^Pianos 

in the 

Smithsonian 

^nstitation 

DIVISION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 

SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY / NUMBER 27 

DEC31W3 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION PRESS 

CITY OF WASHINGTON 

1973 
COVER: Broadwood Vertical Piano, ca. 1815. 

(Time-Life Photograph) 

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited 

number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's 

annual report, Smithsonian Year, si PRESS NUMBER 4836. 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Hollis, Helen R. 

Pianos in the Smithsonian Institution. 

(Smithsonian studies in history and technology, no. 27) 

Bibliography: p. 

1. Piano—History. I. Title. II. Series: Smithsonian 

Institution. Smithsonion studies in history and 

technology, no. 27. 

ML650.H64 786.2'!'09 73-9769 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents 

U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 

Price: 80 cents 

Stock Number 4700-00262 
Contents 

i Predecessors of the Piano 

3 The First Pianos 

9 Developments in England and Germany 

14 British vs Viennese Schools 

19 The Broadwood Piano 

22 Vertical Pianos 

27 French Contributions 

29 American Innovations 

39 The "White House" Steinway 

46 Selected Bibliography 

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Explanation of keyboard compasses. 
^Pianos in the 

Smithsonian Aistitution 

This booklet will serve as an introduction to the important 

collection of pianos in the Smithsonian Institution. As yet no 

catalog has been compiled and the collection is little known, but 

it is one of the largest collections of instruments of this family 

in existence. A complete list of the keyboard collection is found 

in A Checklist of Keyboard Instruments at the Smithsonian 

Institution. It includes the predecessors of the piano, i.e., 

clavichords and harpsichords, alo?ig with a complete list of the 

pianos. The checklist is available from the Division of Musical 

Instruments, National Museum of History and Technology, 

Smithsonian Institution. The selected examples discussed and 

illustrated herein represent many important stages in the 

development of the modern piano from its early beginnings. 

Predecessors of the Piano 

T h e clavichord and harpsichord were the stringed keyboard 

instruments in use from sometime in the fourteenth century until 

they were finally replaced by the piano around 1800. 

T h e clavichord is an instrument of extremely delicate sound— 

the dynamic range has been described as "from almost nothing 

at the least to not very much at the most"—and its uses are 

limited to playing for ones own pleasure or for a few friends in 

an intimate setting; it cannot be heard as an accompanying or 
ensemble instrument. In spite of its limitations the clavichord 

survived, especially in Germany, because its peculiarly expressive 

possibilities were much admired. Its very simple action consists 

of a balanced key lever with an upright strip of metal—a tangent 

—set on the rear. When the key is struck the tangent strikes a 

pair (usually) of strings and presses against them as long as the 

key is held down. The tangent's continued pressure on the strings, 

inhibiting their vibration, accounts for the very small sound. It 

is obvious, however, that, by striking the key with greater or 

lesser force, control and gradation of volume are possible. Further, since the performer is still in touch with the strings as long 

as he holds down the key, he can vary the pressure slightly, 

stretching and relaxing the strings, to cause a subtle fluctuation 

of pitch as well as to prolong the sound. This expressive effect 

is a kind of vibrato—the designation for which is the German 

word Bebung—unique among keyboard instruments. 

The harpsichord and its smaller relatives, the virginal and 

spinet, make their music by plucking the strings. One or more 

"jacks" rest on the end of each key. These jacks carry plectra to 

pluck the strings when the key is struck. Since the plucking takes 

place at some distance from the performer, by remote control so 

to speak, he has virtually no power to vary the dynamics by 

altering the force with which he strikes the keys. Therefore, 

gradation of volume cannot be achieved. Nevertheless, throughout the four centuries of its use, the harpsichord was the only 

stringed keyboard instrument that could be used for accompaniment and ensemble music. Composers and performers alike found 

ways to compensate for its lack of dynamic coloration, and a 

magnificent body of solo literature was composed for it. 

The history of the Smithsonian Institution's fine collection of 

keyboard instruments begins with the munificent donation in 

1914 of a group of clavichords, harpsichords, and pianos. These 
were the gift of Hugo Worch, a Washington piano technician 

and dealer. Before his death in 1938, he had augmented the 

collection to an impressive total of 170, 133 of which are pianos. 

Later donors have increased the number of pianos to 160. 

The First Pianos 

T h e early keyboard instruments served superbly for the music 

of their time, but from 1600 a slowly changing style of musical 

composition ultimately brought about a taste for an instrument 

with the expressive possibilities of the clavichord and the fuller 

sonority of the harpsichord. Shortly before 1700 an Italian 

harpsichord maker and keeper of the musical instrument collection of Prince Ferdinand dei Medici of Florence set out to 

"improve" the harpsichord and, quite inadvertently it seems, 

invented a new keyboard instrument. He called his invention 

"gravicembalo col piano e forte"—harpsichord with soft and 

loud. It was not a harpsichord at all, however, but the instrument 

we know as "piano" or, properly, "pianoforte,'' derived from 

Cristofori's descriptive name for his new instrument. 

Thre e of Cristofori's pianos survive: one in Th e Metropolitan 

Museum of Art in New York City, one in the Museo Strumenti 

Musicali in Rome, and one in the Musikinstrumenten-Museum 

der Karl-Marx-Universitat, in Leipzig, shown in Figure 1. Th e 

piano mentioned last is in its original state and reveals Cristofori 

as an inventor and consummate craftsman of great imagination. 

In a case like that of a harpsichord, he substituted for the jacks 

with plectra a row of leather-topped wooden hammers and installed them in an ingenious mechanical system. Based on a series 

of levers, the action operates as follows: When a key is struck, 

a hammer is thrown up to strike two strings tuned in unison. 

T h e final stroke of the hammer should take place from a point 

quite close to the strings, in order to give the player better control 

over the amount of tone he produces. The hammer having struck 

must then immediately drop away, leaving the strings free to 

continue vibrating while the key is held down. Th e part of the 

mechanism that controls the hammer's upward course and its 

rebound is known as the 'escapement.'-

To refine the action, Cristofori installed behind the hammer 

an upright piece of wood covered with material to provide friction. This "check" or "backcheck" inhibits the hammer, when it 

falls against the check, from bouncing back to bob undesirably 

on the strings, stopping the tone. 

He also installed a synchronized damper system—a pad of 

felt rests on each pair of strings until the instant before they 

are struck and then raises off to permit them to vibrate while 

the key is held down, returning to its position when the key 

is released. 

A device (una corda) for shifting the keyboard so that each 

hammer strikes only a single string of each pair, was introduced 

to effect a contrast in dynamics as well as in tonal color. 

