THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 13, 1994 TAG: 9406130062
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: 940613 LENGTH: WILLIAMSBURG
The 18th-century keyboard instrument rests on a simple stand against one wall of the palace ballroom. Its polished brown casing looks like mahogany but is actually oak covered with a walnut veneer. Under the lid, a brass rose embedded in the soundboard is Kirckman's trademark.
{REST} On many evenings, the brilliant sound of the instrument can be heard at palace concerts, just as when Thomas Jefferson played there. The rest of the time, it silently documents the rich history of an earlier century.
Until a month ago, the harpsichord lay in pieces in the foundation's conservation shop. John Watson, Colonial Williamsburg's restorer of musical instruments, labored on it for more than four years. Along the way, he made some groundbreaking discoveries about the instrument-making techniques of the 18th-century London artisan who built it.
Watson's profession is part tradesman, part scientist, part detective. He blends the old-fashioned manual labor of a chisel with the sophisticated sleuthing of a microscope to unravel the secrets of each project.
``It's been said that the most damaging moment in the life of an antique is when it goes into the restoration shop,'' the 41-year-old conservator said.
A Kirckman harpsichord isn't the rarest of antiques. The Englishman, who lived from 1710 to 1792, was the most prolific harpsichord maker in history, Watson said.
Colonial Williamsburg owns three of the 153 Kirckmans in existence. The second is on display at the nearby DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Gallery, and the third is in storage.
Built in 1758, the palace instrument was given to the foundation 11 years ago by Joan Dunning of White Post, near Winchester. It originally was owned by the British Broadcasting Corp., she said. When the BBC offered it for sale, Mrs. Dunning's husband purchased it and had it brought to the United States.
``My husband played the violin and he liked to be accompanied by a harpsichord,'' Mrs. Dunning said.
Watson first saw it six years ago when he came to work at the foundation.
``It had been partially restored but unfinished,'' he said. ``A lot of damage, such as inappropriate finishes and shellacs that were used, had to be undone.''
The foundation wanted to use the instrument for palace concerts. In order to save the delicate workings, Watson removed part of the insides and constructed new ones using 18th-century techniques.
``The original action could have been made to work, but we wanted to preserve it,'' Watson said. ``Some of these keys are struck as many as 2,000 times an hour, and that adds up.''
The casing was repaired and refinished. Wire strings were purchased from a London craftsman who made them as Kirckman had. In a nod to 20th-century political correctness, Watson substituted bone for ivory on the white keys.
Watson has been fascinated with the workings of keyboard instruments since his undergraduate years at Houghton College in upstate New York, where he majored in music and choral conducting.
``I was bitten with a bug, and had made a couple of harpsichords by the time I graduated,'' he said.
A harpsichord operates differently than a piano, which produces sound by hammering the string. When a harpsichord key is struck, a tiny piece of wood called a jack plucks the string. In disassembling the harpsichord, Watson made an important discovery. Kirckman's jacks were fundamentally different than others of the period.
``They were so consistent from one to the next,'' he said. ``Somehow, he had done something to make them the same.''
Using a microscope, Watson discovered that the grooves in the jack had been routed out with a rotary file, rather than created with a hand-held chisel.
``This was the earliest example I know of a rotary-shaping device,'' he said.
``Kirckman achieved this workmanship long before the Industrial Revolution. He came up with some simple little machines that were 40 years ahead of their time.''
Though Watson isn't sure what methods Kirckman used, he suspects they were learned from London's clockmakers.
Watson had a mystery of his own to contend with. After spending more than 1,500 hours restoring the harpsichord, he had no idea how good it would sound. The results are excellent, said James Darling, music director of Williamsburg's Bruton Parish Church.
``It's a typical English-sounding instrument, brilliant in sound but warm and attractive,'' said Darling.
When the restoration work was first completed, said Watson, the harpsichord's bass was rich and powerful while its treble, or upper register, was weak. The more it's played, he said, the better it sounds.
``When an instrument isn't played, the wood almost forgets to vibrate,'' he said. ``Now, it's starting to take on a little shimmer.''
{KEYWORDS} COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG by CNB