Carlo Grimaldi

Carlo Grimaldi (pre-1660 — 19 April 1717, Messina) was a Sicilian organ builder and harpsichord maker active in Messina in the late XVII century. His biography is scant, with the earliest known archival records in 1679 mentioning Grimaldi's organ built at Santi Pietro e Paolo church in Acireale, Catania. A posthumous inventory of his workshop from May 1717 listed various instruments and spare parts for them: organs, harpsichords, virginals, and several tiorbinos (small "theorbos"). He also made claviorgans; Cardinal Francesco del Giudice (1647—1725), the Viceroy of King of Spain Felipe V (1683—1746) in Palermo, owned one built in 1704. (According to Giuliana Montanari's 2005 article "Florentine Claviorgans (1492–1900)" in The Galpin Society Journal, the Giacomo Andronico's organ at Basilica Soluntina di Sant'Anna church in Santa Flavia, Palermo was initially combined with Grimaldi's harpsichord and a gut-strung upright piano.) There are only three of Grimaldi's extant instruments, copied many times by contemporary makers, including Andrew Wooderson, John Phillips, and Tony Chinnery: ❁ 1697 Harpsichord at Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, Germany, inscribed: "Carolus Grimaldi fecit ✝ Messane, 1697. Single manual, 2×8' disposition, compass: G₁–c³ ❁ 1703 Harpsichord at Cité de la Musique in Paris, France, inscribed: "CAROLVS GRIMALDI MESSANENSIS FECIT MESSANÆ ANNO DONI-1703." In 1972, Michel Robin made detailed technical drawings. ❁ ca.1690 Folding Harpsichord at Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali in Rome, Italy; inscribed "Carolus Grimaldi fecit" on the first key, undated. Short octave, 2×8' disposition, C/E–c³ compass, the case has a painted exterior, split into three hinged sections, fifteen keys each: C/E–f#, g–a1, and b1–c3. It's the sole Italian instrument of this type, described by musicologist John Henry Van Der Meer as a "folding harpsichord-spinet, similar to a Marius clavecin brisé." When first acquired by the Museum, Grimaldi's unique instrument was converted into a "tangent piano" (tangentenflügel), with the jacks cut off and replaced by round hammerheads; it was later fully restored.