Baroque revival by harpsichord maker

Andrew Garlick with a Flemish harpsichord he built

For 30 years, Andrew Garlick has been making harpsichords, an interest he has harboured since he was at primary school.

"I went to art college in Manchester then Bristol and I was always interested from the age of about six in the harpsichord and I made three while I was on the Three Dimensional course at Bristol and at my diploma show I found people wanted to buy them."

As a result of that interest he set up his own business in 1973 and over the past three decades has sold them to buyers around the world, from the United States, to Japan and Australia.

"I can make about four a year but that is hard work and I work long hours. From a pile of wood, to get something that will play well and look beautiful is quite an effort but then it will last for 400 or 500 years so it is a good investment."

'Very exciting'

His profession has also encouraged him to explore the baroque repertoire but also more modern music.

"Jazz has been played on harpsichord, ragtime sounds very good on harpsichord and a lot of new music is written for harpsichord which is very exciting."

Andrew builds different styles of harpsichords with different types of wood: the Flemish ones are built with poplar and the French ones with lime wood which are then either decorated with printed paper or marbling.

"A Flemish one would always have marbling on the outside and the elaborate arabesque printed paper on the inside.

"A French one would possibly have printed paper on the inside and a lot more in the way of elaborate rococo [a style of 18th century French art and interior design] or baroque decoration on the outside."

Being a harpsichord maker means being a jack of all trades - as a carpenter, musician and artist in order to have the skills necessary to make one from start to finish.

"I do still get a thrill which is what keeps me going because otherwise after all the hard work I'd had given up if I didn't have that real enthusiasm for the instrument.

"When it gets a voice it really becomes another part of me which I'm loathe to part with really but I have to live, so they always go."