Michael Mietke (c. 1656/1671 – 1719) was a German

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

and

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

maker.

Biography

He lived his entire life in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and is known to have been an instrument maker there from 1695. He succeeded Christoph Werner in 1707 as official maker to the court. He delivered a harpsichord to the court at

Köthen Köthen () is a town in Germany. It is the capital of the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, about north of Halle. Köthen is the location of the main campus and the administrative centre of the regional university, Anhalt Univers ...

in 1719 on the recommendation of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

, which was probably the instrument for which Bach composed

Brandenburg concerto The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' (BWV 1046–1051) by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 (though probably composed earlier). The origina ...

no.5 as a show-piece.

Surviving instruments

Three of his harpsichords survive: A plain single-manual instrument, preserved

Hudiksvall Hudiksvall () is a cities of Sweden, city and the seat of Hudiksvall Municipality, in Hälsingland, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 16,792 inhabitants as of 2024. Hudiksvall is also known as Glada Hudik (), a term that originated in the 19th centur ...

, Sweden, is signed 'Berlin, 1710'. In

Schloss Charlottenburg Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) is a Baroque palace in Berlin, located in Charlottenburg, a district of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough, and is among the largest palaces in the world. The palace was built at the end of th ...

in Berlin there are two instruments, both probably made for the court. Both are unsigned, although they have been linked to Mietke beyond reasonable doubt. One is a single-manual, which belonged personally to Queen Sophie Charlotte, and the other a double-manual. Both are lavishly decorated by the court decorator Gerard Dagly: the single manual instrument, covered with gilded

chinoiserie (, ; loanword from French '' chinoiserie'', from '' chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other Sinosphere artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, lite ...

on a porcelain white background, earning the instrument the affectionate modern nickname "The White Mietke", while the double manual instrument is in similar style, but on a black background and thus often referred to as "The Black Mietke".

Progeny

The sons and grandson of Michael Mietke followed in his footsteps: * Michael Mietke II (5 March 1702 – April/August 1754) was his son; he became harpsichord maker to the

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

court in 1728. * Georg Mietke (31 January 1704 – 1770), also his son, left Berlin in 1729, moving to Danzig, and then in 1739 to Königsberg, where he had a licence to build 'Claviere, und musikalische Instrumenten' in 1747. * Friedrich Mietke (1746 – c. 1805) Michael Mietke's grandson and the son of Georg Mietke, and was taught by him until 1765. He became maker to the court in 1770.Krickerberg, www.grovemusic.com

References

Sources

*Dieter Krickerberg: 'Mietke', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-05-18), http://www.grovemusic.com/ *Kottick EL, A History of the Harpsichord, 2003, Indiana University Press

Biography

Surviving instruments

Progeny

References

Sources

See also