28 December 1790

A newly-invented keyboard instrument that will not go out of tune

Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, Chronik, no. 104, 28 December 1790

[886]

⁣                                     Tonkunst.

[...]

Chronik (Schubert), 1790, 886a

[...]
      2. Noch wichtiger ist die Erfindung eines deutschen Me=
chanikers, Namens Triklier, der endlich einmal das er=
fand, wornach alle Saitenspieler, von Jubal bis auf
Mozart, sich so ängstlich sehnten – ein unverstimmbares
Klavier. Eine durch seinen Mechanismus gespannte Saite
behält, auch in sehr verschiedenen Wärmen ihren Ton. Er
thut noch geheim mit seiner Erfindung; doch sieht man, daß
sie äusserst einfach ist, und vermuthlich, wie der grose Me=
chaniker Hahn schon vorschlug, durch ein verborgenes Uhr=
werk, oder durch Zug und Gegenzug zweier im Einklange
gestimmten gleichen Saiten verursacht wird. Beweis genug,
daß der Erfindungsgeist unter uns Deutschen noch nicht er=
loschen sei.

Chronik (Schubert), 1790, 886b

Commentary

Jean Balthasar Triklir (1750-1813) was a celebrated cellist at the electoral Saxon court in Dresden, and the author of several concertos featuring innovative writing for his instrument. Triklir was interested in theoretical matters, and was the author of a manuscript treatise, Le Microscôme [or Microcosme] musical: Ouvrage Phylosogéometrimusical fondé sur l’indiscordabilité, invention concourant avec le present Système à la perfection de la musique (D-Dl, MB.8.371-72). This described a device one could attach to a string instrument that allegedly prevented atmospheric change from affecting the instrument’s tuning. The treatise remained unpublished, and apparently remains so today, but Triklir had a letter published in Cramer’s Magazin der Musik publicising his invention in 1785, with a co-credit to an otherwise unknown M. Hennequin. Triklir was not willing to reveal how the device actually worked, but promised a full description would be published in Paris the following spring — a promise that remained unfulfilled.

The following year a long anonymous article appeared in the same journal describing a visit to Dresden in October 1785, during which the author observed some of Triklir’s inventions. Among them was a five-octave double-strung harpsichord ("zweychörigtes Clavecin") which remained in the “purest possible tuning” despite changes in temperature, although the author considered that its tone was somewhat muted, short and not “silvery” enough. Triklir was said to be charging 50 carolins for a harpsichord with this feature. In May 1787 the Prague Mode- Fabriken- und Gewerbszeitung and the Ofen (Buda) Ungarische Staats- und Gelehrte Nachrichten reported that Triklir had exposed a cello and a small keyboard instrument to various kinds of weather over 14 days to test the effectiveness of the device, which worked with brass, steel and gut strings.

The source for Schubart’s report was probably a notice of Triklir’s invention in the Intelligenzblatt der Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung (8 Dec 1790), although the references to Mozart and the pastor and inventor Philipp Matthäus Hahn (1739-90) are Schubart’s own. Mozart was a competent violinist, but Schubart is unlikely to have been referring to him literally as a “string player.” Rather, he seems to have used the term in a figurative sense as referring to a musician, as the reference to the legendary Jubal implies. It is also possible that Schubart was referring to Leopold Mozart, who was now iconic as a violinist through the fame of the Versuch. However, if Schubart did mean Leopold, it is unclear why Leopold would have been anxiously awaiting the invention of a keyboard instrument and not a violin that did not mistune.

Although Triklir lived another two decades, little further was heard of the microcosme musical. In 1802 the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung reported on a similar invention by the English watchmaker Peter Litherland (1756-1805). It noted that Triklir had devised his “excellent and entirely reliable” device about twenty years ago, but due to the lack of appropriate rewards for the effort and skill of German inventors, the public was not informed of the invention.

For a list of Mozart references in Schubart's Chronik, see the Source Notes to the entry for 23 Dec 1791.


Bibliography

Anon. 1786. “Weitere Nachricht von der Triklirschen Erfindung, die Unverstimmbarkeit der Sayteninstrumente betreffend.” Magazin der Musik 2: 829–46.

————. 1787a. “Neueste Erfindungen.” Mode- Fabriken- und Gewerbszeitung. 23 May, 163.

————. 1787b. “Mannigfaltigkeiten.” Ungarische Staats- und Gelehrte Nachrichten. 30 May, 374.

————. 1790. “Vermischte Nachrichten.” Intelligenzblatt der Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung. 8 Dec, col. 1345–48.

————. 1802. “Anekdoten.” Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung. 4, col. 699–701.

Triklir, Jean Balthasar. 1785. “Auszug eines Briefes von Herrn J. Triklir aus Dresden, im Januar 1785.” Magazin der Musik 2: 499–502.


Credit: DB

Author: David Black

Search Term: mozart

Categories: Reception, Mozart in Literature

First Published: Thu, 3 Dec 2015

Updated: Wed, 28 Sep 2016


Print Citation:

Black, David. 2015. “A newly-invented keyboard instrument that will not go out of tune (28 December 1790).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 3 December 2015; updated 28 September 2016. https://www.mozartdocuments.org/documents/28-december-1790/

Web Citation:

Black, David. 2015. “A newly-invented keyboard instrument that will not go out of tune (28 December 1790).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 3 December 2015; updated 28 September 2016. [direct link]