In the history of the harpsichord, to my knowledge, there was no previous attempt to apply the principles and taste of Chinese furniture to making the stand for a harpsichord. I was asked by the family who owns this instrument to make an instrument in veneer, something I do not normally or even like to do. The problem was to make a stand for such an instrument that worked with veneer...most, in my opinion do not work. Since this couple had spent time in Korea and loved and owned a number of pieces of antique oriental furniture, I decided to build the stand in an authentic Chinese fashion. The result is this stand with all its carved ornaments in the Chinese style.
This instrument was dubbed my "Magnum Opus", or greatest work, by almost everyone the moment the project began. Certainly, it is the largest instrument I had ever made and is probably the largest harpsichord ever made. It has three manuals, 3 x 8' registers, 1 x 4' register and 1 x 16' register, three pedals to engage the various registers and couple the keyboards together. The instrument is 9' 6' long and stands on a platform stand with 8 carved legs. It is an impressive instrument by any standard.
The problem I had was how to decorate this instrument in such a manner that the decoration did not get lost in all that surface. The problem I had in designing the instrument itself was how to make such a large instrument without making something that looked stupid...as most really large instruments do. To preserve the proportions of smaller instruments, which tend to appear extremely beautifully proportioned, I increased the height of the stand but made cutouts on all the flat areas of the apron (just below the harpsichord) to keep the whole effect from looking like it was squatting. To reduce the sensation of mass on the legs, I decided to guild the uncarved portions of the stand as well as the moldings on the stand.
As for the harpsichord, I used the Chinese style because I could effectively cover a great deal of the surface with "carved screen" tromp l'oeil. Then I designed vignettes within the centers of each of the screens, all having natural subjects rather than decorations of buildings or people. The biggest problem was how to fill the lid in an elegant manner that didn't look heavyhanded or puny. Since the commission was to build the largest harpsichord on a scale to represent a gift from one emporer to another, I used that as inspiration and put the Imperial Five-Toed Dragon on the lid. Since this instrument was build during a time in the history of Grand Rapids, Michigan when it was undergoing a kind of rebirth or reinvigoration of its business center downtown which included a new Art Museum, I decided to use the symbol of rebirth, the Phoenix, an stuck that on the front flap. The following photos show details of this instrument and how the spaces were filled to accomplish the necessary goals stated without making things appear heavy and ponderous.
This is a view of the keywell with the three manuals. The idea I used was to build two harpsichords in one. This idea is what is behind the many "transposing harpsichords" built by the Ruckers family in Antwerp in the 17th century. I determind that the top two manuals would act like a French harpsichord with independent 8' registers on each manual but which were coupled when the upper manual is pushed in to couple the keyboards together. So the forward 8' register is on the topmost manual. The 4' register and the middle 8' register is on the middle manual. I then decided to make the bottom two manuals act like a German 16' harpsichord in which the lower manual is shoved in to couple. However, I wanted to have the 4' and the middle 8' registers independently available from the lowest manual. So I arranged to have the 4' jack doglegged down to couple blocks on the lowest manual in one of two coupling positions for the lowest manual. Then by pressing on one of the three pedals, you could shove the lower keyboard one more position further into the instrument to couple all three keyboards together, when the uppermost manual was also coupled. That way you can play the entire harpsichord from the lowest manual. Yet be able to turn off the 16' and the 4' without removing your hands from the keyboards by using the other two pedals. This allows the player to build the most magnificent crescendi and diminuendi by gradually adding or removing sets of strings from being playable and coupling or uncoupling the keyboards. Add to this the three buff stops on 16' and two of the 8' registers and you have feast of choices to register pieces while playing without the inconvenience of having to lift your hands except to couple the keys or add and remove buff stops.
You may have seen this photo on my site before. Then you would know that the decoration is not one of my designs. The original appears on the Jan Couchet harpsichord in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. However, I came up with the idea of decorating the apron of the stand with tromp l'oeil to make it appear like that part of the stand was carved, as the original actually is. I gold leafed the entire apron surface then painted and shaded the painting to appear like an egg and dart pattern, with acanthus leaves at the corners.
This decoration is unusual perhaps because it is an original Unmeasured Prelude, by me, the only manuscript copy of which exists in this tromp l'oeil painting of it. This instrument is currently owned by the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany.
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