Pascal-Joseph Taskin
Pascal-Joseph Taskin I (* around 1723 in Theux , Belgium ; † February 9, 1793 in Versailles ) was a French harpsichord maker of Walloon origin.
Life
Born in Theux in the Principality of Liège in 1723 , Taskin went to Paris at an unspecified time to work with François-Étienne Blanchet II . After Blanchet's death, he married his widow and took over the business. The name "Facteur de Clavessins du Roi", which François Blanchet the older and younger already wore, then passed on to him. In 1770 he signed his instruments with: “ Pascal Taskin, Facteur de Clavessins & Garde des Instruments de Musique du Roi, Eleve & Successeur de M. Blanchet, demeure même Maison, rue de la Verrerie, across from the petite porte de S. . Merry, A Paris 1770 ». In 1772 he was given the position of court instrument maker in the palace and chapel of Versailles by Louis XV. and later Louis XVI. offered. He managed to have his nephew Pascal-Joseph II do the work so that he wouldn't have to stay away from his workshop in Paris for too long. From 1781 to 1790 he managed the royal instrument pool. Taskin led harpsichord making to its final and greatest climax. As an instrument maker, he stands on the threshold of the fortepiano and, following the new taste of the times, also constructed fortepiano . When he died, his workshop built about as many fortepiani as harpsichords.
Taskin was supported in his workshop by three of his nephews, Pascal-Joseph Taskin II (* 1750; † 1829), Henri-Joseph Taskin (1779-1832) and Lambert Taskin (life dates unknown). Furthermore, he took care of his three-year-old stepson and could therefore look back on a continuous tradition up to Nicolas Blanchet, the founder of this successful workshop.
Like many other harpsichord makers before him - u. a. his predecessor Blanchet - also revised Taskin instruments of the Ruckers family from Antwerp . Such an operation was called ravalement : The range of the original Ruckers harpsichord was expanded to adapt it to the musical and aesthetic taste of the time. During a grand ravalement , the instruments were considerably rebuilt - sometimes only using their soundboard. Like some of his colleagues, Taskin also made complete Ruckers forgeries (e.g. the harpsichord from 1787 in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg).
He succeeded in combining a silvery-lively and at the same time fundamental-cantilever, long-lasting tone, unsurpassed in its balance. He enjoys a unique reputation in the history of harpsichord making.
The sensitive style of music that emerged in the second half of the 18th century and the demands placed on the dynamics of the instrument led to various new developments in instrument technology. Taskin developed among others the peau de buffle - register in which the strings are plucked with soft buffalo leather. This creates the illusion of sensitive touch dynamics on the harpsichord and, especially in connection with the lute, there are sonic moments of enchanting intimacy. Knee levers ( genouillères ) allow register changes without the player having to take his hands off the manual . These changes to the instrument - which were also made in England - were adapted to the changing demands of contemporary tastes. They did not represent a further development of the instrument, but an attempt to adapt a perfect type of instrument to another development, that of the fortepiano, which was doomed to failure.
Only nine Taskin instruments have survived to this day. You can find them in the Hamburg Museum of Arts and Crafts (Beurmann Collection), the Russell Collection , Edinburgh and the Musée de la Musique ( Cité de la musique ), Paris.
Taskin's harpsichords are now used as a template for many historical replicas.
literature
- Andreas Beurmann : Sounding treasures. Keyboard instruments from the Beurmann Collection, Hamburg Museum of Art and Industry, Schümann grand piano . Dräger, Lübeck 2000, ISBN 3-925402-93-4 .
- Andreas Beurmann: Historical keyboard instruments: harpsichords, spinets, virginals, clavichords. The Andreas and Heikedine Beurmann collection in the Museum of Art and Industry Hamburg . Prestel, Munich / London / New York 2000, ISBN 3-7913-2309-1 .
- William Dowd: The Surviving Instruments of the Blanchet Workshop . In: Howard Schott (Ed.): The Historical Harpsichord: a Monograph Series in Honor of Frank Hubbard . tape 1 . Pendragon Press, Stuyvesant, NY 1984, ISBN 0-918728-29-0 .
- Donald H. Boalch: Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord , 1440-1840 . 3. Edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-318429-X .
- Frank Hubbard: Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making . 8th edition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA 1965, ISBN 0-674-88845-6 .
- R. Russel: The Harpsichord to Clavichord . Faber and Faber, 1973, ISBN 0-571-04795-5
- E. Kottick: A History the Harpsichord . Indiana 2003, ISBN 0-253-34166-3
- H. Schott: The Historical Harpsichord , Vol. 1. Pendragon Press, 1984, ISBN 0-918728-29-0
- C. Burney: Diary of a Musical Journey . Heinrichshofens Verlag, 1980, ISBN 3-7959-0275-4
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Andreas Beurmann: Historical keyboard instruments - The Andreas and Heikedine Beurmann collection in the Museum for Art and Industry Hamburg. Prestel, Munich et al. 2000, pp. 115-116.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Taskin, Pascal-Joseph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Taskin, Pascal-Joseph I. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Harpsichord maker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1723 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Theux |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 9, 1793 |
| Place of death | Versailles |