(The term "una corda" (one string) is apt for the early double 

strung pianos where the device, whether lever or pedal, moves 

the action sideways so that the hammers strike only one of the 

two strings provided for each key. On the modern grand piano, 

FIGURE I. Grand piano by Bartolommeo Cristofori, Florence, Italy, 1726. 

Compass C to c3, double-strung, a, Full view, b, Action view. The hammer 

head consists of a small block of wood on which is set a hollow cylinder made 

of several layers of parchment topped with a pad of leather. The parchment 

roll is evidently intended to provide lightness and a certain degree of elasticity. 

(Musikinstrumenten-Museum der Karl-Marx-Universitat, Leipzig.) 
however, when the una corda pedal is in use, the hammers for the 

lowest single strings strike the strings off center; for the middle 

register they strike one of each pair of strings and in the upper 

register they strike two of the three strings for each key.) 

T h e pianist of today will recognize that these features are all 

characteristic of the piano he plays; indeed, Cristofori's action 

is the basis of the modern piano and its principles have not been 

significantly changed. 

T h e introduction of the piano was largely unnoticed. Although 

L. Giustini di Pistoja in 1732 wrote twelve sonatas for Cristofori's 

new instrument—the first-published music for piano—these almost forgotten compositions and the new instrument constitute 

Italy's total contribution to the history of the piano. 

An Italian journalist, however, had visited Cristofori's studio 

in 1709 (the date most history books give for the invention of 

the piano) and two years later published an article describing 

and praising the remarkable instruments he had seen there. 

Meanwhile, in Germany, a flamboyant performer on the hammered dulcimer had been exciting admiration. He was Pantaleon 

Hebenstreit who had had made a huge dulcimer strung with 

nearly 200 strings that he struck with two double-ended hammers 

—one end hard and the other padded. His dazzling virtuosity 

demonstrated the variety of sounds that could be produced by 

hammers striking strings with varying force. Hebenstreit's performance so intrigued Louis xiv in 1705 that the king suggested 

the gigantic dulcimer be called a "pantaleon" and so it came 

to be. 

Others were also intrigued by the instrument, including Gottfried Silbermann, a clavichord- and organ-maker of Saxony, who 

applied his skill to making a few pantaleons. It is presumed 

that he learned of Cristofori's work from the article written by 

the Italian journalist—it had been translated into German—and 
FIGURE 2. Grand piano by Gottfried Silbermann, Freiberg, Germany, ca. 1745. 

Compass FF to d3. (Sans Souci Palace, Potsdam, Germany.) 
it was thus a logical step to try his hand at a piano. Silbermann 

showed his first pianos to Johann Sebastian Bach in 1736, but 

was disappointed by his unfavorable criticism. Some ten years 

later, however, after dogged persistence, he produced an improved 

piano while retaining the principles of Cristofori's action. Silbermann's surviving pianos show that they indeed are worthy to 

succeed those of Cristofori. Frederick 11 of Prussia (later known 

as Frederick the Great) was so impressed that he ordered a 

number of them. Some reports say there were once fifteen pianos 

in his palaces; two are today in Sans Souci palace in Potsdam 

(Figure 2), and a third that disappeared during the second world 

war may still exist. 

In 1747, Bach was invited to Potsdam by his son Carl Phillip 

Emanuel, who was in Frederick's service as chapel-master. 

Escorted around the palace by the king to try the pianos, the 

elder Bach apparently found them acceptable, but it must be 

considered that his complimentary remarks may have been made 

out of courtesy to the king. In honor of the occasion, however, 

Bach improvised a fugue on a theme provided by the king, later 

expanding it to his great work, "The Musical Offering." In any 

case, it is clear that during the few years left to him, Bach did not 

abandon the harpsichord and clavichord in favor of the piano as 

composers and performers were to do before the century ended. 

Although other craftsmen had been experimenting in Germany, as well as in France, in attempting to make a hammeraction, stringed keyboard instrument—the piano idea was in 

the air—Silbermann was the most successful among them, and 

he is credited with the introduction of the piano in Germany. 

Succeeding important stages in the development of the modern 

piano (examples of which are in the Smithsonian collections) are 

discussed in the following pages, along with some unsuccessful 

experiments of interest, as evidence of the inventive explorations 
in the quest for a beautiful sound in an instrument that meets 

the requirements of composers and performers alike. 

Developments in England and Germany 

A piano built in 1711 by an English monk in Rome found its 

way to London and was copied there by an English harpsichordmaker. It met with no success, however, and was abandoned. 

T h e year 1760, then, marks the beginning of England's important 

role in piano-making history with the arrival from Germany of 

twelve men from Gottfried Silbermann's workshop, which had 

been closed due to the Seven Year's War. Most important among 

the arrivals was Johannes Zumpe, who found a job with the 

great Swiss-born harpsichord-maker, Burkat Shudi. 

Zumpe knew piano-making in the Cristofori-Silbermann manner, and he soon set about making small compact pianos, 

rectangular in shape rather than the grand model. Since the 

pianos were modest in price as well as in size, they quickly 

caught on with the rising middle class and musical amateurs. 

T h e first appearance of a piano in concert in London was in 

1767 when a Zumpe was used to accompany a singer. The next 

year, the first public solo piano recital there was given by none 

other than Johann Christian Bach, Johann Sebastian's youngest 

son, who had taken up residence in London; and, again, a Zumpe 

piano was used. 

T he Zumpe rectangular piano (Figure 3) contained a simplified version of the action devised by Cristofori and Silbermann, 

but, lacking an escapement, it must have presented problems. 

Nevertheless, J. C. Bach managed to play admirably on it and, 

in fact, contributed greatly to the acceptance of the piano and 

the development of a true pianistic style. 
10 

Soon the square pianos (as the rectangular models came inexplicably to be called) enjoyed a great vogue—Zumpe couldn't 

make them fast enough and others began to make them too. 

Before long they were also popular on the continent and influenced the beginnings of piano-making in France. 

While the ideas of Cristofori were being developed by Silbermann in Germany and carried to England by Zumpe, another 

group in southern Germany was working independently in the 

interest of "improving" the clavichord. 

The earliest known instrument of this type is a square piano 

by Johann Socher in 1742 now in the Germanischesmuseum, 
11 

FIGURE 4. Square piano by Gottlob Emanuel Riifner, Niirnberg, Germany, ca. 1780. 

