King Charles makes music on a Glarus piano - at least indirectly - this is the success story of harpsichord maker Burkhardt Tschudi

Janina Rageth, Article in the Südostschweiz of 31.05.2025. Translation by Patrick A. Wild (publication and translation by kind permission of the author and the publisher)

In 1718, Burkhardt Tschudi left Schwanden at the age of 16 and traveled to the big city of London. There, the carpenter rose to become a successful businessman. Even the King of England knows his name.

The Tschudi family: Burkhardt Tschudi (left) rises to become a successful harpsichord maker in London. The painting shows him with his family. Press photo

A 16-year-old boy is fully packed on the road. A church tower rises up behind him and in front of it, many small houses and a few gardens are lined up in narrow alleyways. Above the boy's head, the snow-covered Tödi glistens in the distance. He has recently set off from his home in Schwanden.

No future at home

His facial expression is difficult to interpret. His body language and facial expression make him look a little depressed. But you can also see joyful excitement in his eyes. Because he has a long journey ahead of him. The destination: London.

The young lad is Burkhardt Tschudi, born in Schwanden in 1702. At the time, he was not the only one to leave the Glarus region in the hope of more prospects. The timber industry is one of the most important economic sectors for the small mountain village, but also for the entire canton of Glarus. In the 18th century, however, fears of a timber shortage spread in Switzerland. Recommendations on how to save wood are published and restrictions are imposed on logging.

A small mountain village: The illustration was created around 1714 and shows Schwanden.

Picture: National Archives of the Canton of Glarus

Burkhardt Tschudi learned the carpentry and joinery trade from his uncle. At the age of 16, he was faced with a big decision: should he stay at home and learn a new trade in the cotton industry like his father or seek his fortune in one of Europe's up-and-coming cities?

A young boy with a big dream: Burkhardt Tschudi leaves his home in 1718. The picture postcard (background) shows Schwanden at an unknown date. Image montage: Chatgpt/Press image

London

It is not known exactly how Tschudi traveled to London. However, it was common at the time to travel on foot or, for those who could afford it, by horse or carriage. To get to England, you had to travel by ship.

The German writer Karl Philipp Moritz wrote about his arrival in London in 1782. Tschudi will probably have had a similar experience. "St. Paul's Church rose like a mountain out of the immense mass of smaller buildings," wrote Philipp Moritz. A large number of small boats with masts and sails were sailing back and forth on the Thames. People from all kinds of stalls are on the boats. "Which makes this river almost as lively as a street in London," he continues.

It's hard to imagine how overwhelming the arrival in London must have been for Tschudi. Never before had he seen so many people at once. Tschudi could hardly have imagined that he would one day be the one among these many people to build a harpsichord for the king.

This London picture postcard from 1763 shows the River Thames and the Tower of London in the background (right). Press photo

Burkat Shudi, the harpsichord maker

Tschudi's success in London is demonstrated by the piano-like instrument in the Freuler Palace in Näfels. It is a harpsichord from the 18th century. Unlike the piano, the keys are not struck but plucked. The following is written behind the keys in elegantly curved letters: "Burkat Shudi No. 639 fecit Londini 1771."

Very few people would think of a Glarus native when they hear "Burkat Shudi". It is a form of the Glarus name Burkhardt Tschudi adapted into English. The harpsichord also bears the number 639 and the year it was made, 1771.In the smallest palace of the British royals, Kew Palace above London, there is also a harpsichord like this in the Queen's drawing room. This is also inscribed with "Burkat Shudi fecit Londini".

Above: Over 250 years old: the Freuler Palace in Näfels houses a Tschudi harpsichord that was built in 1771. Picture: Sasi Subramaniam

Left: The finest woodwork: like the one in London, the harpsichord in the Freuler Palace is inscribed with "Burkat Shudi fecit Londini".

Picture Sasi Subramaniam

The harpsichord in Kew Palace belonged to Frederick of Hanover, who later ascended the English throne as King George III. The one in the Freuler Palace was donated to the state of Glarus in 1980. It was previously privately owned by one Daniel Tschudi.

