TONY CHINNERY HARPSICHORDS

It is known that J.S. Bach liked Michael Mietke's harpsichords, for in 1718 he went to Berlin to buy one for the High Chapel in Cöthen, where he was working. Furthermore, Bach probably played on one of Mietke's three surviving instruments, now in Schloss Charlottenburg in Berlin. Unfortunately the two instruments now in Berlin have been much altered, but my instrument is based on one that turned up in Sweden a few years ago that is in unaltered condition. The original instruments are all painted, but mine can be left, as here, in plain walnut, also quite common for German instruments, and more in keeping with modern interiors. The instrument has features in common with Italian instruments: the construction technique, the brass stringing, and features taken from the French tradition: the ebony keys and the coupling between the keyboards. The round tail is a typical German feature.

Listen to the Mietke harpsichord:
registers: 8' lower manual
registers: 8'+8'
registers: 8'+8'+4'
registers: 8' upper manual

Mietke made a complicated stand with eight turned legs and bottom stretchers cut into graceful curves