Franz Jakob Späth
Franz Jakob Späth presented a new keyboard instrument to the Elector of Bonn in 1751. Ernst Ludwig Gerber counted thirty tone variations on that first instrument. Späth was born in Regensburg and remained there for most of his working life. His instruments attracted famous patrons and earned divided opinions from some of the era's greatest composers. What distinguished the tangent piano from every other keyboard instrument of the era? And why did composers who encountered it form such opposite opinions?
Späth called the striking mechanism "Tangirung" and the finished instrument by several different names. He used the French term "clavecin d'amour," meaning harpsichord of love, pointing to the instrument's expressiveness and dynamic range. He also called it "Pandaleons Forte-pianos," "Pianoforteinstrumente in Flügelform," and sometimes simply "Clavier." Späth's instrument used non-pivoting, vertical hammers called tangents, unlike the pivoted hammers of a standard fortepiano. By 1770, the number of tone variations had grown to fifty. One tangent piano from the eighteenth century survives today, likely built during Späth's lifetime. The word "Tangentenflügel," which translates as tangent piano, did not appear in German print until 1791, five years after Späth's death. Two craftsmen had proposed a similar action before Späth built his first instrument.
Jean Marius had proposed a mechanism similar to the tangent action to the French Academy of Sciences in 1716. Christoph Gottlieb Schröter claimed to have invented a comparable action in 1717. Schröter did not publish this claim until 1747, when it appeared in Lorenz Christoph Mizler's Neu eröffnete musikalische Bibliothek. Though widely credited as the tangent piano's inventor, Späth was not the first to propose the underlying action. Schröter's claim had sat unpublished for thirty years; Späth's instruments would earn praise in print before he died.
Franz Jakob Späth took charge of his father's organ-building workshop in 1747 and married Johanna Rosina Schessinger the same year. The couple had seven children; three survived childhood. Two years later, in 1749, Johann Andreas Stein came to work at the workshop as an apprentice. Stein left in 1750. His claviorgan, built in 1781, still reflects the time he spent at Späth's workshop. In 1774, Späth brought his son-in-law Christoph Friedrich Schmahl into formal partnership. Schmahl was born in 1739 and came from a family of organ builders. Späth died on the 23rd of July 1786. Schmahl continued to manufacture and sign instruments under both their names until 1793. Schmahl died in 1814. His son Christian Carl inherited the workshop, which was dissolved after Christian Carl's death. The organs Späth completed in Regensburg proved more lasting than the business he left behind.
Späth completed the organ for Regensburg's Dreieinigkeitskirche in 1758. Johannes Strebel renovated it in 1892, replacing the principal pipes and adding three reed pipe ranks. Strebel preserved the instrument's original facade. Detlef Kleuker carried out a second renovation in 1966. That instrument proved prone to faults and required repeated repair. It was removed in 2009. Jürgen Ahrend then rebuilt it, modeling the new mechanism on Thuringian and Central German organs. These were the organ types Johann Sebastian Bach had composed for. Ahrend completed the rebuilding in the summer of 2020, again preserving Späth's original facade. Späth also built the organ at Regensburg's Oswaldkirche in 1753, and he drew up plans for a new organ at Regensburg Cathedral. The bishop vetoed that commission, and Späth was permitted only to repair the existing cathedral instrument.
On the 10th of September 1765, an advertisement in the Leipziger Zeitung announced Späth's instruments combining fortepiano and harpsichord actions in a single case. By 1770, he had expanded the concept to a three-manual design that paired the Tangirung action with a harpsichord's plucking mechanism. Späth built harpsichords as well. Johann Nikolaus Forkel praised Späth's fortepianos in the 1782 Musikalischer Almanach für Deutschland.
