Handel’s harpsichord was bought by us of Mr. Hooper, a pianoforte tuner at Winchester, in 1852. He had obtained it from Dr. Chard, the Cathedral organist of that city, who had taken pains to prove it to be the same instrument which Handel had left by will to his friend and amanuensis, Christopher Smith. In Handel’s will, dated June, 1750, was the bequest:—‘I give and bequeath to Christopher Smith my large harpsichord, my little house-organ, my music books, and 500l. sterling;’ and in a codicil, dated 6th of August, 1756: ‘I give to Christopher Smith 1,500l. additional to the legacy already given to him in my will.’ Dr. Chard wrote to the Rev. George Coxe, of Twyford (Rector of St. Michael’s, Winchester), to obtain his testimony to the identity of this harpsichord with the ‘Large Harpsichord’ of the will. Mr. Coxe was nearly related to Smith, and had frequently heard him play upon it. On the 13th of May, 1842, and in the presence of witnesses, Mr. Coxe confirmed this. Dr. Chard states in the document signed by Mr. Coxe, that this harpsichord was left with a large collection of Handel’s MSS. by Christopher Smith to his step-daughter, the Dowager Lady Rivers, who parted with it to Mr. Wickham, a surgeon, who, in his turn, parted with it to the Rev. Mr. Hawtrey, Prebendary of Winchester, after whose death it came into the possession of Dr. Chard.
This interesting relic of Handel is also worthy of notice from having been one of the best-constructed instruments of the celebrated harpsichord makers, the Ruckers family of Antwerp. It is not remarkable for any beauty of decoration beyond the conventional ornamentation of the period; but the structure shows great skill in the manufacture, and that the harpsichord had become nearly perfected in the middle of the seventeenth century.
The two key-boards were used for variety of tone. The lower key-board, the jacks of which acted upon two sets of strings in unison, and one set an octave higher, was the louder in tone; the upper key-board, acting on one set of strings only, was the softer. But the lower key-board could be made to act upon one set of strings only, by means of stops drawn out by the hand of the performer. In touching the keys, a distinctive quality of tone may still be recognised, particularly in the higher notes, a reedy but soft and delicate timbre testifying to the former beauty of the instrument. It may be assumed as certain that the keys are not of Handel’s time. We do not know when the present key-boards were put, or by whom, but the style of the white and black keys is undoubtedly modern. Neither can it be doubted that there were originally keys in keeping with the fashion of the harpsichord, which we may suppose to have been worn out, to account for the substitution of those existing. The case of deal, black japanned, the brass hinges, the ornamentation, and the mottoes are original. Inside the top is inscribed:—
Sic transit Gloria Mundi;
on the flap or folding of the top—
Musica Donum Dei;
and on the slip of wood above the upper keys—
Andreas Ruckers me fecit, Antwerpiæ, 1651.
There is a date on the sounding-board “1651,” and in the
ornamental sound-hole are the initials “A. R.” Among the flowers represented on the sounding-board may be seen a concert of monkeys, one beating time, another playing the viol da gamba, etc. A third motto existed until about fifteen years ago—Acta Virum Probant. This was rubbed off by a workman engaged in mending the lock-board (upon which this motto was), which had been split.