Compass FF to g3. a, Full view. Two hand stops: one raises dampers; the other is a buff 

stop moving leather tabs between hammers and strings, b, Detail of key and hammer 

(Catalog number 332,175; Hugo Worch Collection.) 
12 Niirnberg. Its workmanship is of such sophistication, however, 

that it must surely have had predecessors. Th e piano shown in 

Figure 4, although later in date, is a primitive example that 

shows its close relation to the clavichord. 

T h e case is so similar to that of a clavichord that it may once 

have even housed one, but it now contains the simplest of piano 

mechanisms known as Prellemechanik (rebound mechanism). 

Each hammer is pivoted on the rear end of the key in its own 

little housing (Kapsel), with the hammer pointing toward the 

front. Th e hammer is a wedge-shaped piece of uncovered wood. 

Ther e is no escapement or backcheck, but since the hammer, 

once it has been thrown up to strike the strings, is free to rebound 

rather than continue to press against the strings as in the clavichord action, the instrument qualifies as a piano. Th e beginnings 

of this type of action are obscure, and one can only conjecture 

whether the first makers of these actions were conscious of having 

invented a new instrument or merely thought of them as altered 

clavichords as Cristofori thought of his piano as a new type 

of harpsichord. 

T h e success of the piano had to await its acceptance by composers and performers. In the autumn of 1777, Mozart, then 21, 

was in Augsburg, Germany, where for the first time he played a 

grand piano made by Johann Andreas Stein. He wrote to his 

father praising the instrument and describing its superiority 

over the ones by Spath of Regensburg that had been his favorites. 

Later in the year his mother wrote from Mannheim to her 

husband that their son was creating a stir with his playing on 

the numerous pianos there—that indeed he was playing quite 

differently from the way he did in Salzburg. 

Once a satisfactory piano was available, a style of composition 

idomatic for it quickly developed, and the harpsichord began 

to be neglected. In 1790, Joseph Haydn advised a friend to 
follow his example by giving up his harpsichord and buying a 

piano. By 1800, the harpsichord was quite generally forgotten 

and the piano completely accepted. 

The Schmidt piano in Figure 5 is, in all important aspects, 

like the Stein described by Mozart. It is likely that Mozart knew 

of Schmidt's work, as his father had recommended Schmidt as 

organ-builder to the Salzburg court. 

13 

FIGURE 5. Grand piano by 

Johann Schmidt, Salzburg, 

Austria, 1788. Compass FF to 

f

3

. One hand (buff) stop (moves 

row of soft leather tabs forward 

to come between the hammers 

and strings), two knee levers 

under the keyboard (the right 

one raises the dampers from 

the right end leaving the bass 

strings partially damped; the 

left one raises the dampers from 

all the strings). (Catalog 

number 303,536; Hugo Worch 

Collection.) 
14

 British vs Viennese Schools 

From the last quarter of the eighteenth century and through 

the nineteenth, two schools of piano-making vied for favor: the 

English Grand action (Figure 6), based on the principles of 

Cristofori and Silbermann, and the German or Viennese action 

(Figure 7), developed by German and Austrian makers. The 

former is more resistant to the touch, requires more muscle 

power, and produces greater volume; the latter is lighter in 

touch, more articulate, and more touch-sensitive. 

Each school had its partisans and some makers produced both 

types in their workshops to satisfy their particular clients. There 

were even contests to prove the superiority of one over the other, 

but the results seem always to have been inconclusive. 

As time went on, the aim of every piano-maker was to produce 

an instrument that combined the best qualities of each. For 

whatever reasoris, the English system won out and the last 

Viennese action pianos were made in the early years of the 

twentieth century. 

Johann Andreas Stein of Augsburg, Germany, whose piano 

Mozart enthusiastically praised to his father in 1777, was indeed 

a fine piano-maker as surviving examples of his instruments 

show, and he taught his craft to two of his children, Matthaus 

Andreas and Nannette. When Nannette married Johann Andreas 

Streicher in 1793, she moved with her husband, mother, and 

brother to Vienna. Sister and brother set up their own firm and 

it was then that the German piano action came to be known 

also as the Viennese action. 

Nannette is the only woman to have distinguished herself in 

the field of piano-making and is remembered as a highly cultivated member of Viennese society, first-rate pianist, competent 

business woman, and devoted friend and confidante of Beethoven. 
15 

FIGURE 6. Model of English Grand action in the National Museum of History and Technology: 

A, keys; B, pins; c, hammers (the upper one arrested just before the final toss, the other arrested 

against the backcheck); D, portion of hammer rail; E, backcheck; F, escapement; c, screw to 

regulate escapement; H, damper; i, strings; J, wrest pins; K, fulcrum; L, hammer shanks; 

M, damper jacks; N, portion of hammer rest; o, notched block of wood. 

The key (A-A) is a lever, one end of which is struck by the finger. It is held in place by a pin 

(B) on a fulcrum (K). The hammer (c) is set on the rear end of a hammer shank (L), the front 

end of which is attached to a small block of wood (o) pivoted to a hammer rail (D) that is part 

of the frame of the action. 

Motion is transmitted to the hammer through the escapement (F), an upright attached to the 

key. The block of wood at the front of the hammer shank has a notch cut in it that rests on 

the top of this upright. 

When the key is struck the escapement slides back under pressure from the regulating screw 

(G); when it finally slips out of the notch the hammer that had been traveling up makes its final 

toss to strike the strings (i). The control of the hammer's upward course until the last instant, 

that is accomplished by the escapement mechanism, gives the performer better control over the 

dynamics than would be possible if the hammer traveled freely from its rest. Once the hammer has 

struck, it drops back against the backcheck (E) and remains there as long as the key is held down. 

Upon release of the key, the backcheck moves back allowing the hammer to drop down to its 

rest (N), and the escapement slips back under the notch in the block of wood as the rear end of 

the key descends. 

The damper system consists of a jack (M) dropped through a mortise in the damper rail, its 

top capped with a pad of leather and felt (H). The jack is pushed up by the rear end of the key 

to lift the pad from the strings just before the hammer strikes them. It falls back of its own 

weight when the key is released. 
16 

FIGURE 7. Model of German or Viennese action in the National Museum of History and 

Technology: A, keys; B, pins; c, Kapsel (hammer support or housing); D, hammers (the upper 

one arrested just before the final toss, the other at rest); E, backcheck; F, escapement; c, spring; 

H, damper jack; 1, strings; j , wrest pins; K, fulcrum; L, hammer shanks; M, upright that raises 

damper jack; N, hammer rest. 

