Burkat Shudi (variants: Burkhardt, Schudi, Tschudi, Tshudi) (1702 - 19 August 1773) was an English harpsichord maker of Swiss origin. Events March 8 - William III died; Princess Anne Stuart becomes Queen Anne of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1773 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is any of a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument currently called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ...

Biogrraphy

Shudi was born in Schwanden in the Canton of Glarus, and arrived in England in 1718, where he started work as a joiner. He married Catherine Wild, whose parents came from the same town as him, in 1728. John Broadwood worked for him from 1761, and in 1769 became his partner after marrying his daughter Barbara. Johannes Zumpe also worked for him.   (French Glaris) is a canton in east central Switzerland. ... // The Funj warrior aristocracy deposes the reigning mek and places one of their own ranks on the throne of Sennar. ... A Joiner is a woodworker who makes and installs architectural woodwork, including things that are called Finish carpentry and millwork in the USA. Joiners fabricate and install building components such as doors, windows, stairs, wooden panelling, mouldings, shop cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and other wooden fittings. ... Events Astronomical aberration discovered by the astronomer James Bradley Swedish academy of sciences founded at Uppsala The founding of the University of Havana (Universidad de la Habana), Cubas most well-established university. ... John Broadwood (born 6 October 1732 in Oldhamstocks, died 1812) is the founder of the piano manufacturer Broadwood and Sons. ... 1761 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Johannes Zumpe (pronounced zumpy) was a maker of the first square pianos, a form of small rectangular piano with a compass of about five octaves. ...

He retired in 1771, being succeeded by his son, who was also called Burkat (c.1738 - 1803), following whose death the firm was taken over entirely by Broadwood, who had by then become a piano maker. There are twenty-three harpsichords by Shudi and twenty-seven by Shudi and Broadwood in existence today. Three harpsichords exist by his nephew Joshua, who worked for him unsatisfactorily for a while, and one signed 'Bernard Shudi', about whom nothing is known. Events February 4 - Court Jew Joseph Suss Oppenheimer is executed in Württenberg April 15 - Premiere in London of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel. ... 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ...

Shudi's harpsichords

His harpsichords drew on the Flemish tradition, ddominated by Ruckers, whose harpsichords had become extremely prized in the 18th century; he himself owned and hired out two Ruckers harpsichords. The usual specifications for his single-manual harpsichords was 8' 8' or 8' 8' 4' amd for his double-manual harpsichords 8' 8' 4' and lute stop. Most from c.1760 also had a buff stop, occasionally operated by a pedal. Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is any of a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument currently called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ... Flanders (Dutch: ) is a large historical region overlapping Belgium, France and the Netherlands. ... The Ruckers family was perhaps the most famous line of Flemish harpsichord makers, based in Antwerp in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. ... See also: 1759 in music, other events of 1760, 1761 in music, list of years in music. ...

He made a great many innovations in the harpsichord: from c.1765 introduced the machine stop, a mechanism engaged by a handstop and operated by a foot pedal which gradually reduces the registration on each manual; from c.1765 he extended the range down to CC; from c.1769 he introduced the Venetian swell: a contraption nearly identical in mechanism and purpose to that found on the organ, operated with a foot pedal and placed above the strings.^[1]. He used leather plectra in some registers; it is not known whether he ever built an instrument with a 16' stop, though none survives with one. He also made claviorgans (a joint harpsichord and organ) though none of those instruments remain. See also: 1764 in music, other events of 1765, 1766 in music, list of years in music. ... The baroque organ in Roskilde Cathedral, Copenhagen. ... Modern leather-working tools Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. ... A plectrum is a device for plucking or strumming a stringed instrument. ...

Charles Burney preferred the tone of Shudi's harpsichords to Kirkman’s and his instrumens were highly valued; his customers included Frederick the Great, Empress Maria Theresa, Joseph Haydn, Muzio Clementi, the Prince of Wales, Thomas Gainsborough, and George Frideric Handel. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart tried one of his harpsichords in 1765. His instruments were exported as far as Russia, Oporto and Naples (where one of his harpsichords was, according to Burney, regarded as a 'musical phenomenon'). Charles Burney by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1781 Charles Burney (April 12, 1726 – April 12, 1814) was an English music historian and father of author Fanny Burney. ... Frederick the Great Frederick II of Prussia (Friedrich der Große, Frederick the Great, January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786) was the Hohenzollern king of Prussia 1740–86. ... This page is about Maria Theresa of Austria (often only known as Empress Maria Theresa), ruler of the Habsburg Empire from 1740-1780. ... Portrait by Thomas Hardy, 1792 Franz Joseph Haydn[1] (March 31, 1732 – May 31, 1809) was one of the most prominent composers of the Classical period, and is called by some the Father of the Symphony and Father of the String Quartet. A life-long resident of Austria, Haydn spent... Muzio Clementi (January 24, 1752 – March 10, 1832) was a classical composer, and acknowledged as the first to write specifically for the piano. ... George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until 1 January 1801, and thereafter of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. ... Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was one of the most famous portrait and landscape painters of 18th century Britain. ... George Frideric Handel, 1733 George Frideric Handel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-born British Baroque composer who was a leading composer of concerti grossi, operas and oratorios. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (IPA: , baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. ... 1765 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... A modern view of the ancient city of Porto, the city that gave the name to the country. ... “Napoli” redirects here. ...

It was Frank Hubbard's opinion that the harpsichords of Shudi and Kirkman represent 'the culmination of the harpsichord maker’s art [...] for sheer magnificence of tone, reedy trebles and sonorous basses, no other harpsichords ever matched them', though he was later put off building copies because so little significant music was written for them. Frank Twombly Hubbard (15 May 1920 - 25 February 1976) was an American harpsichord maker, a pioneer in the revival of historical methods of harpsichord building. ...

Further reading

• W Dale: Tschudi the Harpsichord Maker (London, 1913)
• E Halfpenny: Shudi and the "Venetian Swell", Music & Letters XXVII (1946)
• Raymond Russell: The Harpsichord and Clavichord (London, 1959)
• Frank Hubbard: Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1965)
• E M Ripin: Expressive Devices Applied to the Eighteenth-Century Harpsichord, Organ Yearbook (1970)
• D Wainwright: Broadwood by Appointment: a History (London, 1982)

Frank Twombly Hubbard (15 May 1920 - 25 February 1976) was an American harpsichord maker, a pioneer in the revival of historical methods of harpsichord building. ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Middlesex County Settled 1630 Incorporated 1636 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Kenneth Reeves (D) Area  - City  7. ...

Sources and references

• Donald Howard Boalch, Peter Williams, Charles Mould: 'Shudi [Schudi, Tschudi, Tshudi], Burkat [Burkhardt]', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-05-21), http://www.grovemusic.com/

1. ^ Venetian swell open and closed

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Shudi family portrait by Marcus Tuscher, in the National Portrait Gallery, London