In 1777, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote to his father to say that Späth's fortepianos were his favorite. This was before Mozart encountered Johann Andreas Stein's instruments; once he did, his preference changed. Beethoven's reaction was more direct: he refused to play on an instrument made by Späth. Carl Ludwig Junker offered an explanation. Beethoven had played Stein's pianos in Bonn, Junker argued, and was simply unaccustomed to Späth's instruments. In Bonn, the pianos Beethoven had practiced on were Stein's, not Späth's.
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Common questions
Who was Franz Jakob Späth?
Franz Jakob Späth (around 1714 - the 23rd of July 1786) was a German keyboard instrument builder from Regensburg. He was likely trained as an organ builder by his father and became the most prominent builder of tangent pianos, working alongside his son-in-law Christoph Friedrich Schmahl.
How does a Franz Jakob Späth tangent piano differ from a standard fortepiano?
A tangent piano uses non-pivoting, vertical hammers called tangents to strike the strings, while a standard fortepiano uses pivoted hammers. Späth called the mechanism "Tangirung" and named the instrument "clavecin d'amour" to reflect its expressiveness and dynamic range.
Did Franz Jakob Späth invent the tangent piano?
Späth is widely credited as the tangent piano's inventor but was not the first to propose the underlying action. Jean Marius submitted a similar proposal to the French Academy of Sciences in 1716, and Christoph Gottlieb Schröter claimed to have invented a comparable action in 1717.
What did Mozart say about Franz Jakob Späth's fortepianos?
In 1777, Mozart wrote to his father that Späth's fortepianos were his favorite. He later changed this view after encountering Johann Andreas Stein's instruments.
Why did Beethoven refuse to play Franz Jakob Späth's instruments?
Beethoven refused to play on instruments made by Späth. Carl Ludwig Junker explained this as a matter of habituation: Beethoven had played Stein's pianos in Bonn and was unaccustomed to Späth's style.
What happened to the organ Franz Jakob Späth built for the Dreieinigkeitskirche in Regensburg?
The organ Späth completed in 1758 was renovated by Johannes Strebel in 1892 and again by Detlef Kleuker in 1966. It was removed in 2009 and rebuilt by Jürgen Ahrend, who based the new instrument on Thuringian and Central German organs Johann Sebastian Bach had composed for. Ahrend completed the rebuilding in the summer of 2020.
All sources
16 references cited across the entry
- 1BookThe eighteenth-century fortepiano grand and its patrons: from Scarlatti to BeethovenEva Badura-Skoda — Indiana University Press — 2017
- 2JournalThe "Tangentenflügel" and Other Pianos with Non-Pivoting HammersGiovanni Paolo Di Stefano — 2008
- 3BookNeues historisch-biographisches Lexikon der TonkünstlerErnst Ludwig Gerber — Leipzig : A. Kühnel — 1812
- 4Stein, Johann (Georg) AndreasMichael Latcham — 2001
- 5SchmahlHans Klotz et al. — 2001
- 6JournalThe clavecins a maillets of Marius and Veltman: new observations on some of the first pianos in FranceG. P. Di Stefano — 1 February 2011
- 7Späth, Franz JacobHans Klotz — 2001
- 8JournalFranz Jakob Spath and the "Tangentenflügel", an Eighteenth-Century TraditionMichael Latcham — 2004
- 9Harpsichord-pianoMichael Latcham — 2001
- 11Diese Orgel ist einzigartigGabriele Ingerthron — 6 June 2020
- 12Regensburg: "Dreieinigkeitskirche" - Evangelische Kirche im Dekanat Regensburg Sonntagsblatt - 360 Grad evangelischLea M. Schiller et al. — 22 June 2021
- 13BookRoma quanta fuitMartina Topp — Wißner — 2010
- 14BookMusikalischer Almanach für Deutschland auf das Jahr 1782Johann Nikolaus Forkel — 1782
- 15BookA history of stringed keyboard instrumentsStewart Pollens — Cambridge University Press — 2022
- 16BookBeethoven and His WorldTilman Skowroneck — Princeton University Press — 2000