small provincial theaters to replace amateur musicians incapable of playing the great works of famous composers.15 In contrast to this enthusiastic review, a later opinion indicates that some took offense at Baudet's claims. M. Lissajous, in a report of the International Exhibition in Vienna in 1873, says, "if M. Baudet has proposed an exact imitation of a string quartet, he has failed

He never has achieved it and never will." He explains that it is

impossible to produce the distinctly different timbres of string instruments in a single keyboard, and therefore "the name of piano-quatuor is neither justified nor justifiable."16 These evaluations may still be open to review, since the sound of the piano-quatuor is available; a cassette tape of DM is in the Deutsches Museum, and WB may now be on display and playable in the Wiirttemburgisches Landesmuseum. Notwithstanding his critics, Baudet's invention seems to have enjoyed some success, for at least six of the instruments remain more than a century later.

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Figure 4.1: Advertisement for the piano quatuor

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138

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139 Figure 4.1-continued

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Figure 4.2: The Munich piano-quatuor Deutsches Museum (DM)

Figure 4.3: The Stuttgart piano-quatuor Wiirttemburgisches Landesmuseum (WB)

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142

Figure 4.4: The Leipzig piano-quatuor University of Leipzig (UL)

Figure 4.5: Cabriole legs (UL)

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Figure 4.8: Keywell (DM)

Figure 4.9: Candelabras (UL)

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145

Figure 4.10: Fallboard (WB)

Figure 4.11: Endblock (DM)

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Figure 4.12: Endblock (WB)

Figure 4.13: Decorative pedals (DM)

146

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Figure 4.15: Soundboard and hitchpins in the treble (DM)

147

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Figure 4.16: Bundles of fibers supported by cotton string (DM)

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149

?:

Figure 4.17: Diagram from 1865 piano-violon patent

Figure 4.18: Diagram from 1866 patent addition

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Figure 4.19: Diagram from 1873 piano-quatuor patent

Figure 4.20: Model of piano~quatuor action Deutsches Museum, Munich

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151

Figure 4.21: Key at rest (DM)

Figure 4.22: Key depressed (DM)

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Figure 4.23: Keytail resting on keydip regulator (DM)

Figure 4.24: Keydip regulator screws (DM)

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Figure 4.25: Octave coupling, one key depressed (UL)

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Figure 4.26: Knee levers at rest (UL)

Figure 4.27: Knee levers engaged (UL)

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Figure 4.28: Drive mechanism (WB)

Figure 4.29: Pulley for cylinder (DM)

155

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156

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Figure 4.30: Worm gear with eccentric cam (DM)

Figure 4.31: Grooved cylinder (DM)

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permission.

158

Figure 4.34: Listing leather in treble (UL)

Figure 4.35: Hole in wrestplank (WB)

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Notes 1.

Baudet’s first name "Gustave" was not given in most sources; Sibyl Marcuse was one of the few to give it (Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary, New York: W. W. Norton, 1975, 409). Sachs’ Real-Lexikon used only the last name, as did most other authors. The museum records in Munich and in Halle list the inventor as G. Baudet, although the Handel-Haus museum catalog (1966) includes Gustave. However, the patents include other names: the Piano-Violon patent is signed the "lawyers Baudet" written in a large hand, followed by parentheses in which the names “Hubert” and “Cyrille” appear; the Piano-Quatuor includes four names in the parentheses: “Jean, Nicolas, Hubert, and Cyrille.” (See Appendices 14-16 for copies of the patents). The four names may refer to Baudet’s sons, brothers, or other involved relatives, although no supporting evidence has come to light for that or any other biographical details. Since "M. LeBlanc" is listed as the attorney, the names would not seem to refer to others representing Baudet. Baudet had other inventions to his credit, including several designed to improve the piano. According to the French Institut National de la Propriete Industrielle, Division de la Documentation (personal letter, Sept. 14, 1993), in addition to the piano-violon and the piano-quatuor he patented the following: Patent #74936, February 13, 1867: Improvements in equipment serving to decorate piano keys (Perfectionnements dans I’outillage servant au gamissage des marteaux de piano). This is listed incorrectly as #74984 by Olivier Barli in La Facture Frangaise du Piano de 1849 a nos jours, Paris: La Flute de Pan, 1983. Barli also incorrectly identifies the upright grand piano as # 118338, and he omits from his list #s 51827 and 109406. However, he includes one that is not on the list I received from the documents office in Paris, that being a patent for improvements in the construction of piano hammers, #51827, and #148359 (Baudet rep. par Desnos), between 1877 and 1885, improvements in the construction of extensible music racks for pianos. Patent #103567, May 21, 1874: a mechanical device designed to adapt the piano to children’s small hands. Patent #109406, September 1, 1875: a musical instrument called le chanteur (the singer). [A keyboard instrument in which thin metal plates are set in vibration by directed air pressure, similar in principle to a mouth harmonica.] Patent #109602, September 16, 1875: Improvements in the manufacture of pianos so as to preserve them from humidity, heat and insects. Patent #119338, July 7, 1877: Vertical grand piano.

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160 2. Patent number 68168, July 26, 1865. 3. "Bericht iiber die Welt-Ausstellung zu Paris im Jahre 1867," 20, as quoted in Marianne Broecker, Die Drehleier: Ihr Bau und ihre geschichte (Bonn-Bad Godesberg: Verlag fUr systematische Musikwissenschaft GmbH, 1977), 183. 4. Patent number 99311, May 21, 1873. 5.

Inventory number MS-92, as listed in the 1966 catalog Katalog zju den sammlungen des Handel-hauses in Halle, 5 Teil: Musikinstrumentensammlung, besaitete tasteninstrumente, (Halle an der Saale, 1966), 221. The number 87 which appears on the museum record is a temporary number used during the formation of the Handel house. The museum record itself was from a catalogmanuscript compiled between ca. 1943 and ca. 1948 by a man named Koch, who was head of the department of culture of the city of Halle, and ousted from his job after the war. The descriptions of the instrument in the manuscript and the 1966 catalog are identical with the exception of some minor variations in case measurements: the catalog lists 143 x 64 x 118 cm, while the museum record indicates 143 x 66 x 123 cm. My thanks to museum assistant Christian Rieche for giving me a copy of the museum record, to Dr. Feigner of the University of Tubingen for sending me a copy of the catalog pages, and to Dr. Herbert Heyde for supplying the information regarding the temporary number, Koch, and the catalog-manuscript.

6.

Victor Charles Mahillon, Catalogue descriptifet analytique du Musee Instrumental du Conservatoire royal de musique de Bruxelles, Brussels-Ghent: A. Hoste, 18801922. Rev. 1978. IV, 291-292. Inventory number 2486. I am grateful to Pascale Vandervellen of the Musee for sending me a copy of the pertinent pages of the catalog and letting me know that the instrument is in storage.

7.

