A Burl Walnut and Satinwood Two-Manual Harpsichord by Thomas Goff & Joseph Cobby

London, 1961

Height 38 1/2 x width 43 3/4 x length 91 1/4 inches.

Property from the Collection of Maestro Raymond Leppard, Indianapolis, Indiana

Note:

This harpsichord, built by Goff and Cobby in 1961, was played by Maestro Raymond Leppard beginning in the early 1960s as well as by Thurston Dart and George Malcolm at annual jamborees at the Royal Festival Hall, London. Leppard notes in his memoir Music Made Me: "Tom Goff became one of the great harpsichord makers of our time, tho' he only made fourteen of them. I count myself very fortunate to own one he made for me and still more fortunate to have known and counted him a friend for many years...Most of his seven pedals had half-hitches which controlled subtle dynamic changes and enabeled the most remarkable colouration of the sound. This involved the most delicate setting of the plectra, the whole made more easily regulated by being built around a metal frame that, unlike the wooden frames of the 18th century, remained stable through all changes of humidity and temperature."

Maestro Raymond Leppard (1927-2019), Commander of the British Empire, was an internationally recognized composer, conductor and scholar of Baroque music, as well as a Grammy-winning recording artist. Born in London, Leppard grew up in Bath where he was educated at the City of Bath Boys’ School, now the Beechen Cliff School. He studied harpsichord and viola at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he would go on to become Lecturer and Fellow before making his debut at Wigmore Hall in London in 1952. He also helped establish and was long associated with the English Chamber Orchestra.

Leppard’s realizations of 17th century operas by Italian composers Claudio Monteverde and his disciple, Francesco Cavalli, re-introduced the world to these and other Baroque operas. His brilliant arrangements for their modern stage productions in the 1960s and 1970s were widely acclaimed and, thus, forged his imprint on the classical music industry. He conducted Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, the world premiere of Nicholas Maw’s Rising of the Moon at Glyndebourne Opera, and composed film scores for, among others, Peter Brook’s Lord of the Flies, based on the novel by William Golding. As a prolific recording artist, Leppard recorded more than 200 albums. He has appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan and San Francisco Operas, and in Paris, Hamburg, Santa Fe, Stockholm and Geneva. Leppard was principal conductor for the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra for over seven years, and, more recently, led the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) from 1987 to 2001. Leppard is credited with transforming the ISO into an internationally recognized ensemble, becoming the organization’s first and only Conductor Laureate.

Beyond Leppard’s musical genius, his warm character, generous heart and good humor endeared him to the likes of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Benjamin Britten, Frederica Von Stade, Dame Janet Baker and members of the infamous Bloomsbury Group. WFMT, Chicago’s classical music radio station, dedicated every August 11, his birthday, as Raymond Leppard Day, on which they broadcast several of his recordings. Leppard amassed an eclectic collection of works of art, music and 18th and 19th century furniture, many of which are featured throughout this auction.