Kurt Wittmayer

German harpsichord builder, Kurt Wittmayer (dates of birth and death unknown) was a member of the German Serien Instrumente style, which essentially refers to the first generation of mass-produced revival harpsichords in the early twentieth century, and included members of the Ammer family, J.C. Neupert, and Kurt Sperrhake. The French piano-manufacturing companies, Pleyel and Érard, were among the first to begin reproducing harpsichords on a larger scale in their piano factories in the 1880s, however it was not until the early twentieth century that their instruments came into notoriety with extensive usage of a Pleyel harpsichord by the Polish-French harpsichordist Wanda Landowska. Two harpsichords built by Pleyel and Érard were featured, along with a third constructed by the French builder Louis Tomasini, in the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. Wittmayer established his workshop in Wolfratshausen, a small town in Germany just south of Munich, initially working from historical models. By the 1960s, Wittmayer had become one of the most prolific builders in the Serien style, and had even begun experimenting with the incorporation of electrical amplification in harpsichords. Wittmayer harpsichords have been used by a number of notable artists, including Glenn Gould (1932 – 1982) in his recording of Handel’s Suites for CBS, which was the only commercial recording Gould made on a harpsichord, and the American harpsichordist Malcolm Hamilton (1932 – 2003), who employed a 1962 “Bach” model harpsichord on recordings of Scarlatti and Handel for the Delos label, Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier for the Everest label, and C.P.E. Bach concertos for the Nonesuch label. Although revival harpsichords are distinguished from their historical counterparts in that they incorporate elements of modern piano building, the basic sound production methods of the instrument find their roots in the foundations set by the European harpsichord builders of the 17th and 18th centuries, including the Flemish Ruckers family, the French builder Pascal Taskin, and the English Kirkman family. Throughout the twentieth century, a number of instrument builders have contributed to the development of the “modern” harpsichord, including the British builder and musician Arnold Dolmetsch, whose designs influenced manufacturers both in the UK and the USA.