Inv. Nr. 16 802. I am indebted to Dr. Hubert Henkel, director of the musical instrument collection at the Deutsches Museum, for his kindness in taking time to show me the piano-quatuor, and for sending me valuable information.

8.

Deutsches Museum records for Inventory number 16802. Additional information, Archivbandaufhahme DM Nr. 24-IV.

9.

Mechanikmodell 37471, by Carl A. Pfeiffer, Stuttgart, November 11, 1913.

10. Inventory number 23,104. I am grateful to Dr. Christian Vaterlein, curator of the musical instruments in the WUrttemburgisches Landesmuseum for responding to my requests for information, and for giving my name to the restorer, Stefan

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161 Schneider, who offered priceless help as I studied the piano-quatuor in his workshop. 11. Inventory number 347. My sincere thanks to Dr. Winfried Schrammek, then director of the museum, for graciously seeing that the piano-quatuor was moved to where it was accessible, and allowing me the opportunity to examine it, and to his assistant, Willand Hecht, the curator of the collection, for helping with the investigation and patiently fielding questions. 12. "House of the Romden Family in Paris; Medals: Silver, 1844, 1849; 1st class 1855; prize medal, London, 1862; Silver, International Exhibition of 1867." Baudet’s earliest patent was 1865, so it would seem that only the last-named award could apply to one of his inventions. The piano-violon was exhibited in Paris in 1867, but I have not been able to verify that it won an award. Furthermore, the instrument bearing the plaque is a piano-quatuor, not patented until 1873. 13. I am grateful to Stefan Schneider, restorer of WB, for pointing out this non­ functional action designed only to simulate a piano touch. 14. There is another possible explanation for the hole in the wrestplank: it is located where the gear housing would be mounted, if the gear were on the left side of the instrument (as in DM) instead of on the right. Perhaps the gear originally was on the left side, and has been switched to the right. (The patent diagram pictures the gear on the right side.) 15. Le Menestrel L (November 11, 1866), 399. My translation. The full text follows: Le Piano-Quatuor.-Un nouvel instrument, curieux et interessant a plus d’un point de vue, vient de faire son apparition dans le monde musical. Son inventeur, M. Baudet, I’a baptise du nom de piano-quatuor, attendu que les quatre principaux instruments k archet, le violon, I’alto, le violoncelle et la contrebasse, s’y trouvent heureusement maries et confundus. Sous la forme d’un piano droit, le piano-quatuor se joue absolument comme l’orgue, avec la difficulty des registres en moins. Les effets qu’un pianiste peut tirer de cet instrument, au bout de quelques minutes d’exercice a peine, sont vraiment surprenants : le chant du violoncelle surtout et les staccati du violon sont rendus a s’y meprendre. Sous le rapport de 1’expression cependant, le piano-quatuor nous semble laisser a desirer, et c’est de ce coty surtout que doivent se porter les efforts de M. Baudet, pour arriver &la perfection. Tel qu’il s’offre &nous, le piano-quatuor est d6ji une belle et importante decouverte, qui fait le plus grand honneur a son inventeur; on voit d’ici tous les avantages que nous apporte ce nouvel instrument: en province, par example, ou il est si difficile de reunir plusieurs bons amateurs pour executer

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les chefs-d’oeuvre de nos grands maitres, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, etc.; le piano-quatuor pourra fort bien remplacer les pretendus musiciens que se demenent devant la rampe : il y aura 1£ economie pour les directeurs, je ne parle pas de nos habiles transcripteurs, qui pourront y trouver un nouveau filon k exploiter. Au reste, le piano-quatuor, exposd pendant plusieurs jours au Menestrel, a passe sous les doigts de nos artistes en renom. MM. Lefebure-Wely, Diemer, Paladilhe et autres se sont accordes a en admirer l’ingenieux mecanisme et les harmonieux effets. Pour nous, nous esperons que cette nouvelle invention, toute serieuse qu’elle est, fera son chemin, meme au XIXe sfecle! 16. M. Lissajous, "Group XV: Instruments de musique," Exposition universelle de Vienne en 1873: France. Commission Superieure. Rapports. Ill (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1875), 304. My translation. The full text follows (304305): Le piano-quatuor de M. Baudet (France) n’est pas, a proprement dire, un piano a sons prolonges: C’est un instrument a archet cylindrique se jouant a l’aide d’lm clavier. Cet instrument, a deja paru a l’Exposition de 1867, et le savant rapporteur de la classe 10, M. Fetis, I’a traits un peu severement. II est certain que, si M. Baudet s’est propose 1’imitation exacte du quatuor d’instruments a cordes, il a echoue. Un instrument a un seul clavier ne peut reproduire I’effet de quatre instruments independants, dont les echelles se superposent en partie et presentent sur des notes de hauteur identique des timbres de caractere tresdifferent. Un des grands effets du quatuor consiste a confier necessairement la meme phrase au violon, a l’alto et au violoncelle, et chaque fois la melodie prend une couleur differente. Cet effet, M. Baudet ne I’a jamais obtenu et ne I’obtiendra jamais. En supposant que set instrument rappelle le violoncelle et le violon de 1’echelle que le violon, le voiloncelle et l’alto peuvent egalement parcourir? Le nom de piano-quatuor n’est done ni justifie ni justifiable; mais, si nous considerons 1’instrument de M. Baudet comme un nouvel instrument a clavier, prdsentant des ressources spdciales et une sonorite propre, voisine, k certains egards, de celle des instruments k cordes, nous sommes alors vis-i-vis d’une oeuvre interessante, d’un mecanisme ingenieux, et, si nous ecoutons le jeune artiste qui le joue avec autant d’habilete que d’inspiration, nous acquerrons la conviction que cet instrument est appele k prendre une place determinee dans la sdrie des instruments k clavier, pourvu que les artistes fassent des etudes serieuses pour en tirer le meilleur parti possible. II ne doit en effet se jouer, ni comme le piano; ni comme l’orgue; il est indispensable que la musique executde sur cet instrument soit en rapport avec la sonorite qui le caracterise et avec les resources de son mecanisme.

