P.O. Box 1163 Lemont, PA 16851 (814) 883-7799 damaple@comcast.net

Please click on images below for enlarged versions. Double manual Ravalement of harpsichord after Couchet Large Flemish instruments of the type made by the Couchet shops in the latter part of the 17th century were highly prized in 18th-century France, since they could be modified with relatively little work into doubles with the chromatic petit ravalement compass of four and a half octaves. Towards the middle of the century, by widening the case slightly, a full five-octave grand ravalement became the norm. I offer my own interpretation of a double-manual ravalement in either size, with keyboards and jacks based on work by the Blanchet workshop. This model combines a powerful but clean sound in the bass with an extremely clear and singing treble. Specifications: GG-d3, 8' 4' 8', buff, shove coupler. 229 x 87 cm (90 x 34 in). FF-f3 , 8' 4' 8', buff, shove coupler. 229 x 92 cm (90 x 36 in). Performances of the harpsichord suites in D minor and A minor (Book I, 1687) and D minor (Book II, 1707) by Elizabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre have been recorded by Frances Conover Fitch on the 1994 prototype for this model. See: Protégée of the Sun King, Music by Jacquet de la Guerre. Centaur CRC 2781/2782. Excerpts may be found on YouTube.com under Frances Fitch harpsichord. Double manual harpsichord after Henri Hemsch For those players who love the splendid, rich sound of an 18th-century Parisian harpsichord, I offer this mid-century model by Jean-Henri Hemsch, based on the example in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In comparison with the rebuilt Flemish instruments above, its sound is more complex, takes longer to develop, and has a more pronounced resonance peak in the bass. Hemsch, a native of the Cologne region, had moved to Paris by 1728 to apprentice with Antoine Vater, a fellow transplanted German craftsman. Noting similarities between the harpsichord in Boston and Vater's instruments, and in view of obvious alterations to the date on the soundboard (17?6), John Koster has proposed in his catalog of the MFA keyboard instrument collection that the harpsichord is the earliest of the surviving instruments by Hemsch, with a likely date of 1736. Harpsichords by Hemsch were highly regarded and owned by important mid-century musicians including Daquin and Balbastre, and by influential aristocrats such as Alexandre Le Riche de La Pouplinière, who was a patron of Rameau. Specification: FF-e3 (f3 can be added), 8' 4' 8', buff, shove coupler. 237 x 91 cm (93 x 36 in). Additional French Instruments of Interest Players who wish to perform the 17th-century French literature on the native type of harpsichord that most French players then owned should investigate instruments by makers such as Desruisseaux, Tibaut, and Vaudry. The Desruisseaux instrument in Paris is my personal favorite of these instruments. Judging from two recordings that were made with it more than half a century ago, it has a delightfully colorful, clear texture. To my mind, this is an ideal instrument for the music of Louis Couperin, D'Anglebert, and their contemporaries. Several makers have also made very successful reproductions of the Vaudry instrument in the Victoria and Albert Museum.