AHJ, Vol. 7 No. 1, Summer 1979

pedal and the other which acted as a muting device.
From this, he went on to develop his own symbols for
altering the sound production of the instrument.
Although considered a great virtuoso in Europe,
Krumpholtz was surpassed by his wife who received acclaim
as the greatest harpist of the day. Their marriage
lasted only eight years, after which time she eloped to
London with another man. Mme. Krumpholtz made her
London debut in 1788 and received warm notices, including
the statement that she made her instrument
sound like an Aeolian Harp. Her concert career appears
to have been active from 1790 to 1800 in London, where
she was very much in demand both as soloist and corecitalist
with Dussek. After 1803 there is no more mention
of her concertizing and it is probable that she
retired from an active career. 10
Krumpholtz's place as a composer for harp has not
been clearly established. Grove's Dictionary emphasizes
his role both as teacher and designer, the latter role
referred to in a letter written by the Academie in 1787 to
Krumpholtz, complimenting him on the improvements
made on the instrument. 11 Willi Apel dismisses Krumpholtz
as a composer by citing " ... an artistically rather
inferior repertory of solo pieces for the harp beginning
. . . with the compositions of J. B. Krumpholtz
(1745-1790) and M. M. de Marin (1769-1861)." 12 This
value judgment does not coincide with references from
other reputable sources which disagree with Apel. F~tis,
for example, praised Krumpholtz highly:
An original genius, a deep feeling for harmony,
and unexpected modulations are noticed in the music
of Krumpholtz, and despite the time which has gone
by since it appeared, the variations of taste, and the
improvements made on the harp, it would still be
considered excellent if it had not been scattered for a
half-century, and if it had not become quite scarce.''
As Fetis points out in the above citation, the scattering
of the corpus of music by Krumpholtz and the difficulty
in obtaining copies of his works may account for
the lack of knowledge of and interest in this music.
William Grattan Flood states: "However, it is as a
writer for his instrument that we wish to arrest the
reader's attention." 14
The Larousse Encyclopedia of Music (1971 English
Language Edition) gives a very positive endorsement:
"In twelve preludes Krumpholtz summed up the technique
of the instrument, adding to the developments of
his predecessors the discreet use of enharmonic notes,
which allowed the instrument more flexibility in
modulation, for Hochbruker's harp could only be used
in the keys most usual in the 18th century." 1 5 In his
review of a harp recital given on February 29, 1972,
Robert Sherman, New York Times critic, praised one of
the Opus 14 sonatas of Krumpholtz: " .... a charming
sonata by the 18th century harpist and composer,
Johann Baptist Krumpholtz .... The twelve minute
sonata . . . . listed as a New York premiere, was a
delight, going its thoroughly predictable way in a
thoroughly ingratiating fashion . . . . '' Citations such
as these suggest that the works of Krumpholtz should be
made available to the harp teacher and student for their
SUMMER/ 1979
evaluation and use.
The works of J. B. Krumpholtz are primarily for the
harp, either as a solo instrument or with ensemble.
There are several works for voice and also for voice and
harp. 1 • These works do not have opus numbers and are
described by the RISM entry as being related to the subject
matter of popular novels of the day.
The compositions of Krumpholtz available to this
writer are contained in a body of music comprising the
18 known opera for harp. In addition to these 18 opera,
there are quartets, duos, airs and transcriptions for harp
and a concerto in F for piano or harpsichord. All of
these works are without opus numbers.
Krumpholtz combined the qualities of performer,
composer and teacher. Works such as any one of the six
concerti or two simphonies for harp illustrate his flair
for technically demanding harp writing. Yet Opp. 8, 12,
13 and 14 are clearly intended for the developing harpist.
The gradation of difficulty is clearly in sequence
and obviously conceived by an experienced teacher.
Opus 14 is a collection of 4 sonatas which represent very
sophisticated devices and techniques in harp writing of
this period. Sonata no. 4, Op. 4, is such an example.
As a designer of the harp, Krumpholtz was preoccupied
with perfecting the instrument. In I 720 the
Bavarian lutenist, Hochbrucker, had devised a
mechanism which literally lifted the harp from its
primitive status as a folk instrument into the realm of an
instrument which had possibilities for more complex
systems of music. The arpa doppia of Italy had been a
cumbersome affair with a dual stringboard which proved
entirely too complicated for practical use.
Hochbrucker conceived the idea of a pedal system connected
through the pillar of the instrument to a system
of hooks which moved against the strings of the harp
and thus altered the sound by a semitone. This single action
mechanism is attributed to him although Mme. de
Genlis claimed it to be the invention of the Brothers
Gaiffre. 11 Hochbrucker' s first attempt produced five
pedals only; a Lithuanian gentleman by the name of
Oginski added the extra two pedals and brought the
system up to the number of pedals now in use. Krumpholtz
worked with Naderman and finally succeeded in
having the latter produce a harp to his specifications.
The new design added two more pedals, the first of
which increased or diminished the sound of the strings
by opening a series of wooden shutters, and the second
of which placed a dampening mechanism on the strings.
In 1787, the new instrument was presented.in Paris and
the citation from the Academie des Sciences is given at
the beginning of Opus 13: "Ces differentes decouvertes
ont ete approuvee par 1 Academie Royale des Sciences le
21 Novembre 1787 ...." The citation, in addition to
approving the new instrument, offers congratulations to
Mme. Krumpholtz for her superior talent in performing
works written by her husband. The statement closes
with a word about the success of M. Krumpholtz's invention.
In 1785 Krumpholtz tried out the idea of a soundintensification
device, or swell pedal. He used a sliding
piece of wood placed at the rear of the harp body. By
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