Hodsdon Clavichord 1954

Alec Hodsdon (1900 - 1986) was a remarkable man, something of an eccentric perhaps, but a true pioneer of the early keyboard revival in Britain.  When he was sixteen, staying at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, he held open the door for a fourteen-year-old girl.  Her name was Margaret Fletcher, and they married and lived happily ever after!  Margaret was the niece of Colonel Benton-Fletcher, the founder of the collection now in the care of the National Trust at Fenton House.  Margaret studied the violin at the Guildhall School of Music, and received harpsichord lessons from a member of the Dolmetsch family; it was she who was the inspiration of the musical aspects of the partnership. 

They settled in Lavenham in Suffolk, where they bought a fine timber-framed house in the village centre and moved it a little way out into the countryside.  Think about that for a moment.  The house was a meeting point for many well-connected people, including names familiar to us Basil Lam, Gustav Leonhardt.  such as Peter Pears, Benjaminn Britten, and Thurston Dart. 

Alec's real interests were steam cars and model railways, but Margaret provided the initiative (and the money) to turn Alec into a harpsichord builder.  He had little experience of either harpsichords or woodwork, but Margaret hired a team led by Fred Sykes, from Sudbury.  The instruments  were by no means authentic replicas, but they seem to have been based on original instruments.  Some of the big harpsichords did incorporate pedals, a 16' stop, and even metal frames, but the virginals, spinets, and clavichords were more restrained. 

The earliest instrument I have seen is a big harpsichord dated 1939, and  several smaller instruments from 1961, but I am sure these are not the limits.  In the mid 1960s, Alec spent less time in the harpsichord workshop to pursue his interests in steam cars and model railways.  Fred Sykes apparently continued to make instruments with the Hodsdon name, and later under his own name, but I have not seen one.  

This clavichord will be in the sale at Wessex Auction Room in Chippenham on 1 November.  

Source unknown

Alec Hodsdon in his workshop, shown working on a harpsichord with a metal frame.

With acknowledgement to Michael Ackermann for details of the story.

Images by Wessex Auction Rooms 

https://www.wessexauctionrooms.co.uk/