On Originals
Excursion and concert by Prof. Bernhard Klapprott's harpsichord classes from Weimar and Bremen
Students from Prof. Bernhard Klapprott's harpsichord classes at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar and the University of the Arts Bremen will explore the world of original keyboard instruments in the famous Beurmann Collection at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg from November 24 to 27, 2025.
There they will have the opportunity to play harpsichords, virginal, clavichords, and fortepianos from the 16th to 18th centuries and receive instruction from Prof. Klapprott. On Thursday, November 27, at 6:00 p.m., the students will play a final concert as part of the museum's event series (museum admission).
The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe's collection of historical keyboard instruments consists largely of a donation from the Hamburg collector Prof. Dr. Andreas Beurmann. Thanks to this generous patronage, it is one of the most important collections of keyboard instruments in existence and reflects the history of keyboard instruments from around 1540 to the 20th century.
For the concert featuring works by John Bull, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Louis and François Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, among others, several instruments appropriate to the repertoire will be selected from the numerous musical treasures and prepared and tuned by the local restorer before the excursion begins.
The first part of the program features the oldest harpsichord in the collection, dating from around 1540. This instrument has been preserved in its original condition, as it stood virtually unused in an Italian monastery for several centuries and thus remained largely untouched. Also featured is an 18th-century harpsichord by Johann Daniel Dulcken, who was born in Germany. Dulcken founded a dynasty of keyboard builders in Flanders, in which three generations of his family built harpsichords and fortepianos.
The second part of the program features French music from the 17th and 18th centuries. It will be performed on what is probably the oldest surviving French harpsichord from around 1630 (anonymous) and on the famous harpsichord by Pascal Taskin (Paris) from 1787. “Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach from Weimar should not be missing in Hamburg, as he spent the last part of his life in the Hanseatic city,” explains Prof. Bernhard Klapprott. “His music will be performed on a central German clavichord from 1788 by Joseph Gottfried Horn of Dresden.”
CD recordings by Prof. Bernhard Klapprott have established good connections with several prominent instrument collections in Germany. Through intensive work on original instruments, students can experience their characteristic timbres and gain technical playing experience.
Unlike replicas, original instruments are not always entirely reliable, particularly due to aging, which challenges playing technique and requires great flexibility. Such excursions are therefore an important part of studying historical keyboard instruments.
[11 November 2025]