The key (A-A) is a lever, one end of which is struck by the finger. It is held in place by a pin 

(B) on a fulcrum (K). The hammer (D) is on the front end of a shank (1.) that is pinned at the 

other end to a Kapsel (c) fixed to the rear of the key. The shank terminates in a beak-shaped 

projection. The "beak" rests in a notch in the escapement (F) that is pressed forward at all times 

by a light spring (c). When the key is struck, the Kapsel rises carrying the hammer up and as the 

beak slips out of the notch of the escapement the hammer is freed to make its final toss to strike 

the strings (1). The control of the hammer's upward course until the last instant, that is accomplished by the escapement mechanism, gives the performer better control over the dynamics than 

would be possible if the hammer traveled freely from its resting place (N) to the strings. 

Once the hammer has struck, it falls back against the backcheck (E), which is covered with 

material that provides enough friction to prevent the hammer from bouncing back against the 

strings, thus muffling the tone. The hammer rests there and the beak rests against the escapement 

above the notch as long as the key is held down. Upon release of the key, the hammer drops to 

its rest (N) as the escapement is pushed back into place by the spring (c). 

The damper action consists of two parts: a short base of wood (M) cushioned with felt rests on 

the key and raises as the key is struck, pushing up a damper jack (H) to which is attached a thick 

pad of felt. The felt lifts from the strings the instant before the hammer strikes. When the key 

is released the jack falls clown of its own weight, the felt pad coming to rest again on the strings. 
In 1802, the partnership of the Steins was dissolved, each 

setting up on his own, Andreas using the French form of his 

middle name, Andre, and his sister signing herself Nannette 

Streicher geborene (born) Stein. 

The piano shown in Figure 8 is a handsome example of 

Andre Stein's work and typical of the nineteenth-century Viennese piano. The rounded case, mahogany veneered with ormolu 

17 

FIGURE 8. Grand piano by Andre Stein, Vienna, Austria, 

ca. 1825. Compass FF to f*. Four pedals: damper, bassoon 

on lowest three octaves (lowers a wooden bar on the under 

side of which is attached a roll of paper that touches the 

strings which, when struck, make a buzzing sound in 

attempted imitation of a bassoon); buff (moves soft leather 

tabs forward to come between hammers and strings); 

and una corda. (Catalog number 316467; Hugo Worch 

Collection.) 
FIGURE 9. Giraffe piano by Andre Stein, Vienna, Austria, 

ca. 1810. Compass FF to i*. Six pedals: damper, bass drum 

and bells (one pedal), buff (two pedals, one of which 

places a felt strip between hammers and bass strings; 

the other operative on the treble strings), bassoon 

(lowers a bar with a roll of paper attached to the 

underside that touches the bass strings which, when 

struck, make a buzzing sound), una corda. (Catalog 

number 299,844; Hugo Worch Collection.) 
decorations applied to the keyboard surround, is of striking 19 

elegance. 

# # # 

One of the more bizarre chapters in the history of the piano is 

the installation of multiple pedals for extravagant effects. These 

are known as Janissary pedals, taking their name from the 

Turkish Janissary bands that marched to the din of banging, 

clanging, and jangling of various percussion instruments—triangles, bells, cymbals, and drums. Fascination with these exotic 

sounds led to a fad; rulers in other countries organized their own 

noisy bands in the Turkish style and notable composers including 

Mozart and Beethoven wrote some music imitating the Janissary 

style. 

T h e piano was not to escape this influence and from the beginning of the nineteenth century for about forty years a number 

of makers provided pedal attachments—as many as seven or 

eight—to produce a variety of percussive effects. Th e taste for 

these was often accompanied by a preference for a case in a style 

known as "giraffe"—a vertical piano in which the case follows 

the outline of the frame as in Figure 9. 

T h e Janissary pedals were frivolous toys, an insult to the piano, 

and were deservedly abandoned and forgotten. They are included 

here only because they are a historical curiosity. 

The Broadwood Piano 

In 1761 Burkat Shudi, the esteemed London harpsichordmaker who had emigrated from Switzerland, took a young Scot, 

John Broadwood, as his apprentice. Broadwood married the 

Shudi daughter in 1769, and the next year his father-in-law made 

him a partner in the business. 
20 Shudi retired in 1772 and died a year later, but the shop 

continued to make fine harpsichords under the name Shudi and 

Broadwood until 1791. Shudi's own son had remained with the 

business until 1782, in which year Broadwood became the sole 

proprietor, later taking both of his sons into partnership. Th e 

last harpsichord left the shop in 1793, bearing only Broadwood's 

name. 

Well before this, however, Broadwood had turned to pianomaking. As early as 1773 a square piano of Johannes Zumpe's 

model had been made in his shop and by 1780 Broadwood produced a model of his own. 

T h e piano in Figure 10 is dated 1794 and must have been one 

of the earliest to be labeled "John Broadwood and Son." Th e 

case is in the style of one of the firm's harpsichords. Even the 

foot pedals are in the same design as those applied to the late 

harpsichords for a quite different purpose. Th e piano contains 

the English Grand action (Figure 6), as developed in the Broadwood shop by several craftsmen and based on the pianos of 

Cristofori and Silbermann. Th e soundboard bears the seal of 

England around which an inscription proudly proclaims: "By 

special appointment to H.M. King George in." 

Since every great pianist has played a Broadwood, the name 

is famous. Th e Broadwood firm made history of a special nature 

when in 1817 it presented Beethoven with one of its grand pianos, 

his first with a compass of six octaves. 

T h e presentation was ceremonious: Beethoven's name was 

inscribed on a special plaque that bore the name of Thomas 

Broadwood as donor, along with names of musicians of note in 

London at the time. Although it took seven months for the 

gift to reach Vienna, Beethoven was so impressed by the honor 

it represented that even before its eagerly awaited arrival on 

June 18, 1818, he wrote—in his best French—a florid letter of 
21 

FIGURE 10. Grand piano by John Broadwood and 

Son, London, England, 1794. Compass FF to c*. Two 

pedals: dampe r and una corda. (Catalog numbe r 

303,530; Hugo Worch Collection.) 

thanks to the donors. It is sad to relate, however, that his tragic 

deafness had progressed to such a point that it is unlikely he 

could hear the instrument; he had by this time, virtually given 

up playing. Nevertheless, to the end of his days he continued 

to take great pride in showing his Broadwood to visitors. Ultimately, the piano came into the hands of Franz Liszt and is now 

in the Magyar Nemzeti Muzcum in Budapest. John Broadwood 

and Sons Ltd., continues in business in London and is operated 

by descendants of the founders. 
22

 Vertical Pianos 

The rise of a prosperous middle class was accompanied by the 

advent of the musical amateur and as more and more people 

wanted pianos, makers began to give some thought to making 

them in new shapes. The horizontal grand piano took up too 

much space for the average modest home and the small square 

pianos with limited soundboard space were inadequate for 

ambitious virtuosos. Some makers thought of upending small 

grands and setting them on stands. Others simply turned small 

squares on their sides and set them on stands. 

