The Barber Kirckman

This harpsichord was started in 1974 by Stephen Barber. He based it on the 1777 Kirckman double at Fenton House which was being restored by Derek Adlam at Finchcocks museum at that time. Later Stephen went on to become one of the most respected lute makers of his generation and made many exquisite instruments of the lute and guitar families, pioneering the use of unusual timbers like bog oak. The harpsichord was not finished in 1974 but languished in a corner of his workshop for nearly 50 years. It was intended to be a retirement project but sadly he died in 2021 and the unfinished harpsichord ended up with Huw. The standard of his work was very high and Huw has done his best to live up to it with his. There had been some water damage to the case over the years and some of the veneer had shrunk and split or chipped. There was some woodworm in the bottom. Huw finished this harpsichord in early 2025, fifty years after it was started. He has made some small departures from Stephen's original intentions:

It has the possibility to play either at baroque pitch, A415, or modern pitch, A 440. The ivory that was cut ready for the keys has not been used - camel bone has been used instead. The internal framing has been slightly altered to improve its stability. It is a standard Kirckman double with 3 sets of strings, 2 at normal (8 foot) pitch and one an octave higher (4 foot pitch). There are 4 registers of jacks, one of them being a lute stop which, by plucking close to the end of the string, gives a nasal sound. There is also a buff stop.

Mahan Esfahani recently used this harpsichord for his recording of the Bach English suites, to be released by Hyperion in 2026.

This harpsichord is available for hire or sale. Please click here enquire.