The most important development in 1984 was the completion of our first German harpsichord. As the tricentennial year approached, makers began to reproduce harpsichords more closely associated with Bach, Handel and Scarlatti. The prevailing maker of our masters’ generation, William Dowd, staked out the work of Michael Mietke (the name most associated with Bach) as a model. We turned to a complementary design as an alternative. The antique original was a single-manual instrument, so that came first before enlarging it as a double-manual. This prototype sounded and looked like nothing else being made at the time.
By now the shop’s order list justified an employee. We didn’t have to look far for the right person: musician, musicologist and instrument maker Michael O’Brien had just moved back to Washington from Vienna, where he studied and worked for a number of years. He set a high standard for future employees, continuing in the shop either full or part time for nearly a decade. Clavichords were a specialty of Michael’s, and we had just delivered a triple-fretted one with charmingly carved keys.
A new Flemish harpsichord focused us on making an instrument that would survive long distance travel and life in many different climates. Its foreign service family took delivery not long before moving to Madras, India. It got serviced every few years when they returned to DC between postings.
Again, with an eye to 1985, the conductor Stephen Simon – known for his presentations of Handel’s works – ordered a harpsichord. He was well acquainted with our harpsichord at the Kennedy Center, where he was the first person to really use the instrument appropriately with his Handel Festival Orchestra. Before their harpsichord was delivered, the Simons asked if we could make a second instrument in a size suitable for their 2-year-old son, Basil. This was a prime opportunity to make an ottavino, a small keyboard tuned an octave higher than usual. They wanted it decorated similarly to our old “Chinese Wonder”, which Steve had also used for concerts around DC. It was a hit in New York, where they lived.
