​

Swedish clavichord and harpsichord makers before 1900

Sweden has had a rich clavichord culture of which documents, pictures and instruments bear witness from the late Middle Ages to around 1870. The oldest text source dates from 1515 when the vicar in Vallentuna, a parish just north of Stockholm, bequeathed his clauicordium to his fellow-clergyman in the neighbouring parish Skånela. The earliest evidence of clavichord building is a royal letter of 12th November 1651 in which Queen Christina commissioned organ builder Frantz Boll to be “the organ and instrument builder to Her Royal Majesty the Queen” with responsibility for the clavichords, harpsichords and some other instruments used at court. Since then, clavichord builders have generally been connected to the organ culture, both because the clavichord had a pedagogical function in organ building and because organists used it as an instrument for practice at home. The latest evidence of clavichord building during the instrument’s heyday is therefore unsurprisingly found among representatives of the so-called Linköping organ building school – chiefly Pehr Schiörlin and his journeyman Lorentz Petter Lorin – and the carpenter Adam Bergstedt in Björkö in the province of Småland whose production, which ceased in 1835, probably had connections to the Linköping school.

​

Around the middle of the 18th century a specifically Swedish clavichord model was developed which was unique in both purpose and construction. The ideas which gave rise to it originated within the Royal Swedish Academy of Science (founded in 1739), which advanced its views among the keyboard instrument makers of the capital. The first craftsman to fully put its theories into practice - especially with regard to scaling - was Johan Broman, but it was his journeyman Pehr Lindholm who perfected the construction. This Swedish clavichord model was created to stay in tune and not crack, despite the extreme seasonal changes of temperature and humidity. At the same time it had to serve well as a musical instrument, producing a full rich sound with a light, distinct tone. It therefore had certain special features: a large soundboard for the long strings of – from the bass upwards – wound brass, plain brass and plain iron; the strings were not damped between the bridge and the tuning pins but allowed to resonate; there was a set of 4’ strings for the lowest bass; it had a large compass for its time. Hence this clavichord had musical qualities that for a long time were preferred to those of modern hammer instruments, and its new production in Stockholm did not stop until the mid 1820s.

​

Also plucked keyboard instruments – harpsichords, virginals and spinets - are known in Sweden since the middle ages. In church paintings mainly from the 15th century harpsichords are played by angels. At the 16th century Vasa court spinets are played by royal persons. The 17th century was the time when Sweden, after the 16th century Lutheran reformation, reentered the European intellectual arena and needed a splendid history to form a background to its new position as a Great Power. Thus, in the middle of the 17th century there was a late renaissance culture among the Stockholm bourgeoisie that included music, art and literature. Virginal playing was part of the new ideals of culture, ‘the intellectual citizen’ that of course since long belonged to the nobility in castles and manors. Harpsichord building follows the same pattern as clavichord making. Until the first half of the 18th century it was connected to organ builder’s workshops. The first preserved Swedish built harpsichords are made by Philip Jacob Specken, followed by Lars Kinström, Johan Broman and Gottlieb Rosenau, and instruments are frequently mentioned in newspaper announcements to around 1800 when they had literally played out and were replaced by modern hammer instruments.

The following list gives all the clavichord and harpsichord makers known at present, both those by whom there are preserved instruments, and those who are only found in written sources with no instruments left to posterity.

Swedish alphabetisation has been used in this list, with the letters Å, Ä, Ö placed at the end after Z.

​

A

​

Agerwall, Johan Arffwedsson (d. 1711), organ and keyboard instrument maker, Söderköping

Amdor, Johan Georg (fl. 1707) organ and keyboard instrument maker, Ystad

Appelgren, Johan (1813-after 1820), keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, square piano),

Stockholm, see Grönbom & Co.

