Who is gottfried silbermann

He was also a central figure in the history of the piano. He famously collaborated with Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach on the escape mechanism — a device that allows the hammer to be released from the influence of the key — and on the damper pedal.

Frederick the Great ordered a number of pianos from Gottfried Silbermann. One of the biggest fans of the improved Silbermann pianos was J. We all remember that he traveled to Potsdam to give the newest instruments a good work out, and in the process composed the Musical Offering , BWV On 1 December , J.

Bach played the inaugural concert on the newest Silbermann organ in the Frauenkirche in Dresden. He first crafted a small organ for his hometown of Frauenstein and, with the advocacy of Johann Kuhnau, Thomaskantor in Leipzig, was commissioned to build the Freiberg Cathedral organ, which he completed in and reworked in Thanks to the favourable trade conditions for the purchase of building materials and for cooperation with craftsmen who supplied him, Silbermann would remain in Freiberg for the rest of his days.

Even though he received prestigious commissions from abroad, Silbermann declined these and limited his organ building business to Saxony and regions in present-day Thuringia and Brandenburg. By the time he fell seriously ill in , 43 organs had been built in his workshop in Freiberg.

The later instruments in Frankenstein and in the Dresden Cathedral were mainly produced by his craftsmen.

Qvinta dena 8. Octava 4. Qvinta 3. Octava 2. Mixtur 4. Fach Cornett 3. Fach c1. Gedacktes 8. Nassat 3. Tertia 2. In , at 18 years of age, Silbermann moved to Alsace to learn the art of building organs from his famous brother, Andreas Silbermann.

He returned to Saxony in , receiving a commission soon after to build an organ for the Freiberg Cathedral. The instrument - the most famous to originate in Silbermann's workshop - was completed in There were also plenty of materials in the region for buildings his instruments. Freiberg, for instance, was a mining town, so ore was available for the organ pipes. High-quality lumber was rafted down from the ridges of the Erz Mountains in the springtime. Cultural and economic conditions were also good in Saxony, with the region having long recovered from the Thirty Year War.

Cities, municipalities and nobility thus had the income and means to build luxurious castles, and stately churches and organs. The court of Saxony also aimed to generate more tax revenue by tethering artists and craftsmen.

Possessing a keen business sense, organ builder Silbermann reduced the range of his commissions to save on transportation and logistics costs. He created 46 organs between and The fact that around 30 of his instruments still exist today attests to the quality of the materials and their processing.

Silbermann likewise produced harpsichords, clavichords and fortepianos in his Freiberg workshop. Anxious to make himself famous, Silbermann worked at earning a title from the Court of Saxony.

He was confident and self-assured when it came to dealing with his contractual partners, disregarding their social status.