A vertical piano requires a change in the action. Since the 

fall of the hammer is not aided by gravity, some kind of spring 

arrangement must be devised to ensure the prompt return of 

the hammer once it has struck the strings. Numerous makers 

attacked this problem in many different ways. 

The instrument we know today as the "upright" was first 

developed by two makers in the same year—1800. They were 

Matthias Muller of Vienna and John Isaac Hawkins, an Englishman working in Philadelphia. 

Each maker turned the piano on its end, rested it on the floor 

rather than on a stand, and ran the strings all the way to the 

bottom of its rectangular case. Hawkins then installed a type 

of action which, in principle, is down-striking but, in an upright 

instrument, becomes of necessity front-to-back-striking. Various 

makers had experimented with down-striking action for grands 

without success, so that the up-striking action was universally 

adopted for these models. The down-striking action, however, 

became standard for uprights. 

Muller s piano was not widely noticed and Hawkins is generally credited with the invention of the piano we now call the 

upright. The neat little cabinet piano attracted a good deal of 
attention at the time, and it was played in a concert at the

 2 3 

Franklin Institute of Philadelphia. While on a visit to that city, 

Thomas Jefferson was so taken with the little piano that he 

bought one for Monticello—only to return it to the maker with 

the complaint that it would not stay in tune. 

Running the strings all the way to the floor is an advantageous 

utilization of the available space. In 1802 a London manufacturer thought of making even better use of the space by 

running the strings obliquely across the frame, making it possible 

to use longer bass strings for a better sound. 

Of more interest, however, than the stringing plan is Hawkins' 

use of metal somewhat in advance of his time. The soundboard 

is suspended in a metal frame braced by iron bars and the bass 

strings are overspun or wrapped, substituting thickness and 

weight for length. Metal framing and overspun bass strings were 

to become very important to the piano of the future, as described 

on pages 36, 37. 

Figure 11 shows the exterior and stringing of a Hawkins 

upright piano made in 1801. Although it is numbered 6 the 

only other example known to exist is in the collection of John 

Broadwood and Sons, Ltd., London, and dates from 1800. 

Along with the innovations introduced by Hawkins, his little 

piano has some features that are throwbacks to earlier times. 

T h e natural keys are capped with boxwood and the accidentals 

are black, as were those of early harpsichords, and there is a 

"Venetian Swell" for dynamic effects. This latter was invented 

in 1769 by Burkat Shudi to be applied to harpsichords. It is a 

row of louvers set over the soundboard, the opening and closing 

of which are controlled by a pedal attachment. It was not very 

successful for harpsichords, but organ makers adopted the device 

to good effect and a few square pianos were so equipped around 

the turn of the century. 
FIGURE II. Upright piano (called portable grand) by John Isaac Hawkins, 

Philadelphia, 1801. Compass FF to f3. a, Full view. Two pedals or levers, 

which move from side to side—one to open and close the Venetian swell, the 

other a buff stop. The keyboard folds up, making a neat little portable cabinet. 

b, Plan view. (Catalog number 313,619; Hugo Worch Collection.) 

Hawkins cabinet piano had no significant impact on the 

development of the piano; still his instruments incorporate some 

noteworthy ideas. Primarily an inventor rather than a musical 

instrument-maker, he deserves notice for his wide range of in-
terests. Besides conceiving a number of ideas aimed at improving 25 

the piano, he invented a musical instrument called the "claviola," 

an example of which is in the collection of Th e Metropolitan 

Museum of Art. An igenious novelty, it consists of a small keyboard (two octaves and four notes) to which is attached an 

upright soundboard shaped like a viol. It has twenty-five strings, 

in front of which a sliding brass rod holds a bow. When a key is 

struck, it raises a string that is pressed against the bow. It is 

thus a bowed-stringed keyboard instrument. Although the maker 

boasted of its remarkably expressive possibilities, it was not 

successful. Musical instruments, however, were by no means his 

only concern. He once laid down a short railway in Regents 

Park, London, to try out a differential pulley. Involved were a 

railway carriage and a horse to demonstrate that, with the aid 

of a pulley, a horse could propel the carriage ten times as far 

as he moved. He and a friend patented the "physiognatrace" for 

the purpose of tracing on paper the outline of a person, and, 

more modestly, it is claimed he invented the self-sharpening 

pencil. 

Another version of a vertical piano was brought out by John 

Broadwood, who borrowed the idea from another Englishman, 

Robert Stodart. Th e two were no doubt thinking back to the 

clavicytherium or vertical harpsichord that is simply a conventional harpsichord turned up and set on a stand, with the action 

adapted for the changed direction. It is likely neither maker 

knew the upright pianos of Muller and Hawkins. 

T h e rectangular frame of the Broadwood piano in Figure 12 

houses a small grand piano turned up and set on a stand. In 

the space left by the bentside, shelves for books or music are 

conveniently provided. A parchment cover protects the soundboard from dust, and this in turn is concealed behind a pleated 

screen of garnet-colored silk topped by a swag. It is more than 
FIGURE 12. Vertical piano (upright grand) by John Broadwood and Sons, London, ca. 1815. 

Compass CC to c*. a, Full view. Two pedals: split damper pedal (one half raises dampers 

from bass strings, the other from treble strings) and una corda. b, Plan view with music 

shelves. (Catalog number 303,529; Hugo Worch Collection.) 
81/2 feet tall, and the stand and frame are of rosewood tastefully 27 

ornamented with stenciling in gold paint and applied ormolu 

moulding. Although top-heavy, it must have been a striking 

addition to a nineteenth-century upper middle-class English 

parlor. Joseph Haydn had admired a similar one by Stodart 

i n

 *795-

As for the action, the hammers strike from behind through 

a slot between the soundboard and wrestplank on the same 

principle as the up-striking action of the modern grand. As 

previously noted, however, modern uprights work on the principle 

of a down-striking action. 

About 1812, a vogue developed in England for very small 

upright pianos. They were designated by various names such as 

"cottage," "cabinet," and "pocket grand horizontal." These 

miniatures were imitated by European makers, including Pleyel 

of France, who called them "Pianinos." The pretty, extravagantly decorated little piano in Figure 13 is such a one. It is 

covered with red imitation tortoise shell and brass inlay and 

has ornate brass candle holders with pink glass shades and brass 

handles on the sides for moving it easily. 