A new life in London

Tschudi lives in London with Jakob Wild, who also comes from Schwanden. Wild had already made a life for himself as a merchant in the English city. His daughter Katharina later marries Tschudi.

Tschudi learns the trade of harpsichord making from Hermann Tabel. Through two acquaintances in the music industry, the director of the Royal Academy of Music Johann Jakob Heidegger and composer Georg Friedrich Händel, Tschudi gained access to the very authorities who had the means to buy musical instruments such as harpsichords. He opened his own harpsichord store as early as the 1720s.

At this time, many Swiss were able to build a new life for themselves in London with jobs in the timber industry. Together with the lower nobility, they all formed a new social class: the bourgeoisie.

From immigrant to businessman

You can almost see a slight grin on Tschudi's face. A white powdered wig adorns his head and, dressed in a light blue, shiny robe, he is tuning a harpsichord. A portrait of his patron Frederick of Hanover, Prince of Wales, hangs on the wall behind him.

Tschudi's six-year-old son Joshua stands next to him and watches him tune the harpsichord with interest. Tschudi's wife Katharina sits on a chair next to him. She holds her left arm protectively around five-year-old Burkat, who is trying to run away. He is holding a cookie in his hand, which is being watched closely by the family cat.

Tschudi has good reason to grin. From a 16-year-old immigrant in London, he has risen to become a successful businessman in around 20 years. The Tschudis probably had the family portrait painted of themselves to celebrate this success.

The props in the family painting show the status of the Tschudis. Wigs were initially only worn by the nobility. But in the course of the 18th century, they became smaller, cheaper and also used by the upper middle classes in cities. Tschudi's wife Katharina is dressed in a modern silk dress. However, she is wearing a traditional linen cap on her head. From the porcelain tableware on the table, the family drinks drinks that were new and exotic for the time, such as tea or chocolate.

After a financial crisis in 1720, the political and economic situation in the United Kingdom remained stable for a long time. As a port city and thanks to its numerous colonies around the world, London is also a center of trade. Between 1700 and 1780, English foreign trade doubled. Many opportunities arose to acquire wealth as an entrepreneur or merchant and thus to rise socially.

Today, the family portrait of the Tschudis, or more correctly Shudis, hangs in room 9 on the third floor of the National Portrait Gallery in London. Not far from Leicester Square. It was created in 1742 by the German painter Marcus Tuscher.

Celebratory mood in London

The German writer Karl Philipp Moritz described the city of London in 1782 as a "hustle and bustle of people, where everyone goes about his business or pleasure with quick steps, and has to push and shove his way through everywhere". Tschudi must have been able to observe the hustle and bustle of people from his workshop in Great Pulteney Street almost 20 years earlier.

A cheerful mood prevails in the streets of London at this time. King George III was soon to be crowned in Westminster Abbey on September 22, 1761. Tschudi is also in a celebratory mood. Because his loyal patron Frederick, the Prince of Wales, is the one who will be crowned on September 22.

Instead of watching the hustle and bustle in the street in front of his store, the now 59-year-old looks over the shoulder of a young man who is gluing together the baseboards of a harpsichord. After watching him work for a while, he stops him. He points to a spot where the baseboards are not yet perfectly in place. The young man immediately tries to correct his inaccuracy.

The young man's name is John Broadwood. He began his apprenticeship with Tschudi in 1761. Broadwood was able to live in the attic of the house at Great Pulteney Street with the other employees. He met Tschudi's daughter Barbara, who was born after the two sons in the family painting. John Broadwood and Barbara Shudi later marry.

A rising world star plays Tschudi's harpsichord

Not far from his store in Great Pulteney Street, Tschudi and his employees are setting up a harpsichord in the Hickford's Room concert hall. The harpsichord is being set up for someone who has been traveling with his family from court to court throughout Europe for two years to give concerts. The harpsichord itself is actually intended for Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. However, a talented boy is allowed to play Tschudi's instrument in front of an audience before it is sent to the monarch.

