Vaudry harpsichord
The Vaudry harpsichord is one of the most famous surviving playable harpsichords in the world. It was built in 1681 by the French musical instrument maker Jean Antoine Vaudry in Paris and is now owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London .
history
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The year of manufacture and the name of its builder can be found on the company sign Vaudry à Paris 1681 , which is attached to the docking strip of the harpsichord. Jean Antoine Vaudry, who worked as a “courtly instrument maker” in Paris, apparently owned a workshop there. Little is known about his exact life dates and professional career.
The instrument was first in the possession of the Duchess of Maine in Sceaux Castle and later stood for many generations, forgotten and unused in the castle of the French community of Savigny-lès-Beaune in eastern France. It is therefore in a relatively good state of preservation. In 1974 it was bought by London's Victoria and Albert Museum and professionally restored in 1974/1975. Today it is exhibited in the furniture department in the basement of the museum because of its precious decoration.
description
The 2.17 m long instrument stands on six feet that are artfully turned in a spiral shape from dark walnut wood . The outside is lavishly decorated with chinoiserie motifs in gold, silver and bronze tones. This form of decoration was first used in France on a musical instrument. The original appearance of the inside was changed by a rough overpainting in red and gold and thus probably adapted to the color design of the room at its location in Savigny-lès-Beaune Castle.
The Vaudry harpsichord was built in the characteristic French harpsichord construction of the 17th century, but with an elaborate system of slender ribs it is also similar to the construction of lutes , which is otherwise unusual in harpsichord construction . The instrument has two manuals with three strings, an 8 'and a 4' register on the lower manual and an 8 'register on the upper one, with an original manual coupler. The original jumpers are also still there.
During the restoration by the English instrument makers and restorers Derek Adlam and Richard Burnett, the harpsichord was made playable again. The instrument was provided with a brass and iron cover based on the materials and strengths of some of the original strings that still exist . The harpsichord got its original keyboard range from G '/ B' to c '' '. The tuning tone is the old French ton de chapelle of a 1 = 392 Hz.
meaning
Because of its largely unadulterated state of preservation, the Vaudry harpsichord served as a model for numerous modern replicas of harpsichords of the early French type.
Although it has been playable again since its restoration in the mid-1970s, the instrument is not used for concerts. So far there is only one sound document on which the original instrument can be heard. The CD, published in 2008, contains harpsichord suites by the French composer Louis Couperin , which were recorded on four evenings in January 2006 in Gallery 1c of the museum by the Dutch harpsichordist Bob van Asperen .
literature
- Derek Adlam: Restoring the Vaudry . In: Early Music 4 . 1976, p. 255-265 (English).
- Howard Schott (Ed.): The Victoria and Albert Museum Catalog of Musical Instruments (Part 1: Keyboard Instruments) . Her Majesty's Stationary Office, 1985.
Web links
- Victoria and Albert Museum London: Harpsichord - Vaudry, Jean-Antoine
- Audio sample from the only CD recording on the original Vaudry harpsichord (length 5:18 min)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Vaudry harpsichord (1681, Victoria & Albert Museum). CD label Aeolus, accessed on February 17, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Booklet for the CD Johann Brouwer plays Bach Couperin d'Anglebert Chambonnières Froberger Dumont , p. 14 ( online (PDF file) )
- ↑ a b Igor Kipnis: The Harpsichord and Clavichord . Routledge, 2013, ISBN 978-1-135-94977-8 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- ^ Preview: Recording the Vaudry. Aeolus Music, accessed on February 17, 2020 (English, with photo of the harpsichord).