French Contributions 

Thre e names stand out in the history of the piano in France: 

Sebastien Erard, Jean-Henri Pape, and Ignaz Pleyel. In 1777, 

Erard made the first successful French piano—a square model. 

Having come to Paris from his native Alsace, he had been apprenticed to a harpsichord maker. He must have seen the Zumpe 

pianos, which had become popular in France, for his pianos 

follow the English plan. His later invention of the "repetition" 

or "double escapement" mechanism (pages 39, 40) became a 
28 characteristic of future pianos. Th e Smithsonian's collection 

contains a square model by Erard dated 1799. 

T h e earliest pianos had hammers covered with leather (deerskin was favored). Having experimented for some time with 

improving the covering for hammers, Jean-Henri Pape produced, 

in 1839, tapered layers of treated felt with the desired elasticity 

and resilience. English and continental piano makers soon 

adopted felt-covered hammers, and by the 1850s leather-covering 

was abandoned. German piano makers were the last to accept the 

new style hammers, but they are in universal use today. 

Ignaz Pleyel of Austria founded his piano factory in Paris in 

1807 after a distinguished career in musical performance and 

composition that included study with Joseph Haydn and official 

musical posts in Strasbourg and London. After seventeen successFIGURE 13. Small upright 

piano by Pleyel, Paris, France, 

ca. 1858. Compass AAA to a^. 

Two pedals: damper, una 

corda. (Catalog number 

291,775; Hugo Worch 

Collection.) 
ful years he turned the business over to his son, Camille. Th e son, 29 

also a musician, was a thorough student of the craft of piano 

making and an intimate of the great musical personnages of his 

day including Frederic Chopin. Chopin is said to have been fond 

of Pleyel instruments for their "silvery and somewhat veiled 

sonority and their easy touch." Indeed, a Pleyel enjoys the same 

status in France today as does a Steinway in this country. Pianists 

find them especially congenial for performance of French music. 

T he Smithsonian collection includes a Pleyel grand of 1867 in 

addition to the little upright in Figure 13. 

American Innovations 

T h e first pianos in America were English, brought by early 

settlers or sent over later. Although there was a lively importation 

of pianos, by the last quarter of the eighteenth century a native 

American industry was getting under way. Th e earliest of the 

American-made pianos were, as might be expected, copies of 

imported English instruments and hardly distinguishable from 

them. 

Probably the first piano made in the New World was that by 

John Behrent of Philadelphia in 1775, and by the 1780s several 

makers were working in New York as well. From 1800 on, Boston 

was an important center of the industry and remained so for 

nearly a hundred years. 

One of the best of the Philadelphia makers was Charles 

Albrecht. Figure 14 shows an English piano such as Albrecht 

and others used as models and Figure 15 is one of Albrecht's own 

instruments. Th e close similarity of the two is obvious, but it was 

not long before American makers departed from slavish imitation 

and began to introduce original ideas and improvements to their 

craft. 
30 
Once launched, the industry developed spectacularly and after

 31 

the middle of the nineteenth century the United States assumed 

a position of leadership. It was to make contributions of great 

significance to the development of the piano. 

T he nineteenth century saw the development of a style of 

composition and performance that exploited the full possibilities 

of the piano. Early in the century it became apparent that the 

light wood-framed piano was not sturdy enough for the increasing demands being made upon it. Heavier stringing and greater 

tension on the strings were among the changes made'i n the 

interest of producing a more brilliant and powerful instrument. 

T he keyboard compass of five octaves that prevailed through 

most of the eighteenth century was gradually increased to reach, 

in the 1870s, the 88 keys of the modern piano. Pitch, not yet 

standardized and as low as 409, was creeping up slowly to be 

established, finally, in the twentieth century, at 440. (These 

figures refer to the number of cycles or double vibrations per 

second at "tuning A," i.e., the A above middle C.) Pulling the 

strings up to a higher pitch put more strain on the frame. 

T he heroic style of performance inaugurated by Beethoven 

and carried to its ultimate by Franz Liszt made assaults on the 

piano that jarred it out of tune and actually broke strings in 

the middle of a concert. Th e answer to the problems seemed to 

lie in reenforcing the frame with metal rather than wooden struts. 

Hawkins' tentative use of metal in the frame of his little 

portable piano (Figure 11) seems to have gone unnoticed, but 

English makers were experimenting with reenforcing metal bars, 

tubes, or plates of various kinds. Much credit for the solution, 

however, must go to American makers. 

Two Bostonians took significant steps. In 1825, Alpheus Babcock patented a tubular metal frame cast in one piece with 

the hitch-pin plate for a square piano (Figure 16). Perhaps it 
32 FIGURE 16. Square piano by Alpheus Babcock, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 

ca. 1835. Compass FF to f*. a, Full view. Two pedals: damper and buff (slides 

soft leather tabs between hammers and strings), b, Plan view showing tubular 

metal frame. (Catalog number 315,690; Hugo Worch Collection.) 
FIGUR

E 17. Square piano by Jonas Chickering, Boston, ca. 1828. Compass FF 

to f*. a, Full view. Two pedals: one raises dampers from treble strings, the 

other from bass strings, b, Plan view showing metal hitch-pin plate. (Catalog 

number 70.19; gift of Mrs. Alfred M. Rankin, Jr.) 

33 
34 

FIGURE 18. Square piano by Chickering, Boston, 1850. 

Compass CC to c \ Two pedals: damper and buff (moves 

felt tabs between hammers and strings). (Catalog number 

68.5; gift of the Honorable Richard P. Butrick.) 

gave Jonas Chickering, originally from New Hampshire, the 

idea for a light perforated metal hitch-pin plate in a square 

piano he made about 1828 (Figure 17). In 1840 Chickering went 

further and patented an improved cast-iron frame for a square 

model shown in Figure 18 and in 1843 for the grand. His ironframed instruments won the highest awards in the International 

Exhibition held in the Crystal Palace in London in 1851 and 

before the end of the century every great pianist from Franz Liszt 

to Louis Moreau Gottschalk of New Orleans had played and 

extolled them. 
35 

FIGURE 19. Square piano by Steinway & Sons, New York, 1877. Compass AAA to c5. a, Full 

view. Two pedals: damper and una corda. b, Plan view showing cross-stringing and cast iron 

frame. (Catalog number 381,444; gift of George M. Harris.) 
36 It remained for the Steinway firm a few years later to win, 

conclusively, "the battle of the iron frame," but it was none 

other than William Steinway who hailed Chickering as "the 

father of American pianoforte making." 

