On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:26:32 -0500, Tilman Skowroneck wrote:
> Rainer Schütze
> springs to mind, who in the Stuttgart conference in 1982 or 1983 (I forget)
> had a harpsichord with a multibly split bass bridge. Looked pretty cute
> really.
He took the idea from Cristofori and credited him eith it, too. The
instrument was one of his early "Mephistos,"
pure Rainer but purporting to be German - which after all it was since
it came from Raine's shop in Heidelberg.
In this cae, it was with individual small bridges for each subsequent
choir
> He also held a speech about the construction. Bill will perhaps
> remember what he said
He didn't say much of anything substantial - typical Rainer - because
he was a firm believer in shop secrets and this was one of his most
guarded. The instrument had a live nut, an angled gap and may have had
splayed guides, and an interior acoustic bottom. He experimented a
great deal with these details.
It was 1982 and he also had his first incarnation of a Tangi action,
his idea with no relation to Spaeth and Schmahl, of course in
injection-molded Delrin mounted as a model and striking a large red
wine glass. The red wine glass was particularly important to him, as a
joke that divided the wheat from the chaff so to speak and because he
was a connossieur of good wines.
> - there were other speeches there that worried me
> more...I forgot this one.
I remember. The entire German "establishment" was there and with one or
more instruments: Neupert (father! and son), Wittmayer (Kurt and
daughter Susanne), Martin Sassmann, Eckehart Merzdorf, Zahl if remember
right, Schuetze, even I had an Italian there.
Sassmann reserved a table at the Ratskeller for the German builders
including myself for the evening where he wanted to discuss to the
formation of a German professional group - typical Martin and typically
German, too. It ended almost with a fist fight between Schuetze on the
one hand and Martin with support from Kurt on th other. Only too much
wine, which neither Martin nor Rainer could handle well kept things at
bay, ending with Kurt and I drinking the rest under the table and
proceeding on to the next inn to continue, finally getting expelled
from a Yugoslav place not far from the Hospital Hof at 4:30 in the
morning, still on relatively even keel.
Not part of Tilmans' recollections I am sure. We, Kurt and I, repeated
this performance several times after in the years to come.
Back to Stuttgart.
Tilman's father was there to give a talk. He spoke about working
methods and esthetic as I remember and around and behind me some
"quarters" (not Schuetze or Merzdorf) were muttering to the effect, '
don't listen; he is the devil...' This I remember as if it was
yesterday.
I think Tilman was probably thinking of Scholz and the so-called
restauration of the Friedrich Ring hpschd which Scholz ruined for good.
He gave a lenthy lecture with slides on this deed. The f--ked up
original was there (completely boring) as well ans a "copy" (slightly
better than the original) made by a hobby builder in Ludwigsburg, who's
name escapes me at the moment. This must have been 1982 since this guy
had his Lautenklavier at the subsequent "Rillingfest."
Wittmayer had the Brussels Johannes R. muselaer there which he had
restored and he talked about the restauration and showed pictures of
this as well and played it.
The discussions after these talks were heated...
Maybe I have mixed the two Stuttgart event together, tho...
b
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