Wolfgang Zuckermann

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Wolfgang Zuckermann (around 1963)

Wolfgang Zuckermann (born October 11, 1922 in Berlin ; † October 31, 2018 in Avignon ) was an instrument maker with a focus on historical keyboard instruments , a writer and environmental and social activist.

Life

Zuckermann and his parents fled to the USA in 1938 because of their Jewish faith. After training as a child psychologist, the amateur musician became one of the first harpsichord builders in the United States. Towards the end of the 1950s he created a self-made harpsichord package, the so-called Model T harpsichord, which was sold in large numbers worldwide. In 1969 he left New York because of the US policy on Vietnam , sold the company and settled in England as a musician and music teacher. There he became aware of the many previous horse stables, which he described and cataloged together with Barbara Rosen in the book The Mews of London .

In 1987, as an environmental activist, he joined Ecoplan, a non-profit group based in Paris . He was the author and editor of the New Mobility Agenda. Together with Eric Britton he developed Consumer Holiday - The one day a year we turn off the economy and think about it and the International Buy Nothing Day.

In 1995 he moved to France. He later lived in Avignon, where he died in autumn 2018 at the age of 96. In Avignon, in addition to his environmental activities, he ran an English-language bookstore with a gallery and meeting place for artists.

Zuckermann wrote two books on harpsichords, as well as environmentally and socially critical books, including two children's books.

Do-it-yourself harpsichord

In Germany the company is represented by the ZuckermannZentrum . The instruments are coveted because they have the original tone of the early harpsichords, as they have been further developed to obtain a fuller and longer sound. The modernly manufactured cases are also provided with elaborate carvings or paintings, since the harpsichord is not only used as a musical instrument, but also, as in the past, as a piece of furniture. Zuckermann did not limit himself to the construction and sale of complete instruments, but also supplies inexpensive kits for self-construction.

Works

  • The Modern Harpsichord . October House, 1969 ISBN 0807901652 .
  • The Modern Harpsichord: Twentieth Century Instruments and Their Makers . Reprint Services Corp, 1986, ISBN 0-685-14859-9 .
  • The Mews of London: A Guide to the Hidden Byways of London's Past. together with Barbara Rosen, Webb & Bower, London 1982, ISBN 0-03-062419-3 .
  • End of the road . Chelsea Green Pub Co, Post Mils, Vermont 1991, ISBN 0-930031-46-6 .
  • The mouse family drives a car . Cornelsen / People and Knowledge, 1995, ISBN 3-06-100388-6 .
  • Alice in Underland . The Olive Press, 2000, ISBN 2-9514588-0-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Richard Sandomir: Wolfgang Zuckermann, Harpsichord Do-It-Yourselfer, Dies at 96 , nytimes.com, November 23, 2018, accessed November 30, 2018
  2. ↑ https://www.overgrownpath.com/2018/11/farewell-wolfgang.html
personal data
SURNAME Zuckermann, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-born American instrument maker with a focus on historical keyboard instruments, writer and environmental and social activist
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 2018
Place of death Avignon