Concertaje

In 1744, Carl Augustin Grenser Sr. founded in Dresden one of the most esteemed European

woodwind workshops of the second half of the eighteenth century after KHKaG apprenticed with

the instrument maker Johann Pörschmann (ca 1680–1757) in Leipzig between the ages of 13

and 19.102 _{Grenser instruments, particularly flutes, bassoons and clarinets, were reputed for}

their beautiful tonal characteristics, and the workshop was additionally renowned for its

excellent quality of craftsmanship.103 Receiving the privilege to provide instruments for the

regional court in 1753 as Hof-Instrumentenmacher, Grenser quickly developed a more

widespread reputation. In an article about the workshop, organologist Herbert Heyde reports that the Dresdner Hofkapellbläser undoubtedly popularized Grenser instruments during their travels; orders for oboes and bassoons from Salzburg, and bassoons, basset horns, and a dozen

reeds from Ludwigslust are documented from the second half of the eighteenth century.104

His son,Carl Augustin Jr. (1757–1814) also became an instrument builder with his own

business, but apparently was not as successful.105 Carl Grenser Jr.’s sons eventually became

musicians in the orchestra in Leipzig, and the eldest, Carl Augustin III,authored a history of

102_{NLI, 305.}

103 _{Ernst Ludwig Gerber, ‘Grenser (August)’, Neues historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Ton-künstler (Leipzig,}

1812), 392: “. . . ist schon seit vielen Jahren wegen der guten Flöten, Klarinetten, Hoboen und Fagotte, die wir von seiner Arbeit haben, rühmlichst bekannt.” “ . . . has been well-known for many years already for making good flutes, clarinets, oboes, and bassoons.” Bayerische StaatsBibliothek digital,

http://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb11011755_00204.html [accessed August 12, 2015]. Here an early nineteenth-century citation mentions Carl Augustin Grenser’s fame.

104_{Herbert Heyde, ‘Die Werkstatt von Augustin Genser d. Ä. und Heinrich Grenser in Dresden’, Tibia, /4}

(1993), 596.

105

71

music about that city.106 Another apprentice, Friedrich Gabriel August Kirst (1750–1806),

became a well-known instrument maker in Potsdam who supplied flutes to Frederick the

Great.107

Carl Augustin Sr.’s nephew Johann Heinrich Wilhelm (1764–1813) apprenticed to his uncle,

married his daughter Caroline, and directed the workshop from 1796 until 1812.108 Along with

the growing fashion of Harmoniemusik ensembles, as well as military wind bands, the demand

for woodwind instruments increased rapidly towards the end of the century and the factory produced a wide variety of all sorts, including clarinets, basset horns, bass clarinets, oboes,

English horns, oboes d’amore, in addition to flutes, bassoons, fagottini, and contrabassoons,

according to a list compiled by Philipp Young.109 Herbert Heyde notes evidence of orders from

Kassel, Gotha, Chemnitz, Frankfurt, as well as Riga, Aschersleben, Darmstadt, Lübeck and

Stockholm.110

After Heinrich’s death in 1813, Caroline married the workshop journeyman Samuel Gottfried

Wiesner (1791–1868) in 1817,111 who took over the business and continued the distinctive

instrument tradition into the second half of the century. Wiesner began at the workshop in 1811 and moved on to lead the business from 1813 onwards, only receiving his own concession in

1826, when he finally was officially allowed to use his sole name as maker.He may have

already omitted Heinrich Grenser’s name on stamps after 1822, when Caroline died, according

to business correspondence.112

106

Carl August Grenser, Geschichte der Musik in Leipzig 1750–1838: Hauptsächlich aber des großen Conzert- und Theater-Orchesters (Leipzig: Taurus, 2005). This book catalogues musical performances given in Leipzig over a period of almost 40 years.

107

Heyde, Musikinstrumentenbau in Preußen (Tutzing: Schneider, 1994), 354-58.

108 _{NLI, 145–46.} 109

See a detailed chart of instruments in Young (1978), 100–34.

110 Heyde (1993), 599. 111 NLI, 428. 112 Heyde (1993), 600.

72 xi ii

A visual comparison of the three bells of bassoons spanning almost fifty years clearly

illustrates the characteristic and distinctive Grenser shape [fig. 3.1]; this aesthetic form is one example indicating the continuity of the makers’ tradition [From left: H. Grenser, ca 1796;

Grenser & Wiesner, between 1817–22; and G. S. Wiesner, ca 1844].113

Figure 3.1. Two Heinrich Grenser bassoon bells and one by Grenser &Wiesner

113

Two of these instruments belong to the author’s collection; the earliest one, from ca 1796, is on loan from another private collection.

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TABLE 3.1. THE GRENSER FAMILY AND INSTRUMENT WORKSHOP

Table 3.1 illustrates the family lineage and generations of instrument builders in the Grenser

workshop.114 The method used for dating Grenser instruments is the maker’s stamp, which is

usually imprinted on each joint. Information about makers’ stamps and their dates, as

summarized by Heyde and Waterhouse, is found in table 3.2.115

114

NLI, 145. See also: Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, vol. 9, Geringswald–Gruber, Leipzig, 1879, 639–40.

115

Heyde (1993), 601. See also: NLI, 145–46, 428. Grenser and Wiesner makers' stamps are depicted here.

CARL    AUGUSTIN    GRENSER  SR.   (1720–1807)     INSTRUMENT  BUILDER  AND    FOUNDER  

Carl  Augustin  Grenser  Jr.   (1756–1814)     Instrument  builder  

Carl  August  Gresner  III   (1794–1864)     Flautist  in  Leipzig  

August  Grenser     (1799–1861)   Violinist  in  Leipzig  

Friedrich  Wilhelm  Grenser     (1805–59)     Cellist  in    Leipzig  

Johann  Friedrich  Grenser     (1758–94)     Oboist  in  Stockholm  

Hentietta  Regina   Grenser      (1753–1805)  

1st  Wife  of  Heinrich  

Johann  Grenser   (1726–80)   Brother  of  Carl  

JOHANN    HEINRICH    GRENSER   (1764–1813)   INSTRUMENT  BUILDER  

Heinrich  Otto  Grenser   (1808–18xx)  

SAMUEL    GOTTFRIED  WIESNER     (1791–1867)                                         INSTRUMENT  BUILDER   Caroline  Wilhelmine  Frost    

(1784–1822)  2nd  wife  of   Heinrich,  wife  of  Wiesner      

74 xi ii

Symbol Stamp Name Date

Lily (with two stars)

A. GRENSER After 1744

Lily A.GRENSER/DRESDEN

Lily A.GRENTZER/DRESDEN Before 1753

Crown/Swords GRENTZER 1753–63

Swords A.GRENSER/DRESDEN 1764-97/98

Swords H.GRENSER/DRESDEN ca 1797-1806

Crown H.GRENSER/DRESDEN 1807–1817

Crown H.GRENSER&WIESNER/DRESDEN 1817–ca 1822

Crown G.WIESNER/DRESDEN ca 1823–1868