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CHAPTER 5 STREICHKLAVIER BY HOFMANN AND CZERNY

Another member of the bowed keyboard family looks much like the grand pianos among which it sits in the musical instrument display in the Vienna Technical Museum.1 Patented by Franz Kuhmayer and Julius Hofmann in 19142, the instrument was built by the Hofmann and Czemy piano firm in Vienna. Although the builders heralded its debut with testimonials of acclaim and the promise of a tour to all capital cities (see Figures 5.1-2),3 the streichklavier has become practically forgotten. Even its previous ownership is unknown to the museum, which acquired the instrument in 1967.4 The streichklavier is not playable; the pedals and some of the pullies are missing, and the leather belts have disintegrated. Case Built as an exhibition instrument, the streichklavier looks like a six-foot grand piano with black lacquered case (Figure 5.3). The traditional piano keys with ebony sharps and ivory naturals compassing six and one-third octaves (Ft-a4) sit in a keywell with carved cheeks and a black nameboard with "Hofmann & Czemy" painted in gold (Figure 5.4). Under the lid a swell covers the strings, probably operated by a pedal. Unfortunately, no pedal remains, and the only possible clues to the mechanism are: I)

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two holes in the soundboard near the spine which may have facilitated operation of the swell by allowing an opening for pulley bands running from the swell to the mechanism underneath the instrument (Figure 5.5), 2) some pulleys located between the case wall and the plank at the back of the action (Figure 5.6), and 3) some fragments of a wood lever device on the underside of the instrument near the front of the case which may have related to either the pedal-activated swell or a damper release controlled by a knee lever (Figure 5.7). There is no mention of any of these mechanisms in the patents (See Appendices 15-17). The soundboard, placed diagonally to the strings, is reinforced with ribs glued on the cross-grain. The soundboard measures 9.5 mm thick at the spine, near the action, where the two small holes were drilled. In keeping with piano construction, the streichklavier has no bottom. In addition, the rounded case tail encompasses more space than is needed for the stringband, suggesting that the firm used a standard piano case to house the new invention. A gold-colored cast iron frame provides an upper and lower hitchpin rail for the double stringing, and fills in the space between strings and case walls (Figure 5.8). Action Though similar in principle to the streichklavier at the German National Museum in Nuremberg (GNM; see Chapter 3), the strings of the Vienna streichklavier are excited a different way. Instead of the bow contacting the strings directly by means of a simple key roller attached to the bottom of the key, Kiihmayer developed a more complex device in which the key moves a lever with rollers that press against a moving belt, forcing it

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into contact with the strings. As shown on the patent diagrams (Figures 5.9-10), when the front of the key (a) is depressed, the back rises, lifting the end of a cylindrical steel arm (b) that lies lengthwise on top of it. (The arm protrudes from the lower wooden plank behind the action and extends forward, with its end resting on the felt-covered keylever5). As the keyback lifts the arm, it displaces a vertical steel lever (d) housing three small wood rollers (h) in a vertical row 32.5 mm apart. As the lever tilts to one side, its rollers move the revolving band (e) into contact with the strings (f). When the key is released, the arm lowers, allowing the lever to return to its original position. An identical lever which moves the opposite direction is connected to the first by means of a pin (c), so that the motion of the two units is analogous to a pair of scissors opening and closing. In addition, a coil spring (o) stretches between the two levers at the damper prongs (j) to help provide restoring power (not drawn in Figures 5.9 or 5.10; see Figure 5.14). The lever extends upward perpendicular to the keys, so that the rollers tilt to the right or left as they face the performer. The two strings for each pitch, instead of being side by side, are rather strung one above the other. The instrument is designed so that the two strings pass the lever in between the planes of the three rollers. When the lever tilts, the three rollers move to a position above, between, and below the two strings.6 The sounding device or "bow," a thin leather band (e) coated with some sort of resin or similar sticky substance, moves continuously around an upper pulley (k) and a lower revolving roller (k1), along a path between adjacent strings. The little rollers (h) on the swinging double-armed lever (d) push the moving band against the two strings to initiate string vibrations and sound the pitch. Thus, when a key is depressed, the keyback

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166 lifts an arm, the arm displaces a lever with three rollers, and the rollers press a moving band against the strings. Although each leather band or "bow" serves two adjacent pitches, each lever with rollers serves the two strings of one pitch (Figure 5.11). Therefore, the string sets are initiated independent of one another and can be sounded in any combination, or all at once. The keyboard, probably identical to those on Hofmann and Czemy pianos, would have the unique touch of the bowed keyboard instrument, which is quite different from the piano touch. Since depressed keys are in constant contact with the action, there would be maximum player control, and the performer would feel the sensation in the keys, just as a harpsichordist feels the pluck or a clavichordist controls the tangent. The experience of playing the streichklavier probably would be similar to playing the GNM instrument, though the action would not be as direct. Octave span is the standard 166 mm, and key dip is 5 mm, as opposed to about 10 mm in a modem piano. The spruce keylevers are of four different lengths, according to register (Figure 5.12). The keybacks are weighted with lead and approximately four centimeters o f the tops are covered with thick red felt (Figure 5.13). Damping

The dampers on the streichklavier show the same simple principle as the GNM instrument. A narrow steel strip (g1) padded with red felt extends downward from above the action and rests against the outside of two unison strings (f) (Figure 5.14). It dampens the strings a few centimeters behind the point of contact with the bow (e) (Figures 5.9-10). The damper is moved off the strings by a short rod or prong (j) that

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167

extends back from the top of the lever with rollers (d). When a key is depressed and the lever is tilted, the rod pushes the damper away from the strings at the same time that the rollers are engaging the moving belt against them. In Figure 5.10, the left damper (g) is released; the right damper (g) rests against the strings (f). As the key is released and the lever returns to its normal position, the rod releases the damper to ease back against the strings. The dampers are arranged in pairs, possibly made of one steel strip bent to form a horizontal piece at the top (1) with two strips (g) extending down on each side. The natural elasticity of the steel returns the released dampers to the strings. Restoring power for the rods that move the dampers is provided by springs connecting each pair of rods (Figure 5.14). Secured at the top (1) to the wood plank just below the pulley (k) for the moving band (e), the dampers frame the entire apparatus for each set of two pitches. A means of releasing all the dampers at once with a damper release is provided by narrow steel plates pushing up from beneath (not drawn in patent diagrams; see Figure 5.15). A steel strip bent around the end of the plate provides the contact with the bottom of the red felt-covered damper, and the angle of the bend can be adjusted to attain the best release for an individual damper. The plates are screwed into a steel bar that sits over the soundboard near the action, probably raised and lowered by a knee lever. Bowinp Mechanism The bowing mechanism consists o f continuous leather bands, or sounding belts (e), which "bow" two adjacent pitches (Figures 5.9-10). Each belt travels between an adjustable wooden pulley (k) fastened in the plank above the strings and action and a revolving wooden roller (k1) protruding from the base of the frame beneath the action.

