Gottfried Silbermann

Gottfried Silbermann (born Jan. 14, 1683, Kleinbobritzsch, Saxony [now in Germany]—died Aug. 4, 1753, Dresden) was an outstanding German builder of keyboard instruments and member of an important family of musical-instrument makers.

Gottfried worked in Strasbourg in the shop of his brother Andreas, also a noted builder, before moving to Freiberg in 1710. There he made spinets, clavichords, and harpsichords and experimented in pianoforte construction. Two of his pianos were played by J.S. Bach, who criticized their construction; Silbermann thereafter improved the instruments, and eventually Bach even acted as Silbermann’s agent in selling a piano. Silbermann became court organ builder in 1736, the year of Bach’s visit, and his reputation spread widely. Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel wrote a rondo expressing his sadness at having to part with a fine Silbermann clavichord. Gottfried died unmarried in 1753, leaving his business in the hands of a nephew, Johann Daniel Silbermann. Another nephew, Johann Heinrich, likewise built and played keyboard instruments, gaining independently a wide reputation and orders from as far away as India.