Johannes (Johann Christoph) Zumpe (pronounced ''zumpy''; 14 June 1726 in
Fürth
Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the t ...
, Free Imperial City of
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, modern Germany – buried 5 December 1790 in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, UK) was a leading maker of early English
square piano
The square piano is a type of piano that has horizontal strings arranged diagonally across the rectangular case above the hammers and with the keyboard set in the long side, with the sounding board above a cavity in the short side. It is variously ...
s, a form of rectangular
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
with a compass of about five
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
s. The pianos sounded like mellow
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 ...
s, and had a damper stop in the left cheek of the case. Zumpe is known as the creator of English square pianos.
Biography
Of German/Saxon origin,
Johnannes Zumpe was born in June 1726. He trained with the
Gottfried Silbermann
Gottfried Silbermann (January 14, 1683 – August 4, 1753) was a German builder of keyboard instruments. He built harpsichords, clavichords, organs, and fortepianos; his modern reputation rests mainly on the latter two.
Life
Very little is know ...
. He was one of the “
twelve Apostles
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...
”, German makers of keyboard instruments who fled to London at the time of the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
. He worked briefly for
Burkat Shudi
Burkat Shudi (variants: Burkhart, Burkhardt, Schudi, Tschudi, Tshudi) (13 March 1702 – 19 August 1773) was an English harpsichord maker of Swiss origin.
Biography
He was born in Schwanden in the Canton of Glarus, and arrived in England in ...
, before setting up his own shop “at the sign of the Golden Guittar” in Princes Street,
Hanover Square, in 1761.
From 1769 until 24 September 1778, Zumpe was in partnership with Gabriel Buntebart. Meincke Meyer joined Zumpe in 1778. The business was taken over in 1783 by Frederick Schoene, who advertised his piano-making firm as "Successors to Johannes Zumpe".
Zumpe married
Elizabeth Beeston on 3 December 1760. His will, dated 1784, gives his address as Queen Charlotte Row in the parish of
St Mary-le-Bow.
Pianos
The pianos in Zumpe's style were built from about 1760 to 1800. In Zumpe's day they played a role not unlike the
upright piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
of today: they were more compact and affordable than the full-size wing-shaped instrument. As such, they played an important role in the spread of the piano among musicians, particularly amateurs. By the time the last Zumpe pianos were made, the piano had essentially displaced the
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 ...
from its formerly predominant position.
Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a German composer of the Classical period (music), Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. After living in Italy for ...
performed on a Zumpe instrument, and possibly acted as a sales agent for Zumpe pianos. Although most famous for his square pianos, other Zumpe instruments survive, including full-sized pianos, harpsichords, an English guitar of 1762, and a mandora of 1764.
Action
The action of these small instruments is known as the "English single" and is unusually simple (for instance, it is far simpler than the original piano action as invented by
Bartolomeo Cristofori
Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (; May 4, 1655 – January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano.
Life
The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death recor ...
.) It consists of a small "sticker" simply pushing up on a hammer, while a rod passing through the hitch pin plank lifted up a damper lever hinged from a rail attached to the spine. The action is illustrated below.
Action parts:
# key; the portion pressed by the player is on the far right
# jack; a wire with leather stud on top, known by the workmen as the "old man's head"
#
whalebone
Baleen is a filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales. To use baleen, the whale first opens its mouth underwater to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and re ...
rear guide, projects from the end of the key, works in a groove to keep the key steady
# hammer; strikes the string to produce sound
# whalebone jack, called the mopstick
# damper; when in lowered position stops the sound of the string
# whalebone damper spring
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zumpe, Johannes
18th-century English people
18th-century German people
Piano makers
English musical instrument makers
German musical instrument makers
English people of German descent
1726 births
1783 deaths
Place of death unknown