​

​

B

​

Bergstedt, Adam (1766-1846; c. 1820-1835), carpenter, keyboard instrument maker,

Björkö, Småland

Boll, Frantz (1620s-1676), organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, harpsichord),

Stockholm

Brelin, Nils (1690-1753), lawyer, vicar, mechanicus, keyboard instrument maker (clavichord,

harpsichord, hammer instruments), Stockholm, later Bolstad, Dalsland

Broman, Johan (b. 1717?, d. 1772; 1756-1772), clavichord and harpsichord maker, Stockholm

Broman, Olof (fl. 1758), carpenter (clavichord), Ronneby

​

​

C

​

Cahman, Hans Heinrich (c. 1640-1699), organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichords

and harpsichords), Stockholm

Cahman, Johan Niclas (1680-1737), organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichord,

harpsichord), linen dealer, tax collector, Stockholm

​

​

D

​

Daug, Johan Heinrich, see Olsson, Lars & Johan Heinrich Daug

​

F

​

Forsman, Peter (d. 1773), organ building jouneyman, privileges as carpenter and keyboard

instrument maker (clavichord), Karlstad

​

​

G

Garman, Göran, see Garman, Göran & Lorentz Mollenberg

Garman, Göran & Lorentz Mollenberg (1807-1809), keyboard instrment making company

(clavichord, square piano), Stockholm

​

German, Erich Månsson (b. 1684 in Södertälje, d. 1758 in Stockholm) carpenter,

organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichords), Stockholm

Gren, Jonas (1715-1765, 1749-1765), organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichords),

Stockholm, see Jonas Gren & Stråhle

Grönberg, Anders (fl. 1778-1784), keyboard instrument making journeyman (clavichord),

Stockholm

Grönbom, Erik (fl. c. 1790-1811), keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, square piano),

’Swedish lute’ maker, Stockholm, see Grönbom & Co.

Grönbom & Co. (1810 26/11-1811 24/9), keyboard instrument making company (clavichord,

square piano), Stockholm

​

​

H

​

Hedlund, Olof (c. 1709-1749) organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichords), Stockholm

​

​

K

​

Kinström, Lars (b. 1710 in Risinge, d. 1763 in Stockholm), organist, keyboard instrument

maker (clavichord, pedal clavichord, cembal d’amour, harpsichord, pantalon), amateur organ builder, Stockholm

Kraft, Mathias Petter (1753-1807; 1780-1807), keyboard instrument maker (clavichord,

square piano, grand piano), violin, Swedish lute and harp maker, Stockholm

​

​

L

Lenning, Carl Petter (1711?-1788), cathedral organist, keyboard instrument maker

(clavichord), amateur organ builder and repairer, Turku (came from Sweden where he had his education)

Lindholm, Pehr (1741-1813; 1774-1813), keyboard instrument maker (clavichord,

harpsichord, square pianos, ‘clavecin royale’), Stockholm

Lindholm, Pehr & Söderström (1800-1809), keyboard instrument building company

(clavichord, square piano), Stockholm

Lorin, Lorentz Petter (1759-1827), organ building journeyman, privileges in 1798 (keyboard

instruments, clavichord, hammer instrument, organochordium, violins),

Linköping

Lundbom, Mathias (1740-1784) organist, keyboard instrument maker (clavichord), Stockholm

Lundborg, Pehr (1744?-1708; 1771-1808), maker of keyboard instruments

(clavichord, organ clavichord, square piano), violins and Swedish lutes, taxidermist, Stockholm

Löfberg, Eric (d. 1757) organ repairer, keyboard instrument maker (clavichord), Strömsholm,

Västmanland

​

​

M

​

Mollenberg, Lorentz (d. 1824; 1809-1824), keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, square

piano, grand piano, claviorganum), Stockholm, see Garman & Mollenberg

​

​

N

​

Nordqvist, Carl Jacob (1783-1861; 1816-ca 1855), keyboard instrument maker (clavichord,

square piano) in Stockholm until 1830, thereafter in Fellingsbro patrish, Närke

​

​

O

​

Olsson, Lars snickare, see Olsson, Lars & Johan Heinrich Daug

Olsson, Lars & Johan Heinrich Daug (1815-1820), keyboard instrument building company

