In the past few weeks several people have posted inquiries about Eric
Herz Harpsichords.  As most of you know, Eric retired earlier this year
and the long run of the Herz shop came to a close.  Eric still lives
upstairs in the shop building and can be reached there: 10 Howard Street,
Cambridge, MA 02139.
 
     Although Eric Herz Harpsichords, Inc. will not continue, we
have renewed an association that dates back almost half-a-century,
to the day when Eric first wandered into the South End shop of
Hubbard and Dowd, in order to service owners of Herz instruments.
Hubbard Harpsichords will have a store of Herz parts, specialized
tools, and drawings, and stands ready to handle any maintenance or
overhaul work that existing instruments may require.
 
     We are attaching to this note a brief biographical sketch that
might be of interest.  Anyone with particular inquiries about the
shop, its history, the disposition of its assets, the location of
particular instruments, or anything else, should feel free to
contact Michael Herz at (212) 790-0217 or by email at
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     We would like to thank everyone for their interest and support
over the years.  It's been a pleasure.
 
 
With very best wishes to all,
 
Michael Herz, for Herz Harpsichords
 
 
               **********************************
 
     Eric Herz completed his first harpsichord under his own name
in 1956.  The story of Eric Herz Harpsichords begins long before
that year, however.  By 1956, Herz was already 37 years old, rather
late to begin what turns out to be one's life work.  In retrospect,
harpsichord building was the logical conclusion of his prior
training, although it could not have been predicted at the time.
 
     Eric Herz was born in Cologne, Germany in 1919.  His formal
schooling ended in his early teens as life became increasingly
untenable for Jews in Germany.  His older brother and sister left
Germany for Palestine in the mid-30s; he was able to follow in
1939, thanks to an acceptance from the Jerusalem Conservatory to
study the flute.
 
     During his three years at the conservatory, Eric supported
himself as an apprentice in a cabinetmaking shop, becoming an
accomplished woodworker.  There followed a stint in the English
army, stationed in Cairo.  There he played in the military band and
taught himself to tune pianos, ultimately becoming responsible for
taking care of the pianos at the base.  He began to think that
building pianos would be the ideal combination of his interests in
music and woodworking.
 
     After the war, Eric became a member of the Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra, in which he played flute and piccolo for six years.  In
1951, he decided to leave the orchestra and come to America.  The
route was slightly indirect: he went off to Halifax, Nova Scotia on
the promise of a flute-playing job but somehow never hooked up with
the people he was supposed to meet, then ended up working for a
year in the piano department of a Toronto store.  In 1952 he was
able to come to the United States, settling in Boston and working
for the Baldwin Piano Company.  During this time he also did a
stint travelling with Claudio Arrau as his personal tuner.
 
     Not far from Baldwin's store was the South End shop of the
newly formed Hubbard and Dowd.  Eric was looking for a woodworking
shop in which to do build some furniture for himself and, through
channels now lost to the mists of time, found his way to Hubbard
and Dowd.  Not long after, he was hired.  While at Hubbard and
Dowd, Eric worked primarily constructing four Italian instruments
from start to finish.  Hooked, and anxious to be his own boss, Eric
left Hubbard and Dowd and started building his own instruments in
the living room and garage of his home in Still River,
Massachusetts.
 
     In the late 1950s, the Boston early music world was rather
different than today.  It was characterized by great enthusiasm,
some trial and error, and most of all a sense of excitement and
discovery.  Eric Herz was one of a small group at the center of
this world.  Eric could frequently be heard on Boston area recital
stages as a flutist, often accompanied by own of his own
instruments.  In the town of Harvard, where he lived from 1958-
1963, he organized a Baroque music festival that was one of the
first of this now familiar creature.  (In fact, Gustav Leonhardt's
American debut was in Harvard as part of this festival.)  Over the
years, Eric has remained an important part of the Boston early music
scene.
 
     As the shop grew, it moved to a small building in Harvard, then to
Concord, and then, in 1964, to its present location in a former church and
synagogue in Cambridge.  Many well-known contemporary builders worked in
the Herz shop over the years, including Hendrik Broekman, Robert Duffy,
Allan Winkler, Tom and Barbara Wolf, and Chuck Wolff.
 
     In the end, the Herz shop produced not quite 500 instruments,
including about 465 harpsichords of various types, 17 clavichords,
5 pedal harpsichords, 4 virginals, and 1 pedal clavichord.