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July 20th, 2008

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Music to his ears

Harpsichord maker uses his passions for wood, music to brings a dying art back to life

By Curtis M. Wong
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
February 6th, 2008 issue

Jan Přerovský/THE PRAGUE POST

Vyhnálek's harpsichords and spinnets are set apart by quality materials, including the bird quill devices he makes to pluck instrument strings. Others often use plastic pieces. enlarge

The Vyhnálek file

Who: František Vyhnálek, 56
What: Harpischord and spinnet builder
Favorite composer: Alessandro Scarlatti, 16601725
How long: 21 years building instruments
No. of employees: Three, including son Martin
Where: Vyhnálek's harpsichords and spinnets have been sold to international music companies and academies in Boston; Budapest; Cleveland, Ohio; Kyoto, Japan; Malmo, Sweden; Paris; Prague and Vienna

enlarge

Even before he opened his harpsichord workshop 21 years ago, František Vyhnálek always knew he had a passion for woodworking.

It was simply something, he says, that was passed down to him from previous generations. His grandfather was a renowned furniture builder prior to World War I.

Vyhnálek, 56, is remarkably modest about his talents as an “instrument craftsman,” although his musical handiwork can now be found across the globe in cities such as Vienna; Budapest; Paris; Cleveland, Ohio; Boston; and Kyoto, Japan.

The humble craftsman explains the job as he stands in his workshop in Hovorčovice, a village northeast of Prague, clad in paint-and-grease-splattered overalls.

“It’s not very difficult to work with wood,” he says. “Working with wood is a never-ending story, really. There’s always going to be some way for you to improve your work.”

Despite its small beginnings, Vyhnálek’s split-level workroom has evolved into an undeniably big business, drawing international performers and music conservatory officials in pursuit of new instruments.

Vyhnálek estimates his workshop builds roughly 10 instruments each year. The entire construction process takes roughly 10 months from start to finish. Most are harpsichords and smaller string instruments known as spinnets, built and decorated in classical styles modeled after Baroque-era originals from France, Germany, Belgium and Italy.

The workshop, he says, strives to maintain the time-honored tradition of harpsichords, whose bright, often simple, staccato sound surged in popularity throughout Central Europe during the 17th century before they were all but displaced by the larger, more expressive pianos.

The biggest challenge comes in trying to make the instruments practical and enjoyable for modern-day audiences, many of whom might consider their sounds to be a bit musty. Clearly, however, harpsichords have enjoyed a gradual revival: In the 21 years since its opening, Vyhnálek’s workshop has built nearly 125 instruments.

Ironically, Vyhnálek admits he cannot read or write music. That part, he says, is left to the many musicians who have used his instruments during tour stops in Prague and beyond.

Most recently, harpsichord player Aina Kalnciema from Riga, Latvia, performed in Prague on one of the Vyhnálek classics. Colorful notes twinkled through the air in her Dec. 13 performance of several classical Baroque pieces by Bach, Mozart and Scarlatti and a selection of contemporary music.

“There is no advertising necessary for him or his business at this point, as he’s by now the best-known Czech master when it comes to building harpsichords,” Kalnciema says. “His instruments have a solid reputation among European musicians.”

While Vyhnálek says he enjoys the entire process, he’s never truly satisfied with his work until he observes one of his instruments being used in a live performance. Vyhnálek and his family watched carefully from the back of the hall that night, making small adjustments during intermission.

“The best part is when you finally hear the sound of music being played on the instrument for the first time,” he says. “Of course, your reaction will depend on whether the sound is good or bad.”

Vyhnálek may not be a stranger to international praise these days, but many doubted that his endeavors would be successful when he started in the early 1980s. The son of a local farmer, Vyhnálek built his first harpsichord at age 29 in 1980, and spent the next several years working alongside two friends, Jiři Vykoukal and Petr Šefl. Together, the trio began to build a series of instruments, using kits they purchased from abroad.

Vyhnálek, a lifetime fan of Baroque instruments and music, had bigger plans. In 1987, he traveled to Leipzig, Germany, to begin a three-month stint as the apprentice of German master harpsichord maker Jürgen Ammer.

After successfully completing the program, Vyhnálek returned to his hometown, planning to create harpsichords from the original plans of master builders from the 16th and 17th centuries.

But founding a new business under the former communist regime wasn’t an easy task.

“It wasn’t normal to have anything like this — to establish a harpsichord workshop like this,” he says, gesturing to the materials around him.

“It was difficult for all businesses to survive under socialist regulations. But, when you’re speaking about the business of building musical instruments, there are always going to be some sorts of challenges.”

Growing buzz

Shortly after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, word about Vyhnálek’s work began to spread, initially throughout Bohemia and then abroad. Even as the business grew, Vyhnálek credits his family and his wife of 31 years, a post-office worker, with supporting his craft.

“This type of work is never about money,” he says with a laugh. “Most builders throughout Europe, such as myself, have wives who maintain good jobs while their husbands build. Of course, it’s possible to make it and certainly you’re able to earn enough money for a decent living, but never enough to be rich.”

These days, finding building materials isn’t usually a problem. Vyhnálek says he buys the lumber — usually pine, but occasionally cypress, depending on the type or nature of the instrument — from south Bohemian lumberyards in the Šumava region.

Czech painter Michal Tomek adds whimsical Baroque-style flowers, animals and landscapes to the harpsichords before they are delivered to customers.

Vyhnálek’s workshop may be the only one to still use the quill segments of bird feathers, typically from parrots, swans or condors, as material for the plectra, the tiny interior pieces that pluck the harpsichord’s strings. Historically, plectra were made out of quill as well as leather, but many present-day builders use plastic as a substitute.

Vyhnálek says quills not only continue with the original tradition, but also produce a more crisp, more clear, sound.

It seems he isn’t the only one who feels maintaining tradition is important. With harpsichord performances slowly regaining popularity, it’s the age-old music that’s of universal and eternal importance, Kalnciema says.

“When I observe listeners during my concerts, or talk to them after the performance, people seem to just like the way the music harmonizes them,” she says. “It kind of re-adjusts their minds, and helps them relax. This is exactly what is essential and necessary in this age of stress and haste.”

Vyhnálek has already passed his skills onto his son, Martin, who says he plans to take over the family business when his father retires. The younger Vyhnálek built his first instrument at age 14 and helps out daily.

“My father started a wonderful family tradition with his business,” Martin Vyhnálek says. “For me, there’s no other choice but to continue with it. It’s beautiful work, and we have many loyal customers.”

While skills and dexterity are necessary in his line of work, Vyhnálek is quick to add that, as with any craft, the most important element is passion.

“I’d say building instruments is mostly about the feeling,” he says. “It’s a skill, of course, but it’s not something that can be traditionally learned or taught simply in steps or measurements. It isn’t just one thing; it’s many elements together. You really just have to feel it.”

Curtis M. Wong can be reached at tempo@praguepost.com

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