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The belt passes down one side of the apparatus so that the action for one key may tilt to the left and press it against the strings (f), then continues around the revolving roller at the bottom and up the other side, serving the adjacent pitch (f) as its action tilts to the right (Figure 5.14). Each revolving roller (k1) has as its base a larger roller (m) which is driven by a leather belt connected to wooden drive wheels which are turned by the drive shaft (See Figures 5.167 and 5.17). The four drive wheels are graduated, resembling the drive wheels on Truchado's and Reichmann's geigenwerks (Chapters 6 and 7, respectively). The drive wheel with the smallest circumference drives the belt for the lowest strings, and the drive wheel with the largest circumference drives the belt for the highest strings. Therefore, the bowing o f the strings is faster in the treble and slower in the bass, in order to provide a steady string vibration in all registers. On this streichklavier, only the belt on the smallest drive wheel remains. The leather belt originally connected to each wheel threads between eighteen to twenty-two rollers, the number varying by registers: eighteen in the bass, eighteen in the tenor, twenty-two in the alto, and nineteen in the sopano. Each register is slightly out of line with the others, in order to line up with the corresponding belts and wheels. The back of the keyframe and the keylevers of four different lengths reflect the arrangement. Since the smallest drive wheel is toward the back of the instrument and the largest is toward the front, the bass keylevers are longest and the treble are shortest (Figure 5.12). Although no clear evidences remain of a means of turning the drive shaft, a description for an earlier similar instrument by Franz Kiihmayer (see Appendix 16) indicates that it was crank operated, turned either by a motor or by hand.

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Stringing The action of the streichklavier requires a system of double stringing in which each string is set above its unison partner (Figure 5.18). The strings are hitched by steel hitchpins to upper and lower hitchpin "rails," seen as two levels in the iron frame. Each hitchpin supports two strings for two adjacent pitches. This unusual string arrangement necessitates a modified bridge, which consists of three parts: a flat wood bridge 4 cm wide and 1 cm thick glued to the soundboard, trapazoid-shaped blocks of wood 2.5 cm by 2.75 cm by 4.4 cm glued on top of that, and two beveled mounts 2.75 cm by 2.5 cm by 4.0 cm glued to each block (see Appendix 18). As a pair of strings from the upper or lower nut cross the bridge, they pass along the sides o f and are separated by the trapezoidal block. With the narrower side toward the tail of the instrument, the strings are guided gradually apart as they extend from hitchpin rail toward the keyboard. Glued to the base of the block's front and extending beyond its edges, a beveled mount serves as the bridge for the lower strings. Glued to the top of the mount and to the front of the block is a thinner trapezoidal block which is the bridge for the upper strings. This bridge stands with its narrowest side on the bottom to allow room for the lower strings to pass alongside without touching it. To provide a bridge for the upper strings, it is as wide at the top as the mount on which it sits. In this way, the unison strings pass one above the other; the lower string crosses the mount bridge, and the upper string on a parallel above it crosses the shoulder of the upper bridge. All three pieces of wood are glued to the flat bridge which is glued to the soundboard.

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170 From the bridge the strings pass directly to the action, where they first contact the dampers, then pass in between the planes of the three rollers, and then over a nut (Figure 5.19). The shape of the nut is identical to the bridge except that the block faces the opposite direction so that the strings touch the mount and shoulder first. From the nut the strings loop around tuning "hooks," that is, steel rods with one hooked end and one threaded end (Figure 5.20). The threaded ends pass through holes bored in a vertical wrestpin rail, with nuts for tuning on the keyboard side of the rail. The wrestpin rail sits just behind the nameboard above the keyshafts, so the instrument can be tuned easily from the keyboard. The strings for the seventy-seven pitches lie in four sections, corresponding to the four registers serviced by the four drive wheels (Figure 5.21). Overspun steel strings are used in the lower three registers, FF-Bb, B-e1, and ^-d3. The upper strings from d#3 to a4 are steel. The terraced shape of the hitchpin rail also corresponds with these registers. Conclusion The Vienna streichklavier, with its grand-piano massiveness, nagshead swell, complex action with damper system, and its unique bowing mechanism, demonstrates another combination o f bowed strings with keyboard. In theory, the instrument seems to offer various improvements over previous inventions. For instance, the nagshead swell would make changes in dynamics more flexible than Haiden's lid, which was described as either open or shut. The method of moving the bow against the strings should cause only minimal string stretching and consequently fewer intonation problems. Dampers can be released for individual strings as well as for all strings simultaneously. The grand-

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piano resonance and double-stringing would make a louder, more commanding instrument However, in practice its overall capability must be doubted; not only were there no known successors, but it would seem that the working parts, especially the rollers, would make too much noise to be acceptable. The timbre of the Vienna streichklavier with leather bows would have sounded somewhat different from the geigenwerks with wooden wheels or the cylinder and tangent system of the piano-quatuor, and the double-stringing would have contributed a richer texture. The lightweight wooden drive shaft would allow the performer greater versatility in initiating "bowing"; however, in such a substantial instrument, it would have also created a greater range of resistance to the drive mechanism, according to the number of keys depressed, so that whoever or whatever powered the bow would experience wide and sudden fluctuations in force needed. Although this phenomenon is one of the trademarks of the bowed keyboard instrument, it would probably be more marked here than in the lighter instruments with iron drive shafts or flywheels. Many special effects would have been available with the player control made possible through the direct contact between key and string. Whether Kflhmayer’s claims (Appendix 16) that the instrument sounded like different string instruments in different registers, would permit staccato, legato, trills and the most difficult passages to sound cleanly, and would produce crescendos and decrescendos in a dynamic range from the softest pianissimo to the loudest fortissimo, is impossible to verify. Several documents accompany the streichklavier at the Vienna Technisches Museum: copies of two patents, one from 1914 by Franz Ktihmayer and Julius Hofmann

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which pertain to to the Hofmann and Czemy instrument (Appendix 15), a detailed description o f a one-roller instrument from 1898 by Franz Kiihmayer (Appendix 16), and another from 1915 by Leo Kiihmayer describing a similar instrument with only one roller (Appendix 17).8

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Figure 5. 1: Hofmann & Czemy advertisement

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Das Stretch-Klavicr, Patent KQhmayer, tst tin Labcnswerk des Erfinders und wohl des herrliehite Instrument der Gegenwart. Die Form Ut die eines Flugtls und des Inncre birgt in sich die grofle SkaJa tiler Strrichirutrumentt. 73 Tdne umfasscn Obligatgeige, Bratschc Cello und KontrabaS, die in ihrcr Nattirlichkcit den Stffichiitstrumenten gleichcn. Die Ssiten » werden ebenso wic bet der Gcigt, dcm Cello und dem Kontrabafl gcstrichen. Die Zusammenwirkung ist elne ktinstlerische, und Professoren, wit: Duhnandy, Epstein, Glnsbacher, Alfred Grunfeld, Hers, Kremser, Labor. Moser, Richter, Hans Schmidt, Schreder, Sylvester, Vockner und Z tl\n tt, welche das Instrument spielten, waren roll des Lobes*und der Bewunderung. Oas Instrument wird in der Saison seine kOnstJenschen Toumdtn nach alien Hauptstidten be-

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This piano-violin, patent Kuhmayer, is the fruit of lifelong studies of its inventor and may be called the most magnificent instrument of the world. Its form is that of a grand piano and its interior contains the whole series of aU string*instruments. 73 tunes embrace the obli* gat violin, the base-vtol, the eello and the counterbass, the tunes of which are very similar to those of the real instruments. The strings are played just as those of the violin, the cello, and the counterbass. The total effect is very artistic indeed, and such professors as Dohnandy, Epstein, Glnsbacher, Alfred Grunfeld. Hers, Kremser, Labor, Moser, Richter, Hans Schmidt, Schreder, Sylvester, Vockner and Zellner who have played this instrument, are full of praise and admiration for the same. Next season, this instrument will make a tour round all capital cities. Length ab. 187 yards, breadth ab. 173 yards. Net ab. 333 lbs., gross ab. 666 lbs.

