German Double and Single Manual After Fleischer
Several generations of the Fleischer family in Hamburg were known for their fine lutes, organs and keyboard instruments. An unaltered single manual harpsichord by the family scion, Carl Conrad Fleischer (1680-1722), has the full disposition of 2x8’, 1x4’ and a buff stop, but with a relatively small four octave range. The antique, dated 1716, is in the collection of the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte. It is an example of a carefully laid out and finely detailed design that borrows from 17th century French and Italian styles, with a scale well suited for iron and brass wire. One of this antique’s more interesting features is that the 4’ was meant to be free-resonating, since the original 4’ jacks had no damper slots. This would be bit overwhelming for most contrapuntal music, but interesting nonetheless. My first Fleischer single manual, made in 1987, was a close copy of the original that I enlarged into a double manual in 2000 as a rental instrument that I still use.
In my double and single manual models, I expanded the range to GG to d’’’, with the usual disposition of 2x8’ and 1x4’, and buff stop, and two pitch positions of a=415 Hz and 440. The double manual is 90” by 34”, and the single manual is 86” by 34.
German Double and Single Manual After Vater
The state of Lower Saxony in the 17th century was home to many instrument makers, and among them was the Hanover organ and harpsichord loft of Martin Vater. His two sons continued his business; Anton, who went on to work in Paris, and Christian Vater (1679-1756), who apprenticed with another Saxon organ builder, Arp Schnitger. The only surviving harpsichord by Christian Vater is a modest 2x8” single manual dated 1738 in the Germanisches National Museum. The original has a range of only four octaves but is scaled perfectly for use with brass wire at pitch of a=415 Hz.
In my adaptation of this design, I made the range GG to d’’’ in both the single and double manual models, and added a 4’ to the double manual. In both single and double forms, it has a robust and pungent voice typical of brass strung instruments that can hold its own in ensembles or as a solo voice. Both models have two pitch positions of a=415 Hz and a=440.The single manual is 82” by 34”, and the double manual is 89” by 34”.