FEATURES ARCHIVE

“Erich Lachmann was a true collector in the 19th century tradition,” explains Kerry Keane, Musical Instruments specialist. “His collection of historical musical instruments was both encyclopedic and eclectic.”  The Berlin connoisseur, who was also a dealer, followed a methodical, academic approach, seeking out instruments of the finest quality and distinguished provenance. Lachmann began his personal collection by pursuing bowed instruments and over time his taste broadened to include a variety of stringed instruments.  He often purchased from private collectors such as Paul De Wit and institutions like Berlin’s Staatliche Sammlung or the Musée du Conservatoire in Brussels, and many of the instruments he acquired had formerly been a part of the celebrated Snoeck Collection, a well-known collection of over 4,000 musical instruments.

After World War II, Lachmann’s private collection of early and classical instruments now known as the Historical Stringed Musical Instruments was exhibited at the University of Southern California, where it drew the attention of academics and musicians alike.  In 1960, University of California Los Angeles acquired the Lachmann Collection, and used the instruments for both exhibit and by artists at the University for the performance of period music.  Today, UCLA is offering a group of 40 pieces from Lachmann’s original collection, many of them historical works dating to the 18th and 19th century, including one of the earliest in the collection, a rare 1708 viola da gamba.

“Musical instruments are true tools of the musician, but when we study and concentrate on their form, we learn that they are also iconic objects that offer a window onto the design period in which they were made,” comments Keane.  The viols illustrate the Baroque design sensibility, and are especially interesting for their finely carved heads, which take the form of cherubs or ladies.

The viol developed in parallel with the violin, possesses the same carved top and is played with a bow. However, viols are often tuned not in fifths (like a violin), but in fourths, like a guitar. They continue to be used by musicians specializing in Baroque music.

As instrument makers of the 18th and 19th century were adorning their instruments with the carved heads, it is not surprising that bow makers followed suit.  This 18th century violin bow boasts a carved ivory frog in the form of the Ponto Rialto in Venice, Italy.”

Named after the French word for “pocket,” this 17th century pochette is charming not only for its small size, but for its unique story.  The English referred to these instruments as “Dance Master Kits,” a description that alludes to the community of people who used them.  Dance instructors, hired to come into the home of their pupils, would instruct while simultaneously providing musical accompaniment.  Because the dance masters traveled between the homes of their pupils, they required a practical, small-scale instrument that could easily fit in their pocket.  The pochette was a perfect solution.