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La piano 4 archct brevet Kiihmayer est le fruit des ftudes de toute la vie de son inrenteur, et on pcut dire que e*est l*!nstrument le plu: magnifique de nos jourt. Sa forme est celui d'un piano 4 queue, et son intdrieur port* en soi toute la grande sdrie des instruments 4 archets. 73 sons comprennent le violon obligat, le violon 4 bras, le cello et la contre-basse, le son desquels ressemble tout 4 fait 4 celui do cas instruments mdmes. Les cordes sont joufes tout comme cctles du violon, du cello et de la contre-basse. L’effct total est artistique, et des professeurs comme Dohnandy, Epstein, Glnsbacher, Alfred Griinfeld, Hers, Kremser,

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U piano ad arco brevetto Kiihmayer 4 !' opera dl tutta la vita del suo inventore e si pud chiamare lo stmmento il phi magnifico del mondo. Sua forma 4 quella dl uno piano* forte a coda, ed il suo interno contiene tutta la grande scala degli strumenti ad arco. 73 suoni eomprendono il vtolino obligato, la viola da braeeio, il cello ed il contrabasso, i suoni dei quaii sono tutti simili a quelll degli strumenti stessL La corde wengono suonate tutt* egualmente come quelle del violino, del eello e del controbasso. L' effctto totale 4 molto artistico, e dei Professors come Dohnandy, Epstein, Glnsbacher, Alfred GrQnfeld, Hera, Kremser, Labor, Moser, Richter, Hans Schmidt, Schreder, Sylvester, Vockner e Zellner, i quali hanno suonato qucsto strumento, git hanno accordato la loro lode ed ammirasione. La prossima stagione questo strumento far4 una tornata per le C«lt4 capitalL

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El piano ad arco patentado KQhmayer, Is la obra de toda fa rida de su inventor y se pucde tlamar el instrumento mas magnifico del mundo- Su forma fs la de un piano a coda, y su interno contiene toda la escala de los instrumentos ed arco. 73 tones comprenden el via* lino obligado, la viola a braso, el cello y el contrabajo. Las cordes vienen tocadas como las j- l J f a ( ______ . ___L . * _ i . l 1 . ^ ..a ■a * fn / . . O f , , M H IA d el violino, d el cdlo j_ del contr.bojo. 0E,l ofoeto utotal i s m u f ■uliidco, f• TPrtitwrti como Dohnondf, Epstein, Glnsbacher, Alfred Grilnftld, Hon, Kremser, Labor, Moser, Richter, Hon* Schmidt, Schreder, Sylvester, Vockner 7 Zellner, loo cuaJes hobien tocado t to* instrumento, his ben ocordado mu, clo,io j admiracsoa. Lo estacion proximo, tsU instrumento hari ono tornado par todas las Capitales.

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Figure 5.2: Streichklavier description

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175

Figure 5.3: Streichklavier with lid closed

Figure 5.4: Lid removed, nagshead swell raised

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176

Figure 5.5: Holes in soundboard near spine

Figure 5.6: Pulley under the soundboard

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Figure 5.7: Broken lever device

Figure 5.8: Case tail

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a b c d e f,f g h j k k' 1 m

key arm

pin vertical steel lever revolving band strings damper wooden rollers damper rod pulley revolving roller top of damper system belt-driven outer roller

Figure 5.9: Side view of action

Figure 5.10: Front view of action

179

Figure 5.11: View of action from above

Figure 5.12: Keylevers of varying lengths

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Figure 5.13: Keytails

Figure 5.14: Dampers

180

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181

Figure 5.15: Damper release

Figure 5.16: Pulleys and revolving rollers

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182

Figure 5.17: Drive wheels

Figure 5.18: Double-stringing and bridges

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Figure 5.19: Stringing and action

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Figure 5.21: Sectional bridge

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185

Notes 1.

Inventory number 29.086. I am indebted to Magister Peter Donhauser and his assistant, Ingrid Prucha, for graciously allowing me access to the collection, for partially dismantling the streichklavier, answering questions, taking measurements, and patiently allowing me to take numerous photographs. My sincere thanks also to Gerhard Hnatek, formerly of the Music Instrument Collection of the Technisches Museum, for kindly sending me copies of the patents and other museum records.

2.

Patent number 65409, Vienna, Austria, January 15,1914.

3.

From a copy of an advertisement by Hofmann & Czemy Company in Katalog 1913 (Technisches Museum Library, K 358), 62-63. Notice the error in the English translation of the dimensions: "length ab. 187 yards, breadth ab. 173 yards" (emphasis added).

4.

Museum documents received from Gerhard Hnatek.

5.

See Figure 5.16. With the keyrack removed, the arms are visible near the middle of the photograph, just above the lower revolving rollers.

6.

This maneuver is identical to that of the GNM instrument in which the one roller on the bottom of the key moved downward between two strings.

7.

The leather belt hanging down from the pulley to the rollers is misplaced. It should be threaded between the larger revolving rollers and continuing around the drive shaft. Donhauser pointed out that the "sounding" band would have been only 8-9 mm wide, judging from the size of the smaller rollers and pulleys, while the broken leather strap pictured is about 15 mm wide. Several broken pieces of leather were found in the instrument, but only one belt around the drive shaft was intact (see Figure 5.16).

8.

Information about the material of the bowing "band" and the method of turning the drive shaft come from Franz Kflhmayer's detailed description of 1898. This is apparently an earlier design which may have never been built; however, Kiihmayer is mentioned in a catalogue from the international exhibition at Paris in 1900 as a contemporary bowed piano inventor (see Chapter 2).

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CHAPTER 6 OTHER EXAMPLES

Four additional instruments which I have not seen have been preserved in museum collections: the Truchado geigenwerk (c. 1625) in Brussels, a hannonichord by Kaufinann (c. 1900) in Munich, a claviola by Breiby (1897) in New York, and a sostenente piano by Djemenjuk (1965) in Moscow. The Truchado Geigenwerk The only extant historical geigenwerk built according to Haiden's principle is part o f the collection of the Musee Instrumental of Brussels. This apparently Spanish instrument bears the inscription, "Fray Raymundo Truchado: Inventor: 1625" (Figure 6.1). In his article, "The Truchado Instrument: a Geigenwerk?," F. J. De Hen presents a thorough description, lists the restorations, and explains that since the museum acquired it in 1902, the instrument has been "the cause of hot discussions regarding its name, its origin, and even its authenticity."1 He points out that the name "geigenwerk" did not come with the instrument, but was supplied by the Museum catalog's author, VictorCharles Mahillon,2 who chose the name on the basis of its similarity to Haiden's geigenwerk pictured in Praetorius's woodcut and in the absence of an appropriate Spanish name.