T h e Steinways, father and three sons, appeared on the New 

York scene in 1849. Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, in his native 

town of Seesen, Germany, had served as apprentice to an organ 

builder and had built a few pianos, including one made in his 

kitchen for his bride, before he deemed it expedient for political 

reasons, to leave his native land. Once in this country he lost no 

time in learning English and Americanizing his name to Henry 

Engelhard Steinway, and, along with his sons, finding employment with experienced piano makers until they were ready to 

establish their own firm in 1853. 

T h e Steinway's rise to leadership in their trade was meteoric. 

Only two years after establishing their firm, their over-strung 

square piano with a full iron frame created a sensation at the 

fair of the American Institute in New York. They had achieved 

not only a sturdy piano, but also the finest tone up to that time. 

T h e iron frame and over-stringing plan, adapted for grand 

pianos a few years later, became the standard for all future 

models. 

At the Paris Exposition of 1867 both Chickering and Steinway 

pianos received gold medals, an American victory of great significance. Figure 19a shows a square Steinway piano such as the 

prize-winning one of 1855, in which the bass strings run diagonally above the treble strings (Figure 19b). This over- or crossstringing was adopted by a number of makers before the 

mid-nineteenth century. With this method of stringing full 

advantage of the available space is utilized, making it possible 

to install longer bass strings and to run them over the center 

and most resonant area of the soundboard to produce greater 
sonority. In earlier instruments all the strings run parallel. 

T h e square piano continued in use in this country long after 

the upright had supplanted it in modest homes in Europe. 

However, by the time that the last square was made by Steinway, 

in 1889, it was also being supplanted by uprights in most middleclass American musical families. Although limited primarily to 

the concert stage during a good part of the nineteenth century, 

grand models were being demanded by serious musicians and 

the affluent society before the century ended. 

Among the advantages of the grand over the upright are the 

following: Th e floor under the horizontal soundboard of the 

grand acts as a sound-reflecting surface, whereas the upright 

normally stands close against a wall that is accoustically dead; 

the open lid of the grand directs the sound to the audience; the 

grand's hammers and dampers fall back into position by gravity, 

but in the upright they must be assisted by a spring mechanism 

that must be kept in adjustment; the shape of the grand is more 

attractive than that of the upright, and the performer seated 

before it is in a more agreeable relation to the audience than 

when seated at the upright model. 

As makers have always been concerned with producing better 

pianos, pianists have been equally interested in improving their 

playing techniques. To the latter aim, one Paul von Janko 

applied his ingenuity. 

Janko was a Hungarian inventor, educated in engineering and 

music in Vienna and Berlin. Concerned with the configuration of 

the pianist's hand in relation to the distribution of naturals and 

accidentals on the conventional keyboard (necessitating a multiplicity of fingering patterns), he presented to the public a new 

keyboard design, which could be installed in any piano (Figure 
38 2o). The design consisted of six ranks of keys, each tuned to the 

whole tone scale, the first, third, and fifth rows starting on C, 

the alternate rows on Cft. Thus, all diatonic scales could be 

played with only two sets of fingerings (no mean advantage), the 

multiple rows accommodated the unequal lengths of the fingers 

in playing chords, and the tuning system that reduced the octave 

span by 5V2 centimeters permitted greater than normal stretches 

and widely spaced chords. 

FIGURE 20. Upright piano by 

Decker Bros., New York, ca. 

1890. Compass AAA to cs, 

Janko keyboard. Two pedals: 

damper and una corda. 

(Catalog number 299,840; 

Hugo Worch Collection.) 
Janko published a treatise on the use of the keyboard in 1886 39 

and gave some recital demonstrations. By the 1890s, the Paul 

von Janko Conservatory of Music in New York had been established to teach this new method. 

While there is no doubt that the Janko keyboard merited 

consideration, and a few makers manufactured pianos equipped 

with it, ingrained habits are difficult to overcome and pianists 

evidently found that it created new technical problems without 

really solving the old ones. Th e keyboard was abandoned around 

the turn of the century. 

The "White House" Steinway 

In 1903 (the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the firm) 

Steinway &: Sons made their one hundred thousandth piano, a 

concert grand. They proudly presented it to the White House in 

observance of the anniversary and, also, in gratitude to the 

country in which they had achieved such a stunning success. The 

gesture was "a paean of thanksgiving by a family who arrived on 

these friendly shores from abroad and here were permitted to 

make their homes and their lives, and to pursue their work with 

happiness and contentment." 

Steinway & Sons was by now a great name in the world of 

music. The finest pianists the world over were playing their 

instruments, often to the exclusion of others, and their grand 

piano, a superb musical instrument, had attained its present form. 

T h e "White House" piano of 1903 incorporated the metallic 

action frame patented in 1869, the repetition action, the capo 

d'astro (capo tasto) bar of 1875, the duplex scale of 1872, and 

the sostenuto pedal of 1874. 

Repetition action was first introduced in 1821 by the French 
40 maker Erard. Also known as "double escapement," it is a refinement that permits the hammer, while the key is down, to remain 

arrested on the rebound at an intermediate point close to the 

strings instead of dropping back to its original resting place. 

This results in a more responsive and sensitive action making 

more subtle nuances possible and greatly facilitates the rapid 

repetition of a note. In some measure it achieves the touchsensitive quality of the Viennese action without sacrificing the 

power of the English action. 

T h e capo d'astro bar along with the agraffe and harmonic bar 

reinforce the pressure of the bridge on the soundboard to ensure 

maximum communication between the two and also to prevent 

the hammers from knocking the strings out of position on the 

bridge. 

T h e duplex scale is a method of stringing that takes advantage 

of the normally unused portions of the strings in front of the 

agraffe and beyond the back hitchpin of the bridge by proportioning these lengths so that they vibrate in sympathy with the 

speaking lengths of the strings to enrich the tone. 

T h e sostenuto or middle pedal, although originally a French 

innovation, has seldom been applied to European pianos. Th e 

Steinways perfected their own version of it in 1874. It makes 

possible the sustaining of a note or group of notes by keeping 

their dampers raised while the other dampers are controlled as 

usual by the damper pedal. Actually it is awkward to use and 

ignored by most pianists. 

T h e case of the "White House" piano as seen in Figure 21 

was designed by R. D. and J. H. Hunt. It is covered with gold 

leaf and decorated with romantic paintings by Thoma s Dewing 

and the seals of the original thirteen states. 

