Osječki zbornik, Vol. Vol. 35 No. xx, 2020.
Original scientific paper
Keyboard Instruments in the Museum of Slavonia in Osijek
Vilena Vrbanić
Abstract
Collection of musical instruments in the Museum of Slavonia in Osijek is the biggest and most diverse collection of its kind in the eastern Croatia. A section of keyboard instruments in the collection consists of 15 objects: nine different types of pianos, positive organ, physharmonica and four harmoniums. The square piano (Tafelklavier), the oldest instrument in the section, was built in Pest in 1815 by the carpenter Sebestyén Antal Vogel. It is chronologically followed by the three historical pianos (fortepiano, Hammerklavier or Hammerflügel), built in Vienna in the first half of the 19th century. These are characterized by the Austrian type of piano action (Ger. Prellmechanik). They were built by Ernst Wacke and Georg Gerstenberger, two lesser known builders, and Conrad Graf – one of the most prominent Viennese piano makers of the time. His historical piano, built in 1838 or 1839, is stored in the collection. Two grand pianos, made in the second half of the 19th century, and one made at the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries, also originate from Vienna. Leopold Schnabel’s piano was built around 1860; Gottfried Cramer’s and Wilhelm Mayer’s piano was built in 1878 or shortly thereafter (both with the Austrian type of piano action); and the Lauberger & Gloss’ piano (with the English type of piano action) was built around 1900. Two upright pianos are also kept in the collection. One built in the Caspar Lorenz & J. Stary workshop in Vienna around 1890, and the other built in the Petrof factory in Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic at the end of the 19th century.
Along with different types of pianos, the collection stores the positive organ – small, one-manual pipe organ – of an unknown maker and provenance, probably built between 1850 and 1860. It was brought to the museum from the Fabing inn, whose owner may have been the innkeeper Antun Fabing. He shared his last name with the most productive organ builders family in eastern Croatia in the second half of the 19th century. The physharmonica was built in Vienna around 1840 by Jacob Deutschmann, an imperial and royal court organ maker. The collection also features four harmoniums dating from between 1880 and 1960. The most significant is the oldest one, built in Vienna around 1880 in the workshop of Teofil Kotykiewicz, who was also an imperial and royal court builder. Two harmoniums were made in the early 20th century: one in the Wilcox & White factory in Connecticut, USA and the other in Joseph Lenarčič’s factory in Vrhnika, Slovenia. The most recent is the Theosten Helgesson’s harmonium, produced in Herrljunga, Sweden around 1960.
The number and variety of the keyboard instruments kept in the Museum of Slavonia is proof of a favourable economic situation of their past owners, which allowed them to purchase these instruments from reputable international workshops. It is also an evidence of their adequate music education, as well as intensive music life in Osijek. Besides in Osijek, the intsruments were played in Zagreb, Zelčin, Vinkovci, Vođinci, and Sombor. The process of instrument collection by the Museum of Slavonia is a testimony of a developed awareness of their significance and an effort to save as many of them as possible. The instruments are stored in the museum storerooms on the no. 6 Trg Svetog Trojstva and the no. 2 Josip Bösendorfer Street. The piano built by Gottfried Cramer and Wilhelm Mayer is the only keyboard instrument exhibited in the temporary permanent exhibition. The positive organ is the only instrument that is currently in the process of being restored. Hopefully, some of the other instruments in the collection will follow this example. This primarily refers to Graf’s piano, Vogel’s square piano and Deutschmann’s physharmonica. Considering their age, a small number of similarly preserved instruments in Croatia, and the fact that they represent achievements of exquisite makers, they are significant not only for regional and national, but also for international cultural heritage.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
236423
URI
Publication date:
31.1.2020.
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