Eight Ruckers pitches

Abstract

When Sir Francis Windebank received a Ruckers harpsichord in 1638, he wrote to his agent thatthe workman, that made it, was much mistaken in it, and it wants 6 or 7 keys, so that it is utterly unserviceable. It seems likely that he was complaining not about transposing devices, but about the C-short octave in the bass. Perhaps in response to this demand, Jan Ruckers produced some C-chromatic instruments, of which two survive in recognisable form. We are making copies of the best preserved of these, from 1639, with the original compass C-d' disposed Ix8', 1x4'. Please write or phone for further details.