A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Taskin, Pascal
TASKIN, Pascal, celebrated instrument-maker, and head of a family of musicians, born 1723, at Theux in the province of Liége, migrated early to Paris, and was apprenticed to Etienne Blanchet, the best French clavecin-maker of the period. Succeeding eventually to the business, he improved the tone of his spinets and harpsichords, by substituting slips of leather for the crowquills then in use in the jacks (1768). [See vol. ii. p. 27a.] In 1772 Louis XV. offered him the post of Keeper of the Musical Instruments and the Chapel Royal, vacant by the death of Chiquelier, but the life at Versailles would not have suited the inventor, who wished to be at liberty to continue his experiments, and he contrived to get his nephew and pupil, Pascal Joseph, appointed in his stead. Having thus succeeded in preserving his independence without forfeiting the royal favour, he was shortly after elected an acting member of the corporation of musical instrument-makers (1775). He was brought more before the public by a piano made for the Princess Victoire in the shape of our present 'grands,' the first of the kind made in France. Other inventions were for using a single string doubled round the pin in his two-stringed pianos, working the pedal by the foot instead of by the knee, and the 'Armandine' (1789) called after Mlle. Armand, a pupil of his niece, who became an excellent singer at the Opéra and the Opéra Comique. This fine instrument, now in the museum of the Paris Conservatoire, is like a grand piano without a keyboard, and with gut-strings, and is therefore a cross between the harp and the psaltery. Other specimens of his manufacture are the harpsichord with two keyboards made for Marie Antoinette and still to be seen in the Petit Trianon, the pretty instrument in the possession of the distinguished pianist Mlle. Joséphine Martin, and those in the Conservatoire, and the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris. Pascal Taskin died in Paris, Feb. 9, 1795. His nephew,
Pascal Joseph,[1] born Nov. 20, 1750, at Theux, died in Paris, Feb. 5, 1829, Keeper of the King's Instruments and the Chapel Royal, from 1772 to the Revolution, was his best pupil and assistant. He married a daughter of Blanchet, and was thus brought into close connection with the Couperin family. Of his two sons and two daughters, all musicians, the only one calling for separate mention here is the second son,
Henri Joseph, born at Versailles, Aug. 24, 1779, died in Paris, May 4, 1852, learned music as a child from his mother, and so charmed the Court by his singing and playing, that Louis XVI made him a page of the Chapel Royal. Later he studied music and composition with his aunt, Mme. Couperin, a talented organist, and early made his mark as a teacher, virtuoso, and composer. Three operas were neither performed nor engraved, but other of his compositions were published, viz. trios for PF., violin, and cello; a caprice for PF. and violin; a concerto for PF. and orchestra; solo-pieces for PF., and songs. A quantity of Masonic songs remained in MS. Like his father he had four sons; none of them became musicians, but his grandson Alexandre seems to have inherited his talent. This young singer (born in Paris, March 8, 1853) is a thorough musician, has already created several important parts, and may be considered one of the best artists at the Opéra Comique (1883).
The writer of this article, having had access to family papers, has been able to correct the errors of previous biographers.[ G. C. ]
- ↑ Fétis confuses the uncle and nephew.