Clavicytherium

Clavicitheriums are plucked keyboard instruments in which, unlike the harpsichord, the strings run vertically instead of horizontally. As this type of musical instrument already existed in the 15th century, the title ‘inventor of instruments’ which Kaiser bestowed upon himself cannot refer to this instrument. In Kaiser’s clavicitherium only the arrangement of the strings is new. The layout of the keyboard, with the bass notes on the left side, means that the longer bass strings should also be on this side. For reasons of symmetry - an aspect that was of the utmost importance to the architectural thinking of the Baroque era - Kaiser arranged the strings so that the bass strings are flanked on both sides by the shorter strings and the body has the form of a pyramid. This arrangement requires the movement of the keys to be conveyed through a complicated rollerboard situated in the stand of the instrument, similar to that of an organ. Signature: "MARTINVS KAISER / SER: ELECTORIS: / PALATINI / INSTRVMENTORIVM OPIFEX / ET HVIVSMODI / INVENTOR". (rh/bd)

Lit.: Rudolf Hopfner: Masterpieces from the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments. A Short Guide through the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Vol. 1, Vienna 2019