English Bentside Spinet

The spinet's single choir of strings runs off at an angle to the right, instead of straight away from the player as in the wing-shaped harpsichord, or crossways as in a virginal. This form of the harpsichord recommends itself for its extreme economy of space, and for the fact that it can be a most attractive piece of furniture finished as natural wood. It was John Barnes of Edinburgh who gently insisted that a spinet could be a very acceptable form of harpsichord - the bed he offered David Way one night had first to be disencumbered of one he was restoring. He led David to a small spinet in the Russell Collection, and another in the Royal College of Music and made ZHI rubbings and detailed sketches.

While it has a distinct personality of its own, that personality does not intrude upon the music, or tire your ears. Certainly it does well by Bach and also by Scarlatti, and very well by the English virginalists. The case is made of solid wood - you do not have to veneer it (a task considerably more difficult than painting would be).

The instrument takes up about 67 inches of wall space, but projects from the wall only about 25 inches. The instument comes with the stand, as pictured.