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Richard Burnett, concert pianist who cofounded a museum of historic keyboard instruments – obituary

Richard Burnett, who has died aged 90, was a fine concert pianist, and with his wife Katrina was one of the world’s leading collectors of keyboard instruments; together they founded Finchcocks, the internationally renowned museum of historic keyboard instruments, in an outstanding Georgian manor house of the same name near Goudhurst in Kent.

Their 100-plus instruments included a 1766 chamber organ by John Byfield that was rescued from a West Country house; a single-manual harpsichord from 1785; a virginal by Onofrio Guarracino (1668); and a grand piano by Conrad Graf (c. 1820). Most were restored to full playing order and many have been used in costume dramas, including nine that were seen in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

The Grade I-listed Finchcocks was built in 1725 for Edward Bathurst, a barrister and slave owner. In the 20th century Siegfried Sassoon was a regular guest, adoring “the wide and slippery oak stairs”, while Evelyn Waugh dropped by in the 1950s. The house was requisitioned by the Army during the war and in 1969 became home to the Legat Ballet. By the time the Burnetts came along in 1971 the forlorn mansion was in near-derelict condition, described by Derek Adlam, a partner in their firm, as “a duchess waiting for a taxi”.

The couple intended to use workshops in the grounds for their instrument restoration business, which had grown beyond the available space at their small home in Pimlico, central London. Before long they were employing a team of 10 craftsman and in 1976 they opened their doors to the public. In time, Finchcocks became a place of pilgrimage for connoisseurs of period instruments who knew their fretted clavichords from their double-manual harpsichords.

By 1996 the house, which was also the setting for recordings, chamber music concerts and opera stagings, was so given over to instruments that the Burnetts were living in the stables. Wedding parties and film crews became regular visitors to the house, where teas were served in the basement. Meanwhile, the Finchcocks Collie dogs were as much a part of the set-up as anyone.

Burnett himself was a sensitive and thoughtful pianist, more at home playing early music on original instruments than in the big sounds of the romantic era. His approach to the piano was described as understated and undemonstrative, and while at the keyboard he barely moved. Asked what he was thinking of while playing, he replied: “Jokes.” Indeed, he possessed a sharp wit and a gift for entertaining, whether in talks about music, tours of the instruments – or in his skills as a juggler and unicyclist.

The instruments were also in on the act: one had a device that added to each note a sound like a stick running against railings; another incorporated a rasping or buzzing sound; while a third was fitted with a “nag’s head swell”, delighting audiences by causing the piano lid to raise magically like a jack-in-the-box. Once the audiences had departed, Burnett, Katrina and their personal guests typically repaired either to the back lawn or the second-floor private drawing room, the sun glorious over the hop fields, to continue the drinks, talk and laughter that were so characteristic of the man.

Richard Leslie Burnett was born at another manor house in Godstone, Surrey, on June 23 1932. Known to family and friends as Dick, he was the youngest of five children of Colonel Sir Leslie Burnett, Bt, a member of the surveying firm David Burnett and Son, and his wife Joan (née Humphery).

From Eton he studied at the Royal College of Music, served for two years in the Royal Leicestershire Regiment and read Economics and Modern Languages at King’s College, Cambridge. By the early 1960s he was giving recitals at the Wigmore Hall, London, including one in October 1962 in which he vexed the critics by playing Bach on a modern grand piano.

Burnett’s introduction to early music came not long afterwards when, having broken both arms falling down a flight of stairs, he began teaching at a language school in Munich. There he met some pioneers of the early music movement and on his return began not only playing in the style of earlier years but also acquiring the relevant instruments.

Then came the move to Finchcocks, where he also had a fine collection of music-themed art, with many works dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Meanwhile, Finchcocks Press published some elegant volumes on the history of the instruments such as Company of Pianos (2004).

In November 2016 the Burnetts sold Finchcocks, which under its new owners remains a centre for music-making. They also sold most of their instruments, although they kept hold of 14, ranging from a 1700 spinet to an 1866 Erard grand piano. At their new home in Tunbridge Wells they continued to host concerts and support music students.

Burnett, who at one stage flirted with Buddhism, was appointed MBE in 2008. He is survived by Katrina (née Hendrey), whom he married in 1969; they had no children.

Richard Burnett, born June 23 1932, died July 8 2022.

Photo: provided by The Telegraph
Source: msn.com
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