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The Truchado geigenwerk looks different from its German cousins, and compared with harpsichords, de Hen describes it as appearing "very rough and clumsily made." He gives the proportions as 1510 mm long, 860 mm wide, and 430 mm deep. The heavy sides are straight and thicker than a harpischord's, the keyboard is recessed under the wrestplank, and the instrument sits on short legs (255 mm), so that the keyboard is too low for the performer to stand or sit on a chair, and too high when set on a table of normal height.3 Rend de Maeyer, a former curator of the Brussels collection, points out that the legs are detachable, so it can be set on a table.4 The familiar picture shown in many books of the red silk-covered instrument is now outdated; De Hen explains that in the 1966 restoration the covering was removed, exposing a layer of imitation green marble with another layer of brown paint underneath. He adds that the coat of arms embroidered on the red silk has not yet been identified [as of 1977], but seem to indicate that the source was Madrid.5 There are two lid paintings on the one-piece lid, a rectangular one on the front panel depicting the abduction of a nymph by tritons with Cupid preparing to shoot an arrow from above, and one conforming to the shape of the back part of the lid picturing a palace and garden. In an article on historic Spanish instruments, Maeyer discusses the paintings in some depth: he includes the results of X rays ordered in 1931 by the curator, Ernest Closson, which indicated that there was no painting underneath the present one; he studies the paintings themselves, which have not been identified as to who specifically the figures of the nymph and cupid may personify, or whether the garden and palace represent reality or fantasy; and he questions whether these paintings would have appeared on an instrument

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designated for the cathedral at Toledo, which used the geigenwerk only during Holy Week.6 De Hen points out that both paintings are on the same wood panel, disagreeing with Emanuel Wintemitz's speculation in his book Musical Instruments o f the Western World that the garden scene was cut from a rectangular painting, and that the styles are too different to have been part of the original lid.7 De Hen further explains that the type of wood used in the lid (coniferous) and the paint preparation (gypsum) imply that the paintings may have come from the South.® The recessed keyboard with boxwood-covered naturals and black stained sharps has a four-octave compass, with C/E short octave. The key facades have an arcade similar to Italian harpsichords. The three-octave span o f483 mm is smaller than the 490510 mm of contemporaneous keyboard instruments. Maeyer identifies characteristics of the key action and keywell that differ from Haiden's geigenwerk and offer evidence that the instrument was constructed by an organ builder: keys hinged in a row, guides between the keys, and a modified tracker action (a system of miniature iron rollers interrupting the wire pulldowns and creating an angle or "jog" in the wire) to compensate for keys which do not lie directly beneath their corresponding strings.9 The Truchado's action is virtually identical to that of Haiden's geigenwerk, although there is no damper mechanism. In the following figures from de Hen's article, Figure 6.2 shows the drive wheels, graduated so that the treble wheel turns two and onehalf times faster than the bass wheel; Figure 6.3 depicts the stringing, and Figure 6.4, the action.10

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189 As for string material, De Hen explains that although the instrument had gut strings when the museum acquired it, the scaling and markings on the nut indicate that it was probably formerly strung with iron. It has been determined that the metal tuning pins date from the early 1800s, and that wooden pins likely preceded them.11 Van der Meer remarks that the 1048 mm length of the longest string is more in keeping with harpsichord string length than that of cellos or violas da gamba,12 concurring with De Hen who describes the scaling as "relatively short and strongly tapered," comparable to tapered scales of Flemish harpsichords, well known in Spain in Truchado's day.13 The soundboard has been replaced at least twice; in 1966 it was restored to look like the previous soundboard, with Flemish-style watercolor flowers and birds. Of the two soundholes, one still has a gilded parchment rose.14 The case measures 1510 mm long, 860 mm wide, and 430 mm deep.15 Although the action of the Truchado instrument is similar to Haiden's, De Hen enumerates the many differences: the drive mechanism on the Truchado is handcrank operated, rather than pedal driven as depicted by Praetorius, it has no apparent damper system, and, instead of looking somewhat like a harpsichord, the Spanish instrument is heavy, deep, straight-sided, and built low to the ground. No satisfactory explanation has been offered as to why it sits so low; a performer must sit or squat on the floor to play the instrument; placing it on a table of standard height puts the keyboard too high for even a standing player to reach.16 The idea stated by Philip James17 and held by others, that the height of the keyboard reflects the Moorish practice of playing while sitting on a cushion on the floor and helps prove its Spanish origins, is doubted by most modem authorities.

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De Hen highlights the unliklihood that a seventeenth-centuiy Spanish monk would adopt "heathen practices,"18 while Maeyer simply calls it scarcely viable.19 Perhaps its narrower octave span and short legs were designed for a child. The inscription says "Raymundo Truchado: Inventor"; nevertheless, De Hen points out that "inventor" might mean "designer" or even just "maker,"20 and Maeyer holds that Truchado was merely the builder, rather than inventor.21 Closson has suggested that the name "Truchado" may actually mean "of Truchas," a village in northwest Spain.22 De Hen's conclusion that the Truchado geigenwerk was a more primitive instrument than Haiden's can be extended to more than physical appearance. Haiden boasted many effects attainable on his geigenwerk, such as a broad range of dynamics, bringing one voice out over the others, and imitation of a number of instruments. The possibilities of the Truchado are much more limited. De Hen describes his findings: Its tone is nasal, especially in the treble, and the instrument is well suited for accompanying voices or wind instruments. Within a very small range, differences in loudness can be achieved, thereby making it possible to produce limited echo effects. Tempo changes are, of course, possible, but rapid runs and such embellishments as trills are to be avoided. A lute cannot be imitated, and staccato playing is almost impossible. A single part cannot be brought out against a chord; on the other hand, vibrato (although difficult to produce) is possible. Both the hurdy-gurdy and bagpipe can readily be imitated owing to the ease of obtaining drone effects. However, neither cittern music nor band music can even be approximated, and only a very charitable critic would claim a close imitation of the viola bastarda.23 The Kaufinann Harmonichord The harmonichord, invented by Johann Friedrich Kaufinann (1785-1866) of Dresden, shows the influence of Chaldni's euphone (glass harmonica) in that a revolving

