Heinrich Kisting
Christian Heinrich Kisting (born February 9, 1769 in Hanover , † March 18, 1853, presumably in Berlin ) was a German piano maker in Berlin whose instruments enjoyed an excellent reputation.
Life and company history
Heinrich Kisting started producing pianos in Potsdam in 1799 . In 1806 he moved his workshop to Berlin. In 1815 he was awarded the title of court instrument maker . In 1828 he made his son a partner and from then on signed his instruments with H. Kisting & Sohn / Königl. Court instrument maker in Berlin / Große Friedrichstrasse No. 134 . In 1830 he retired from business life. His son Eduard († 1858) took over the business. In the official report of the General German Trade Exhibition that took place in Berlin in 1844 , Kisting's exhibition wing, which received a gold medal, is praised for "the noble fullness, soulful sound, absolutely the same tone, excellent, conscientious work and exemplary variety". In 1856 the production of instruments was stopped due to the immense increase in competition, also and especially within Berlin by the companies of Theodor Stöcker and Carl Bechstein .
A document for the importance of Kisting is its mention in ETA Hoffmann's later story Irrungen - Fragment from the life of a fantasist (1820) as well as in Theodor Fontane's autobiographical novel Meine Kinderjahre (1892/93). Further mention is made of Kisting et al. a. in the correspondence of Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy as well as Robert and Clara Schumann .
An important student of Kisting was Theodor Stöcker , who went into business for himself as a piano maker in the 1830s and, since 1839, has built numerous examples of a fortepiano with a flap mechanism .
Instruments
A fortepiano by Heinrich Kisting & Sohn, built before 1837, is now in the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum , further examples in the Fritz Neumeyer collection in Bad Krozingen (around 1835), in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg (around 1835), in the Smithsonian Institution's instrument collection , Washington, DC (USA), an instrument owned by the Berlin painter Adolph Menzel in "The Schubert Club Museum of Musical Instruments" in Saint Paul, Minnesota (USA) and in the Mainz University of Music (1835, see photos).
literature
- Gesine Haase, Dieter Krickeberg: Keyboard instruments of the museum. Kielklavier - clavichords - fortepianos . State Institute for Music Research , Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-922378-03-X .
- Hermann Mendel (Ed.): Musical Conversations Lexicon. An encyclopedia of the entire musical sciences. For educated people of all classes . Volume 6: Kar - Lyt . Robert Oppenheim, Berlin 1876, p. 76 f.
- Franz Josef Hirt: Masterpieces of piano making. History of the string pianos from 1440 to 1880 . Graf, Olten 1955.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kisting, Heinrich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kisting, Christian Heinrich (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German piano maker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 9, 1769 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hanover |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 18, 1853 |
| Place of death | Berlin |