It looks like a piano, but it's not: on a harpsichord, the strings are plucked when the keys are pressed.

Picture: Sasi Subramaniam

"For the Benefit of Miss MOZART of Thirteen, and Master MOZART of Eight Years of Age, Prodigies of Nature. HICKFORD'S Great Room in Brewer Street, Monday, May 13 will be A CONCERT of MUSIC With all the OVERTURES of this little Boy's own Composition", advertises a poster for the concert. Miss Mozart and Master Mozart are none other than Anna Maria, Nannerl for short, Mozart and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Music-making siblings: The oil paintings by Pietro Antonio Lorenzoni show Nannerl Mozart (left) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as children. Press photos

Tschudi's legacy

Six years after the Mozart concerto, Tschudi hands over the business to his son Burkat and his son-in-law John Broadwood. The latter became the actual boss and soon began experimenting with pianos as well as harpsichords. The name of the business was changed from "Shudi & Broadwood" to "John Broadwood & Son" in 1795. Burkhardt Tschudi or, as he was known in England, Burkat Shudi died in 1773 at the age of 71.

His legacy lives on, albeit not so obviously, with the company "John Broadwood & Son" to this day. In 1808, after Broadwood's second son joined the family business, it was given the name "John Broadwood & Sons", which remains to this day. King George IV, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II acquire Broadwood pianos and musicians such as Chopin are provided with Broadwood pianos for their British tours. In the winter of 2025, the company becomes the official purveyor to the court of King Charles III.

"John Broadwood & Sons is one of the oldest and most renowned piano manufacturers in the world. Very few people know, however, that it all began with a 16-year-old from Glarus who had the courage to move from the small mountain village of Schwanden to the big metropolis of London.

Through time and space with Glarus eyes: stories of Glarus daredevils and heroes

The series "Through time and space with Glarus eyes" is dedicated to historical Glarus personalities who either had the courage to plunge into the unknown, acted against social expectations like Frieda Gallati or made a difference in the world like Fritz Paravicini. Burkhardt Tschudi was born in Schwanden in 1702. At the age of 16, he emigrated to London, where he learned the trade of harpsichord making from Hermann Tabel. Tschudi opened his own business in 1728 and during the course of his career was able to supply influential people such as the English King George III and the Prussian King Frederick the Great. The piano company "John Broadwood & Sons", which still exists today and still builds and maintains pianos for the British court, began with Burkhardt Tschudi's harpsichord business.

Biographical notes (by Patrick A. Wild)

Burkhard Tschudi was born on March 13, 1702, in the “Farb” district of Schwanden, the son of wool merchant, surgeon, and councilman Josua Tschudi (1673-1755) and Margaretha Elmer (1673-1740). In 1728, Burkhard Tschudi (Shudi) married Katharina Wild (1707-1758), who had emigrated from Schwanden to London with her parents before Tschudi, and they used her dowry to set up the business. They had eleven children. After Katharina's death, Shudi married for the second time in 1759 and had another daughter with Swiss Elizabeth Meyer. His sons Joshua (1736-1754) and Burkhard (1738-1803) and his daughter Barbara (1748-1776) and her husband John Broadwood took over the business on March 7, 1771, which Broadwood (1732-1812) ran alone from 1782 onwards. Tschudi's grandson, James Shudi Broadwood (1772-1851), still bore the name Tschudi.

Janina Rageth is an editor at Glarner Nachrichten, a publication of the Somedia media group. She has been a permanent employee there since January 2025, having previously completed an internship at the same editorial office. In her journalistic work, she reports exclusively on topics from the canton of Glarus – from political reporting to cultural and social events. In addition to her work as a journalist, she also produces digital content, including for Heidiland's TikTok channel, which she conceives, films, and edits independently. Janina Rageth completed her secondary education at the Evangelische Mittelschule Schiers in 2021. She is currently completing her bachelor's degree in modern history at the University of Fribourg.