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191

cylinder rubs smaller wooden rods which are attached to the sounding strings. Vibrations excited in the rods transfer to the strings, producing a sound similar to bowed strings. The harmonichord belonging to the Deutsches Museum in Munich is not the original 1806 instrument, but was built by Kaufmanris grandson, Friedrich Kaufinann, about 1900. Museum documents (see Appendix 19) correct a false attribution to Johann Friedrich Kaufinann.24 The museum record describes the case as a giraffe form, walnut veneer, with jugendstil (art nouveau) ornamentation. The naturals are white plastic, the sharps rosewood, the soundboard varnished pine. The bridge is gently curved in bass and treble, tuning pins are in a row along the bentside, and it is double strung with steel with a five octave compass (AA-a3*on a cast-iron frame. The longest string (AA) is 1620 mm; C is 1586 mm, considerably longer than the 1048 mm of the geigenwerk's low C.25 The action is listed as a "friction mechanism, pedal operated, with a wood cylinder covered with cashmere cloth." There is damping of the friction wood pieces from C-b.26 The diagram of the action (Figure 6.5) is drawn life-size in the museum documents, but in Figures 6.5 and 6.7 the rod has been shortened (as indicated by the jagged line in Figure 6.5). If drawn to scale, the cylinder would be about knee-level to the seated performer, rather than eye-level as in the piano-quatuor, and the key, shown in the upper right half of the diagram, would be at normal keyboard height. A photograph of an action model (Figure 6.7) shows the keytail in the upper right hand comer pierced by a metal rod (shortened by more than half when compared with the life-sized museum drawing). Depressing the key raises the keytail, pulling up on the rod which, through an

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intermediate lever system, raises the front end o f the wooden rod so that it rubs the wheel. The other end of the rod is attached to the sounding string so that the vibration is transmitted to the string. The end of the rod near the string sits on a damper when the key is at rest. The top of the rod along the point of contact with the wheel has been covered with a friction-enhancing fabric. Figure 6.6 is a model of the action for the original 1809 version of Kaufinann's harmonichord. Figure 6.7, showing the newer action of about 1900 built by Kaufinann's grandson, corresponds to the diagram (Figure 6.5) and to the instrument owned by the museum. In the old version, the cylinder sits above the key rather than below it, and a more complicated lever system raises the wood rod to the wheel. The harmonichord was donated to the museum in 1914 by Carl Anton Pfeiffer, commerce minister and court piano maker in Stuttgart, along with action models of the harmonichord and piano quatuor, Friedrich Kaufinann's master craftsman's diploma and a small, 1804 bird organ (yogelorgel). The acquisition description of the harmonichord reads as follows: A harmonichord by [Johann] Friedrich Kaufinann in Dresden. The ingenious inventor was bom on February 5,1785, in Dresden, the son of the mechanic Joh. Gottf. Kaufinann. He had formal studies as a clockmaker and travelled as such throughout Germany, France, and Switzerland. He made a prolonged stop in Vienna, where he resumed an earlier attempt to study music, and met often with Beethoven, with whom he often played four-handed. After returning to Dresden, he helped support his father in the musical clock production by inventing with him the Belloneon and by himself the famous automated trumpet (in the museum collection). Thereafter, in the year 1810, he invented the harmonichord. This one-of-a-kind musical instrument is similar in form to an upright grand fortepiano, and its strings are not sounded by using the hammer stroke, but rather by the movement of a leather-covered, parchment-wrapped cylinder.

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The tone is held as long as the finger stays on the key. All the nuances of piano, crescendo, and forte and certainly that of sustained swelling are brought out only by lighter or heavier finger pressure. The curious sound is like an aeloian harp and of greater range. In the years 1810-1812 the inventor took a longer artistic tour with his father, on which he caused a sensation by the excellent playing of the harmonichord, and became acquainted with Goethe and Karl Maria von Weber in Karlsbad, the latter of whom composed an Adagio and Rondo with orchestral accompaniment for the new instrument. Because the harmonichord strings do not sound at normal [8'] pitch, but rather at the next highest fifth and all the nuances are produced only by lighter or heavier key depression, the instrument is not easy to play and difficult to use. This accounts for the fact that this unique instrument, after the inventor's death, remained in the acoustic cabinet, was unusable, and for a long time no one was around who could make it playable. Finally, Kaufinann's grandson succeeded after many tries, in which he perceived that the tones only sounded good when the little rods were fastened to a very precise place on the strings. We are grateful for several improvements, for instance a cylindrical instead of a conical roller and other things. This instrument was released by the donor only after once again being made operable. It should represent a worthwhile addition to music instrument building in the museum and it will certainly encounter much interest with its unique tone, sounding like a distant organ. Weber’s 1811 Adagio and Rondo in F for the harmonichord/harmonium (Leipzig, 1861; Jahns 115) is described by John Warrack as a symphony without a first movement.28 Warrack further explains that Weber scored it for a traditional orchestra of his day, which was unusual for him.29 An excerpt from a biography of Carl Maria von Weber by Max Maria von Weber sheds more light on the music and on Weber’s reaction to the harmonichord: On one of these interesting trips he [Weber] was in Nymphenburg, when the now famous and then well-known, deep thinking acoustician Kaufinann and son from Dresden played their newly invented harmonichord for the king. He heard this very peculiar instrument for the expression of the innermost voices and met the younger mechanic, who was stimulated and captivated by his basic understanding in the area of the physical formation of tones. On another occasion, Weber's vivacious fantasies on his harmonichord impressed Kaufinann,

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Jr. so, that he cried out, "Who could grasp it? What amazing effects my instrument was able to make!" Finally, he asked Weber to compose a piece for the instrument, "brilliant with orchestral accompaniment." Weber seized the idea enthusiastically; the new sound and the timbres of the instrument interested him. Fearful that he would lose the impression the instrument and its tones had made on his soul, he proceeded to work on the composition with such fervor that he would not even wait to arrive home, and to the dismay of his charming accompanist; and though both arrived already exhausted, he would not rest until the theme and orchestration had been written. Nevertheless, the work was difficult, and he spoke about it later in a conversation with GSnsbacher: ".. . in the concert performed by the mechanic Kaufinann of Dresden on his newly-invented harmonichord, and for which I wrote an Adagio and Rondo with orchestral accompaniment. Writing the orchestral composition was a particularly damnable project since the tone of the instrument is so original and unfamiliar and one must employ his wild imagination in order to fit the sound to the other instruments. It is the sisterchild o f the harmonium and especially peculiar in that the octave stands out so much by every sustained tone, since strings are brought into vibration in turn by means of vibrating wood rods." The composition is charming and melodic and was played on all of Kaufinann's later trips, from the year 1840 .. .30 The same source shows an engraving of Kaufinann playing the harmonichord for Weber (Figure 6.8).31 A bust of Beethoven sits on a shelf in the background. The Kaufinann family's unusual instruments were well known and well travelled. In 1851 a number of their inventions were demonstrated before Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace (Figure 6.9).32 More tours are reported in the 1903/1904 edition of the Zeitschriftfu r Instrumentenbau, which describes the importance of the original harmonichord and its trips. It includes one of the concert programs which names a number of approving dignitaries, among them Weber and Franz Liszt. The article provides insight on a possible reason why no harmonichord tradition continued, even though the original had met with great success, and how the extant instrument came about so many years later:

