Jean-Henri Hemsch, in German Johann Heinrich Hemsch (alternate spelling: Johannes Heinrich Hembsch; 21 February 1700 – September 1769), was a French
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
maker of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
origin.
Biography
Hemsch was born in
Kastenholtz, near
Cologne, and moved to
France in 1728 where he completed a six-year apprenticeship under
Antoine Vater
Antoine Vater (Hanover 1689 - Paris 1759) (also Anton Vater) was a notable harpsichord maker in Paris of German origin.
Biography
Vater was born to family of harpsichord and organ builders. While his older brother Christian Vater took over the fa ...
, another German ''émigré'' harpsichord maker. Following this, he established his own workshop in
Rue Quincampoix, Paris with his younger brother Guillaume (1734–1776), and served a two-year term as ''juré'' of the instrument makers' guild from 1746.
Hemsch died in Paris and was succeeded by his
nephew
In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...
Jean-Henri Moers (1754–1793). He is celebrated as one of the most important harpsichord builders of his milieu.
Six of his double-manual harpsichords have survived:
· a lavishly decorated instrument in brown and gold from 1736 (
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
)
· a white instrument with a lid painting and gilding from 1751 (currently owned by the harpsichordist Frédérick Haas)
· a black and red instrument with gold bands from 1754 (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum)
· a green and red instrument with subtle gilding from 1755/6 (current location unknown)
· a black and red instrument with a blank lid from 1761 (
Cité de la Musique, Paris)
· a lavishly decorated ravalement double-manual harpsichord from 1763 based on a 1636
Andrea Ruckers harpsichord (
Cobbe Collection, Hatchlands Park)
His harpsichords are similar to those of Vater and French in style, with two manuals, three-register disposition with shove coupler, and a compass of
FF–e (rising to f on the 1761).
Guillaume Hemsch
Three further instruments bearing the Hemsch name have survived, all of which were completed by Guillaume:
· a double-manual harpsichord from 1763 (current location unknown)
· a fake "1636" Ruckers from 1766, the soundboard of which was probably built from a seventeenth-century Flemish
muselaar
The virginals (or virginal) is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Description
A virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular or polygonal form of ...
(current location unknown)
· an undated fake "1628" Ruckers (current location unknown)
See also
*
List of historical harpsichord makers
This page presents a graphical timelines, listing historical makers of the harpsichord and related instruments such as the virginal, spinet and clavicytherium. The makers are grouped according to which regional building tradition they belong.
Grap ...
Notes and references
*John Koster: 'Hemsch, Henri
ean-Henri; Johannes Heinrich Hembsch, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-05-18), http://www.grovemusic.com/
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Harpsichord makers
French musical instrument makers
German musical instrument makers
1700 births
1769 deaths