Christoph Friedrich Schmahl

Christoph Friedrich Schmahl (c. 1739 – 15 May 1814) was a German musical instrument maker.

Life

Schmahl came from a family of organ builders. He was born in Heilbronn to Johann Adam Schmahl (1704–1757), an organ builder from the city.[1] By 1770, he had been working in Regensburg.[2]

In 1772, he married Anna Felicitas Späth, the second daughter of Franz Jakob Späth. Späth was looking for a journeyman who could inherit his business.[3]: 215  In 1774, he partnered with Späth to found a piano-building firm. After Späth's death in 1786, he continued to manufacture and sign pianos under his and Späth's name until 1793, when he started to sign only his name.[1] After he retired in 1812, his son, Christian Carl (1782–1815), took over the firm.

Schmahl died on 15 May 1814 in Regensburg. A year after, Christian Carl died and the firm was dissolved.[1]

References

1. Klotz, Hans; Meisel, Maribel; Belt, Philip R.; Klaus, Sabine K. (2001). "Schmahl". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
2. Herrmann, Henrich (1928). Die Regensburger Klavierbauer Späth und Schmahl und ihr Tangentenflügel (Thesis) (in German). Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen.
3. Badura-Skoda, Eva (2017). The eighteenth-century fortepiano grand and its patrons: from Scarlatti to Beethoven. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253022646.