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The selfishness of the inventor, who having made only a few of the instruments for his personal use, and who instead of selling them withheld the secrets to their construction, had this effect, that after his death, the instruments ended up in a junkroom and many later attempts to make any one of them playable, so often undertaken, remained unsuccessful. Finally the grandson of the inventor, Friedrich Kaufinann, Jr., after long years of trying, rediscovered the long lost secret of the intonation. It cannot be disputed that Kaufinann added new ideas to the original construction, thereby bringing in the modem building technique for this instrument, which resulted in the making of the new harmonichord, which though it resembles the older, original model in sight and sound, is a virtually new instrument, reverently named "harmonichord" by Kaufinann. In any case, we see an instrument which half resembles the harmonium and half resembles the piano; an instrument well deserving of respect from any music lover.33 The Breibv Claviola A claviola from the workshop of the Scandinavian immigrant Ole Breiby of Jersey City, New Jersey, belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is described by Laurence Libin, who clears up the confusion that has surrounded the origin of the now inoperable claviola, formerly attributed to John Isaac Hawkins of Bordentown, New Jersey, who invented the claviol in 1802 (see Chapter 2). Most scholars, probably drawing from an incorrect entry in the Museum's 1903 catalog, have perpetuated the error in numerous dictionaries and histories. However, a patent date of May 4,1897 was discovered not long ago in the broken-down framework of the instrument, helping to identify Breiby as the inventor. Although he is not listed in local records at the time of the invention, Breiby is named by Libin as "a subject of the King of Sweden and Norway."34 Libin includes an excerpt from the patent describing the inventor's ambitious intent: I am aware that various forms of violin-pianos have been devised hitherto, but they have been of such cumbersome and clumsy construction as to render it

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impossible to use them as musical instruments or they have been of extremely limited compass In other words, the forms devised hitherto have been mere machines or toys, while it is my object to produce a musical instrument fitted for the rendition o f musical compositions with all the effect of ordinary violins. This result I am enabled to secure by the improved features of construction herein described.35 The claviola operates on the conventional principle in which depressing a key causes a notched lever to push a string against the moving bow. The extant instrument design is that of an upright zither with a hand-worked, normal violin bow (see Figure 6.11). However, this diverges considerably from the foot-operated bows described in the patent, and the patent drawing (Figure 6.10) shows more differences. Libin suggests that the complicated instrument in the patent may have never been constructed, and that the smaller extant version is a compromise. The museum's claviola has twenty-five metal strings with a compass of twenty-nine notes, the top four keys supposedly producing octave harmonics by stopping the strings at their midpoints. The strings run vertically over a sound box from tuning pins at the top over a sectional bridge to nuts below. The right hand moves the bow back and forth while the left hand plays the two-octave keyboard.36 The Diemenjuk Sostenente Piano A 1965 example housed in the musical instrument depository of the M. I. Glinka Museum of Music in Moscow was built by V. I. Djemenjuk, and is labeled simply, "bowed keyboard musical instrument" (see upper right-hand comer of Figures 6.1214).37 This small instrument with only thirty-one keys has a black lacquered case that, judging from the diagrams, appears to be shaped like a small, slant-side harpsichord, and

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stands on four legs, although only two are drawn. The continuous bow, mounted beneath the keyboard on two rollers, one at each end, is driven by an electric motor, but can also be driven with a pedal. Buchner states that the wheels turn at the rate of twenty-nine rpm, but gives no measurement for the radius of the wheels. In Figure 6.10 the drive mechanism can be seen to consist of the two rollers (4) under the keyboard with the dotted lines representing the continuous band, connected by belt 6 to pulley 5, which in turn is connected by belt 7 to electric motor 8 secured on shelf 9. Figure 6.13 shows a cross-section of the action at the top, and underneath, a plan view of a partial keyboard with stringing. At the uppermost part of the diagram the key (19) is depressed. A dog (18) protruding from underneath the key presses the string against the bridge (12) and against the revolving band (16), seen as a dark rectangle to the right of the bridge in the cross-section, and as a wide black band perpendicular to the strings in the plan view. The strings (15) are connected to the nut under the keyboard (21) and to the tuning pins (20) on the wrestplank (14) in the tail. In addition to the bridge (12) running under the keys, four other bridges (13) are placed diagonally to the strings. The bridges sit on a cavity resonator (10), resting on a shelf (11). The stringing is described as having four bridges (13) with four sets of violin strings (G,D,A,E) (15) crossing the bridge. This design that uses key attachments to contact a bow passing underneath the keys at the front of the instrument is similar to the anonymous streichklavier (c. 1900) in Nuremberg (Chapter 3). More detail is given to the vibrato device shown in Figure 6.14. Buchner describes it this way:

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The vibrato device consists of a vibrating strip, which is attached to hinges (22) in the case of the instrument. Onto this strip is attached a moveable screw (23), which runs into the fork of a crank (24) and swivels on the axle (25) of a bar (26), to which a washer (28) is attached with a screw. The bar has a groove with a notch (29), into which one end of the crank (30) with the rotating spindle (33) catches. One end of the crank (24) is supported by a bolt (31) which is attached eccentrically to the pulley, and which is securely connected to the pulley of the continuous bow. The vibrato mechanism can be turned off by putting the bar (26) into the upper edge position. In this way the bolt (31), with the rotation of the pulley, has no effect on the crank (24) so that no vibration of the strip and thus no vibration of the strings is produced.3 These four different instruments-along with the examples discussed in the three previous chapters-apparently represent all that remains of the continuing tradition of bowed keyboard instruments. However, Buchner spoke too soon when he referred to Djemenjuk's instrument as "undoubtedly the last attempt to build a successful bowed keyboard instrument." The tradition continues into the 1980s and 1990s with modem examples of new geigenwerks, and is the subject of the next chapter.

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~t as' Figure 6.1: Truchado geigenwerk Musee Instrumental of Brussels

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Figure 6.2: Truchado drive wheels and friction wheels

Figure 6.3: Truchado stringing

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wrestplank

wreetpin (enlarged)

wire pulldow n

key

Figure 6.4: Truchado action

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W

r “ ? V . ^ * w ? t . *•»■-_■ f t •? •!* • T ‘

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Figure 6.5: Diagram of original harmonichord action Deutsches Museum, Munich

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Figure 6.6: Model of old harmonichord action Deutsches Museum, Munich

Figure 6.7: Model of new harmonichord action Deutsches Museum, Munich

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Figure 6.8: Kaufinann playing the harmonichord

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Figure 6.9: Harmonichord at Buckingham Palace. Instruments made by the Kaufmann family demonstrated before Queen Victoria in 1851. From left: harmonichord, chordaulodian, orchestrion, automaton trumpeter and symphonion.

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