John Crang: his Workshop and Surviving Claviorgan
[in] The Maestro's Direction: Essays in Honor of Christopher Hogwood, ed. Th. Donahue, (Scarecrow Press: 2011), pp. 91-120
Although the claviorgan can never be considered to have been a common instrument compared with its contemporaries, whether harpsichord, clavichord, or piano, it does seem to have enjoyed a particular popularity in eighteenth century England. Burkhat Shudi and Jacob Kirckman are each known to have made more than one such instrument during their working lives in partnership with the organ-builders John Snetzler and (in the case of Kirckman) Robert Gray.
The purpose of such instruments is a topic that has not been satisfactorily addressed in the past, and deserves further research, although it should be noted that the great majority of these instruments are associated with very wealthy families which may suggest they were (to some extent) a rich man's play-thing.
John Crang is perhaps a little unusual amongst English instrument makers of the eighteenth century, in that he appears to have had an equally good reputation as both organ-builder and builder of plucked-strung keyboard instruments such as harpsichords and spinets. The history of his workshop, and its continuation by his nephews upon his death, has long been confused, and this article seeks to clarify this in the light of new evidence.
His claviorgan is seemingly unique amongst surviving English example from this period, in that there is no question that both harpsichord and organ were made in the same workshop. This circumstance would suggest the probability of a greater uniformity of design between the two mechanisms, and fewer compromises of the constituent parts. This article will discuss the extent to which the harpsichord was adapted as part of its inclusion in such a combination instrument, a task which is made more difficult by the loss of the original organ. The 1790 patent taken out by John Crang Hancock for an organised-piano will also be considered in relation to the instrument built by his uncle.
The Claviorgan in England in the Eighteenth Century
Paper given at the Annual Meeting of the American Musical Instrument Society, May 2010
(Supported by a Gribbon Award)
The claviorgan is an instrument that deserves re-evaluation in its own right, rather than as an oddity in the history of other keyboard instruments. There are numerous combinations of keyboard instruments and pipes that organologists have designated claviorgans; this paper will discuss briefly a new working terminology for describing such instruments. In England, the earliest undisputable references to claviorgans are found in 1547, and references are found from this date through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
However, evidence suggests that the claviorgan gained in popularity in the eighteenth century; at least seventeen examples of instruments that are (or have been) types of claviorgan survive. A distinction is made between the two main types of claviorgan known to have been made by English keyboard instrument makers: those based upon harpsichord-type instruments, and those based upon various designs of pianos.
Various questions will be considered: were such instruments conceived as claviorgans? or subsequently altered? and why have almost all had their organ pipes removed?" The specific purpose of such combination instruments is known in only a small number of situations, it is generally the case that one can only speculate as to the reason for their creation. There are a number of reports of such instruments being played in both public and private settings, and the opinions of the authors of such reports are telling as to the position of the instruments in English musical circles.
The Use of Divided Accidental Keys in Italian Strung Keyboard Instruments pre 1700
Masters dissertation submitted to the University of Edinburgh, 2008
The intention of this thesis is to examine the use of strung-keyboard instruments provided with divided accidental keys in Italy before 1700. As will be discussed below the prevalence of such keyboards is higher in Italy in the period between the late-fifteenth and early-sixteenth century than it is elsewhere in Europe. It is not the intention to discuss the use of divided accidentals on organ keyboards except as part of the historical context of enharmonic keyboards, and in comparison to their use on plucked string instruments. A list of the surviving Italian plucked keyboard instruments originally provided with divided accidental keys for the purpose of achieving enharmonic notes is included as an appendix to this thesis.
The surviving instruments will be discussed in relation to each other and how representative they are as part of their makers’ oeuvre; with a particular focus on the evidence that can be determined from three instruments in the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments. The evidence for the musical use of instruments with enharmonic accidentals will also be discussed, both that of theorists and also that which can be determined from the music itself (including a study of the music of Frescobaldi).
The Clarinets of Heinrich Grenser (1769-1813)
Published in Clarinet and Saxophone Magazine, Winter 2007
Heinrich Grenser (1769-1814) was active at a time of great advances in the design of the clarinet, when instrument makers and composers wanted a more chromatically-able instrument (the design of the earliest clarinets left them only able to play in a few keys). This in itself makes Heinrich Grenser an interesting subject, observing how his instruments differ from those of his contemporaries. However, in 1811 Grenser wrote an article for a famous German music journal of the period, the Allegemeine musikalische Zeitung, berating many of the inventions to improve woodwind instruments (largely the flute), and highlighting the importance of getting the basic design of the instrument right before adding extra keys or devices. This article discusses Grenser's instruments in relation to their keywork innovations, as a culmination of work for the inaugural Pamela Weston Scholarship.
The Catalogue of the Boddington-Pyne Collection of Instruments
Galpin Society Journal, Vol. LXI, Spring-Summer 2008
A discussion of the nineteenth-century catalogue of the Boddington-Pyne collection of musical instruments, with brief reference to the history of the collection itself. Originally collected by the Manchester organist James Kendrick Pyne, and sold to the brewer Henry Boddington circa. 1888 when the catalogue was produced, the collection consisted of thirty-nine keyboard instruments, four dulcimers, and fifteen plucked stringed instruments of varying ages dating back to the sixteenth-century. The printing and binding of the small print run of catalogues is discussed with reference to the distribution of these catalogues. The origin and authorship of the illustrative plates and the text, and the inaccuracies found in both, is examined in relation to how this helps or hinders the search for the current location of the instruments after the sale and dispersion of the collection.
The History and Current Location of the Boddington-Pyne Collection of Instruments
BMus(Hons) dissertation submitted to the University of Edinburgh, 2007
The focus of this dissertation is a collection of musical intruments, being mostly keyboard instruments, collected during the latter half of the nineteenth century by Dr. James Kendrick Pyne who was then the organist at Manchester Cathedral (and Manchester City Organist). In 1888, Pyne sold his collection of instrument ot Henry Boddington II, then Chairman and owner of the Boddington's brewery (also based in Manchester). Boddington and Pyne produced a catalogue of this collection in 1888; this is the only surviving record of the the extent of the collection, which was broken up at the beginning of the twentieth century when Boddington was forced to sell off the instruments.
The aim of this dissertation is to race the history of both James Kendrick Pyne and Henry Boddington, and to what extent they were involved with the contemporary study od musical instruments. The second aim is to trace the whereabouts of the surviving instruments from the collection; withing this, the greater focus is places on the keyboard instruments. It is also intended to discuss the reason for the ultimate dissolution of the collection.
The large bulk of the research is presented in the form of a revised catalogue of the instruments including the information from the original catalogue, as well as the current location of the instruments and any additional information.
Both CD copies and/or hard copies of the above are available from the author for a small fee.