Big Red is for sale. If you are interested, e-mail me at this address.
“Big Red,” also known as A. Cecil Taylor Opus V, was built for my father, the late Dr. Willard A. Palmer, in 1979, by Dr. A. Cecil Taylor, a dentist from Houston who was also a harpsichord aficionado. It is a two manual instrument with the following disposition 16', 8', 8', 4'. It also has a nasal stop, a peau de buffle stop and English lute stops.
Here are a some thumbnails of pictures of this harpsichord. If you click on them, you will see views of various parts of the instrument. Other pictures will be posted soon.
Willard A. Palmer at his harpsichord “Big Red”
Dr.Taylor made his own jacks for this instrument. To see their construction and parts, click here.
Willard Palmer was known and respected all over the world as an expert on baroque ornamentation and an innovator in keyboard pedagogy. He started the Masterwork series for Alfred Publishing Co.
HELP!!!
Willard Palmer played this instrument at several colleges and universities, as well as in concerts all over the United States. The late Igor Kipnis used it during one of his tours through Texas. It is a very unconventional instrument. I am offering a generous reward for anyone who is an experienced harpsichord technician who will come to Houston and show me how to make this instrument function properly. I will also pay transportation and lodging. I am a quick study. The instrument has not been properly set up in about 8 years. It has been in its present location, at a fairly stable humidity and temperature for about a year.