It graced state occasions at the White House until it was 

replaced by the three-hundred thousandth Steinway in 1938, an 
•II 

FIGURE 21. Concert grand piano by Steinway & Sons, New York, 1903. Compass AAA to cr>. Three 

pedals: damper, sostenuto, una corda. (Catalog number 379.287; transferred from the White 

House.) 
42 FIGUR

E 22. Plan view of modern 

concert grand piano. (Courtesy of 

Steinway & Sons.) 
equally sumptous concert grand, again a gift of the firm that 43 

made it. At this time the first one was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. Th e Steinway firm continues to be operated 

by members of the founding family and to maintain the standards 

of excellence established from the beginning. 

Figures 22 and 23 show details of a modern concert grand. 

T h e latter illustrates the complex feat of engineering that has 

been accomplished and also explains much of the terminology 

that has been used here. It is a far cry from Cristofori's piano 

of some 275 years ago and yet it must be emphasized again that 

the basic principles of operation are the same. 

Today's piano contains some 12,000 individual parts. Th e 

cast-iron frame of the nine-foot concert model withstands a tension of nearly twenty tons. Th e diameters of the strings vary 

from about one-third of an inch for the lowest (this measurement 

includes the copper overspinning around the steel core) to 

one-thirtieth of an inch for the highest strings. Th e copper overspinning is a space-saving measure to lengthen the bass strings in 

correct proportion to the treble strings without necessitating a 

grotesquely long instrument. Th e bottom eight strings are single 

and copper-spun; there is a pair of steel strings for each of the 

next twelve notes and three each for all the rest. 

One would be tempted to conclude that the climax of the 

history of the piano has been reached but for the fact that fine 

piano makers, as with all great musical instrument makers, are 

forever striving for the "ideal." So the story is not ended and 

research and experimentation continue, always with the aim 

of producing a still finer tone, a still more sensitive and responsive 

action, and still greater stability. This brief account has indicated 

some of the steps along the way. 
H 

DIAGRAM OF GRAND ACTION 

FIGURE 23. Action of a moder n grand piano. 

(Courtesy of Steinway & Sons.) 
45 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

Keybed 

Keyframe 

Front Rail 

Front Rail Pin 

Front Rail Pin Punching 

Balance Rail 

Balance Rail Stud 

Balance Rail Pin 

Balance Rail Bearing 

Bock Rail 

Bock Rail Cloth 

Key Stop Rail Prop 

13 Key Stop Rail 

14 Dag 

15 Key 

16 Key Covering 

17 Sharp 

18 Front Pin Bushing 

19 Key Burton 

20 Balance Pin Bushing 

21 Capstan Screw 

22 Backcheck 

23 Backcheck Wire 

24 Underlever Key Cushion 

25 Action Hanger 

26 Support Rail 

27 Support Flange 

28 Support 

29 Support Cushion 

30 Fly 

31 Tender 

32 Fly Regulating Screw 

33 Spoon 

34 Support Top Flange 

35 Balancier 

36 Balancier Regulating 

Screw 

37 Repetition Spring 

38 Repetition Felt 

39 Balancier Covering 

40 Hammer Rest 

41 Regulating Rail 

42 tetoff Regulating Screw 

43 Hammer Rail 

44 Hammershank Flange 

45 Drop Screw 

46 Hammershank 

47 Knuckle 

48 Hammer 

49 Underlever Frame 

50 Underlever Frame Spring 

51 Underlever Frame Cushion 

52 Underlever Flange 

53 Underlever 

54 Underlever Top Flange 

55 Damper Wire Screw 

56 Tab 

57 Damper Stop Rail 

58 Damper Wire 

59 Damper Guide Rail 

60 Damper Head 

61 Damper Felts 

62 String 

63 Agraffe 

64 Tuning Pin 

65 Sostenuto Rod 
46

 Selected Bibliography 

Apel, Willi, editor. Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, Massachusetts: 

Harvard University Press, 1962. [See "Pianoforte."] 

Brinsmead, Edgar. The History of the Pianoforte with an Account of Ancient 

Music and Musical Instruments. London, Paris, and New York: Cassell, 

Petter and Galpin, 1877. 

Closson, Ernest. History of the Piano. Translated by Delano Ames. London: 

Paul Elek, 1947. 

Clutton, Cecil. "The Pianoforte." Chapter 5 in Musical Instruments through 

the Ages. Edited by Anthony Bains. Baltimore: Pelican Books, 1969. 

Dolge, Alfred. Pianos and Their Makers. Covina, California: Covina Publishing Company, 1911. 

Fabbri, Mario. "II primo pianoforte di Bartolomeo Cristofori'." Chigiana 

Rassegna Annuale di Studi Musicologici (Florence), new series I, volume 

21 (1964). 

Harding, Rosamond. The Pianoforte—Its History Traced to the Great 

Exhibition of 1851. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1933. 

[Reprinted, New York: DeCapo Press, 1973.] 

Hipkins, A. J. A Descriptive History of the Pianoforte. London: Novello 

Ewer and Co., 1896. 

. "Pianoforte." In Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 3rd 

edition. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1941. [See also 5th edition, 

New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc., 1959.] 

Hipkins, A. J., and K. Schlesinger. "Pianoforte." Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

11th edition. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1910. 

Hirt, Franz Joseph. Meisterwerke des Klavierbaus. Olten, Switzerland: Ims 

Graf-Verlag, 1955. 

James, Philip. Early Keyboard Instruments. New York: Frederick A. Stokes 

Co., 1930. 

Jung, Karl, and Hubert Unverricht. "Klavier." In Die Musik in Geschichte 

und Gegenwart. Edited by Friederich Blume. Kassel, Germany: Barenreiter, 

!958-

Juramie, Ghislaine. Histoire du Piano. Paris: Prisina, 1947. 

Krehbiel, Henry Edward. The Pianoforte and Its Music. New York: Charles 

Scribner's Sons, 1911. 

Loesser, Arthur. Men, Women and Pianos. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1954. 
Marcuse, Sibyl. Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary. Garden 47 

City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964. [See "Piano."] 

Michel, N. E. Michel's Piano Atlas. Rico Rivera, California: N. E. Michel, 1961. 

Rimbault, Edward F. The Pianoforte. London: Robert Cocks and Co., i860. 

Ripin, Edwin M. "Piano, Pianoforte." Harvard Dictionary of Music. 2nd 

edition. Edited by Willi Apel. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1969. 

Sachs, Curt. Das Klavier. Berlin: J. Bard, 1923. 

Scholes, Percy A. The Oxford Companion to Music. London: Oxford University Press, 1938. [See "Pianoforte."] 

Spillane, Daniel. History of the American Pianoforte. New York: D. Spillane, 

1890. 

Sumner, W. L. The Pianoforte. London: MacDonald and Co., Ltd., 1966. 

•fr U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1973 O SOO-427