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From:
David Calhoun <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Fri, 1 Sep 2000 09:31:51 -0700
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'Allo again - I have the following from our colleague ...

Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2000 11:43:58 -0400
From: [log in to unmask] (Enid Sutherland)
Subject: Silbermann 1749
To: [log in to unmask] ("Calhoun, David")


Hi David!

Have just read your query about the 1749 Silbermann piano on the
Harpsichord List, which I am getting in digest form presently, which I
believe does not allow replies.  So I thought I'd reply off-line (if that's
the correct term).

The 1749 Silbermann in Nuremberg GNM features two mutation stops (this is
true also of the other two Gottfried Silbermann pianos, i.e., the one in
Neues Palais, Potsdam, and that in Sans Souci, Potsdam; actually I haven't
seen the third of these, Sans Souci, and can't absolutely swear to its
having these stops).  They are: 1) hand levers in the keywell which raise
the dampers, friction loaded so that the dampers stay raised until one
reverses the process; and 2) an ivory lined batten (actually divided into
five individually adjustable sections, one for each octave) that can be
lowered by means of short levers at the back of the wrestplank into light
contact with the striongs, giving a sort of buzzing nasale or
"arpichordium" tone.

Both these mutation stops point in the direction of the "pantalon," that
is, Hebenstreit Pantalon's large hammer dulcimer which was so popular in
Germany (especially Saxony) in the early eighteenth century.  It is
apparent that Silbermann based his conception of the piano on the pantalon,
whereas Cristofori based his on the cembalo.  I have made copies of both
the 1749 Silbermann and the 1726 Cristofori, and it is simply astonishing
to hear them played one after another, side by side, so very different are
they in essential character, despite tha well-known fact that Silbermann
took Cristofori's action design virtually without change as the basis for
his actions.  Michael Cole writes extensively about the survival of the
pantalon concept in small table instruments of the second half of the
century in his new book on the piano in the classical era.

The Silbermann copies known to me, in addition to my own (which was made
for the Schubert Club in St. Paul MN), are two by Thomas and Barbara Wolf,
the Italian one you cited, and an earlier copy by a maker in the
Netherlands whose name ascapes me at the moment.

Deeply impressed tho I am by the extraordinary artistic and technical worth
of Cristofori's pianos, and much as I love them, I must also say that I
believe Silbermann's acheivemtn was also very great and utterly different
in character.  I fervently hope that these earliest of pianos, in all the
astounding variety and color, will become better known to the musical
public in the future, and that their profound relevance to the keyboard
music from ca. the second quarter of the eighteenth century forward will be
explored.

Best regards,    David Sutherland

 PS  If you care to post this to the List I have no objection.




Omigod - it's the first of September? That must be why Seattle is
suddenly chilly!

dc

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