Gottfried Silbermann

Biography

Gottfried Silbermann, a noted organ builder of Freiberg, Saxony, is recorded as having built pianofortes using the Schröter hammer action as early as 1728, simplifying and improving it somewhat. The action remained unreliable, however, and the touch was heavier and harder than that of the clavichord; Johann Sebastian Bach condemned the first pianoforte Silbermann built as too difficult to play, though he praised the tone the hammer action produced. Silbermann apparently also came into possession of a Christofori pianoforte, since pianofortes he built for Frederick the Great around 1747 have hammer action identical to Christofori's design. The text credits Silbermann's workshop as the common point of origin for both the 'German school' and the 'English school' of piano building, noting he made use of both the Schröter and Christofori actions. As far as is known, Christofori left no pupils unless Silbermann is counted as one; Silbermann in turn trained several of the next generation of important makers, including Johannes Zumpe, Americus Backers, Johann Andreas Stein (his most talented pupil), and C. E. Friederici. Gottfried Silbermann was born near Frauenstein, Saxony, on January 14, 1683. Apprenticed as a cabinetmaker, he studied organ building, following the example of his talented elder brother Andreas, and by about 1712 was erecting fine church organs at Freiberg, Saxony. Personal entanglements, including a failed attempt to elope with a nun from a convent, forced him to flee to his brother's atelier at Strasburg before he eventually tramped back to Freiberg. A fine mechanic, as shown by his many church organs, his commercial talents were arguably even stronger: he was a great entertainer and liberal spender who nonetheless accumulated a respectable fortune, quick to adopt others' inventions and skilled at advertising. He and his Strasburg nephews were the first in the piano industry to master such self-promotion, getting their name into print far more than contemporaries, which later led some historians to mistakenly call him the inventor of the piano or the hammer action. He died in 1756, having erected thirty large church organs and made a number of pianos. Gottfried Silbermann of Freiberg is presented by Dolge as the father of the piano industry in Germany, both a capable organ builder and piano maker and a shrewd businessman. After Johann Sebastian Bach condemned an original piano of Silbermann's own design, Silbermann copied Christofori's pianoforte in full and eventually persuaded Bach to endorse the copy. He then sold seven of the instruments to Frederick the Great at 700 thalers (about $500) each—a price Dolge estimates was at least five times their actual cost. Saxony remained a center of German piano making for a long time afterward, and Silbermann's workshop produced nearly all the pioneers who later spread the industry across continental Europe and Great Britain, including several of the so-called '12 apostles' who settled in London around 1760. Gottfried Silbermann improved the Schröter piano action by doing away with its special escapement lever. In its place, he extended the hammer butt beyond the axis and used this extension to provide the escapement function, a refinement that Johann Andreas Stein later built upon with his addition of the "hopper." From Spillane (1890): Geoffrey (Gottfried) Silbermann, of Strasburg, rose to prominence among the host of imitators who followed the popular success of Christoph Gottlieb Schröeter's Dresden pianoforte. Spillane credits Silbermann with building the instrument that became Johann Sebastian Bach's favorite, citing this as evidence of his skill as a maker during this early period of pianoforte development.

Highlights

• A noted organ builder of Freiberg, Saxony, who built pianofortes using Schröter's action as early as 1728, simplifying and improving it
• J. S. Bach condemned the touch of Silbermann's first pianoforte as too hard to play, though he praised its tone
• Built pianofortes for Frederick the Great around 1747 with hammer action modeled directly on Christofori's invention
• His workshop is credited as the point of origin for both the 'German school' and the 'English school' of piano construction
• Trained pupils including Johannes Zumpe, Americus Backers, Johann Andreas Stein, and C. E. Friederici
• Improved the Schröter action by removing its special escapement lever
• Extended the hammer butt beyond its axis, using the extension for escapement
• Regarded by Dolge as the father of the piano industry in Germany
• Copied Christofori's pianoforte design and sold seven instruments to Frederick the Great at a highly profitable price
• Built more than thirty large church organs and a number of pianos
• Pioneered aggressive self-promotion in the piano trade, which led some historians to mistakenly credit him as inventor of the piano or the hammer action
• Fled Freiberg for his brother's Strasburg atelier after an escapade involving an attempted elopement with a nun
• Rose to prominence among the imitators who followed Schröeter's Dresden pianoforte
• Credited with building the instrument that became Bach's favorite

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 45, 47, 48, 87, 167, 217.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 16, 18, 19.

Public domain.