Everything about Pascal Taskin totally explained
Pascal Joseph Taskin (1723-1793) was a French
harpsichord and
piano maker. Born in
Theux, near
Liège, he lived most of his life in
Paris.
Biography
Pascal Taskin worked in the workshop of the
Blanchet family in Paris, though little is known of his activity until the death of François Étienne Blanchet II in 1766, when he married his widow and joined the
guild as a master instrument-maker, taking over the supervision of the Blanchet workshop.
The continuity between the Blanchet and Taskin traditions is indicated by the note Taskin attached to his new instruments:
pascal taskin, Facteur
de Clavessins & Garde des Instruments
de Musique du Roi, Eleve & Succes-
seur de m. blanchet, demeure
Même Maison, rue de la Verrerie,
vis-à-vis la petite porte de S. Merry,
a. paris
Taskin inherited Blanchet's title of
facteur des clavessins du Roi, and became keeper of the
King’s instruments when Christophe Chiquelier retired in 1774. He set up a workshop in
Versailles with his nephew Pascal Joseph Taskin II (1750-1829) in 1777 in order to carry out the latter role; his other nephews Henry Taskin and Lambert Taskin also worked for him, though little is known of them. Pascal Joseph II went on to work in the Blanchet workshop in 1763 and, like his uncle, married into the family in 1777 with his wedding to François Etienne Blanchet II's daughter. Pascal Taskin was succeeded after his death in 1793 by his former master's son, Armand François Nicolas Blanchet, who he'd brought up himself.
His harpsichords and pianos
Pascal Taskin built on and refined the already excellent
Blanchet harpsichord-making tradition. He is credited with introducing
genouillères (
knee-levers) with which to control the stop combinations, and a new register of jacks using
peau de buffle (soft buff
leather)
plectra, instead of the usual
quill, in 1768.
He continued the common French practise, pursued successfully by Blanchet, of making
ravalements of
Ruckers and
Couchet harpsichords, which involved rebuilding the 17th century
Flemish instruments, which were highly valued for their sound quality, to suit the modern French tastes. Like other makers of the time, he resorted to selling 'Ruckers' harpsichords which had very few original parts, or none at all, such was the premium associated with the name by then; his last known instrument, a double dated 1788, has a rose signed "Andreas Ruckers" and a Flemish-style painted
soundboard. Unlike other makers, his instruments were always of excellent quality, whether passed off as Ruckers or not.
He began to build
fortepianos with Blanchet in the 1760s, probably originally modelled after those of
Gottfried Silbermann, with a
Bartolomeo Cristofori-type action. None of his early pianos survives; the earliest date from the late 1780s and have a very simple action without escapement, which he devised in order to reduce
friction. These instruments have luxuriant
veneering of the
Louis XVI style. Another instrument he made was the
Armandine, a large
psaltery with
gut strings resembling a harpsichord without a
keyboard, in 1790 for Anne-Aimée Armand (1774–1846); a surviving example is in the
Musée de la Musique, Paris. Taskin's workshop became more occupied with piano production and the importing of English
square pianos in the 1770s and 1780s, but not to the detriment of harpsichords; his death inventory of 1793 shows an equal number of each instrument under construction.
There are seven of his double manual harpsichords still in existence; they're prime examples of the late French school of harpsichord building, with a warm and rich tone, range of
FF-f, and disposition of 8' 8' 4' and buff stop. His 1769 double and the 1763/1783-1784
Goermans/Taskin (which Taskin tried to pass off as a
Couchet by filing away the initials 'JG' to 'IC') have both been praised as ideal instruments for the late French
baroque repertoire such as the works of
Rameau and
Armand-Louis Couperin. These instruments have been studied and copied many times by modern makers.
Further Information
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