Claude Mercier-Ythier
French harpsichord manufacturer
Claude Mercier-Ythier (1931 – 3 July 2020) was a French harpsichord maker who ran a shop and workshop in Paris dedicated exclusively to harpsichords. Instruments that he built and restored have been played in many concerts and recordings, including a recording of Bach's complete keyboard works by Zuzana Růžičková. He wrote a standard book on the topic, Les clavecins, published in 1990.
Life
Mercier-Ythier was born into a family of cabinetmakers and engineers. He was passionate about music from a young age and at the age of 18 built his first harpsichord in his garage alongside his friends. After studies at the Conservatoire de Toulon, he went to Bavaria to work with Kurt Wittmayer, where he perfected his skills. He also worked for Neupert and Pleyel et Cie.
In 1962, Mercier-Ythier opened his first workshop in Paris, specializing in the production of harpsichords. He was the first Frenchman since the reign of Louis XVI to specialize solely in harpsichord production. Mercier-Ythier diversified his business, catering his harpsichords to businesses, theatres, and concert halls.
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This entry incorporates text from “Claude Mercier-Ythier” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.