Wolfgang Zuckermann - The Modern Harpsichord

Around 1967, Zuckermann began a period of travel, visiting harpsichord workshops in both the United States and Europe. He described his research findings in a 1969 book The Modern Harpsichord (ISBN 0-8079-0165-2, October House), a wide-ranging survey of the harpsichord makers of the time, covering their philosophies and methods of production. It is notable that while Zuckermann's own straight-sided, plywood kit instruments could hardly be called "authentic", Zuckermann's own tastes as revealed in this book tended sharply toward authenticity, particularly toward work that attempted to recreate instruments of the kind built by the great makers of the past, using lightweight construction and preindustrial materials. This taste was manifested in the book's detailed, warmly appreciative account of the work of three builders in particular, Frank Hubbard, William Dowd, and Martin Skowroneck. It is also seen in Zuckermann's relatively caustic treatment of the major firms of the time, who were still building heavily designed, ahistorical instruments. The subsequent history of harpsichord building has evidently vindicated Zuckermann's views, as authentically-oriented harpsichords now dominate the field.

In 1969, Zuckermann sold his harpsichord business to David Jacques Way. Way had been the publisher of The Modern Harpsichord. and become an enthusiast for harpsichord building in the process. Way shifted the firm's productions in the direction of more historically authentic instruments, making use of Zuckermann's research. The company continues in business today.