TONY CHINNERY HARPSICHORDS

Carl Conrad Fleischer was a member of an instrument making family in Hamburg, working in the 17th and 18th centuries (there survive also instruments by his brother, Johann Christoph). The construction style of his instruments is very much based on the Flemish tradition, but the round tail is a characteristic of German harpsichords. There are two 4 octave single manual harpsichords by Carl Conrad Fleischer, in the civic museum in Hamburg and in the Stibbert Museum in Florence. The two instruments are twins, but now they look very different as both have been redecorated, the Hamburg instrument in a 19th century style common in redecorated harpsichords, the Florence instrument in a quasi-italiane style. The originals have two 8' registers and a 4' register with the stop levers on the wrestplank in German style. The range of the originals is 4 octaves chromatic C-c''', my version has two notes added C-d'''. The instrument is available with or without the 4' register. The natural keys of my instrument are of bone instead of the original ivory.

Listen to the Fleischer harpsichord:
registers: 8'
registers: 8'+8'