(clavichord, square piano, uprights), Göteborg

​

​

R

Rackwitz, George Christoffer (1760-1844; 1796-1828), organ building journeyman,

keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, square piano, organochordium), Stockholm

Rangström, Anders (1744?-1801), keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, square piano),

Stockholm

Roos, Johan Petter (d. 1732) organ building journeyman, privileges as keyboard instrument

maker (clavichord, harpsichord), Stockholm

Rosenau, Gottlieb (c. 1720-after 1789; 1759-1789) keyboard instrument maker (clavichords,

harpsichords, square pianos), Stockholm, see Specken af Gottlieb Rosenau

​

​

S

Schiörlin, Jonas Fredric (1784-1821), organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichord),

Linköping

Schiörlin, Pehr (1736 in Svärta, d. 1815 in Linköping), organ and keyboard instrument maker

(clavichord, pedal clavichord), Linköping

Specken, Philipp Jacob (c. 1680-1762; c. 1734-1756) keyboard instrument maker

(clavichord, harpsichord), some organ building, Stockholm

Specken af Gottlieb Rosenau (1756-1759) keyboard instrument making company

(clavichord, harpsichord), Stockholm

Stråhle, Daniel (1700-1746), organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichord), Torshälla

Stråhle, Petter (1720-1765), organ and keyboard instrument builder (clavichord), Stockholm,

see Jonas Gren & Stråhle (1748-1765), organ and keyboard instrument making company, Stockholm

Stöödh, Magnus (d. before 1681) organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichords,

harpsichords), in charge of the instruments belonging to Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie

Svede, Fredrik (1753-1838), keyboard instrument making journeyman, Stockholm

Syrach, Christian (d. before 1703), organ and keyboard instrument maker (harpsichord)

Söderberg, Johan (f. 1772, d. 1826?; 1803-c. 1820), keyboard instrument maker (clavichord,

square piano, grand piano), Stockholm

Söderström, Henrik Johan (1774-1816; 1810-1816), keyboard instrument maker (clavichord,

square piano), Stockholm

Söderström, Nils (1730-1810), organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, combined

keyboard instrument), Nora, Uppland and Dala-Husby, Dalarna

​

​

T

​

Törnbom, Carl (1785-1860), organist, keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, square piano, grand piano), Swedish lute builder, carpenter, organ repairer, Skärkind, Östergötland

​

​

W

​

Wessberg, Eric (1781-1857; 1814-after 1823), keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, square

piano), Stockholm

Westman (Wessman), Johan (1760-1840), cathedral organist and och director musices in

Karlstad, keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, square piano), Karlstad

Wijlander (Willander), Johan Salomon (1832-1873), organist, piano tuner, clavichord maker,

Gothenburg

Wistenius, Jonas (1700 i Vist, d. 1777 i Linköping), organ and keyboard instrument maker

(clavichord), Linköping

​

Wittig, Elias (b. in Liegnitz, Silesia, d. in Gothenburg 1716), organ and keybord instrument

maker (clavichords), Gothenburg

Woijtzig, George (b. in Silesia, came to Sweden in 1680, d. 1704), organ and

keyboard instrument maker (clavichord, harpsichord), Stockholm

Wolthersson Gahn, Gustaf Gabriel (1717-after 1769), organ and keyboard instrument maker,

Falun, from c. 1760 in Skåne

Wåhlström, Anders (1699-1770), organist 1735-1770 in Västland, Uppland

Wåhlström, Carl (1736-after 1789), organ and keyboard instrument maker (clavichord),

Stockholm

​

​

Ö

​

Öberg, Johan, Jr (d. 1779), royal court instrument maker, keyboard instrument and violin

maker, organist, Stockholm

​