This instrument is a copy after Ioannes Ruckers, 1638 (Russell Collection Edinburgh, No. 6), made by Matthias Griewisch 2016, artwork by Christian Scheuber.

As far as we know, all double manual harpsichords made by the Ruckers family had a particular disposition: two sets of strings, four rows of jacks, two non-aligned manuals. The resulting palette of sounds is unmatched by later harpsichord types and perfectly fits the repertoire of the early 17th century.

Sweelinck acquired such an instrument for the city of Amsterdam in 1604, making it an ideal match for his music.

All but one of the extant Ruckers doubles have been altered during the late 17th and 18th centuries to what we consider a normal harpsichord today. This alteration called 'ravalement' not only changes the keyboard range and alignment of the manuals, but also severely changes the timbre and presence of an instrument, as well as its touch.

So far there are only a handful of playable copies of this instrument type that was once considered a standard.

Recorded at Kloster Beinwil, September 2017. Slightly irregular meantone temperament, reference pitch between 392 Hz and 415 Hz.

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