Broadwood & Son Grand Piano
date: label: date made
content: 1794
name: label: maker
content: John Broadwood & Son
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This grand piano was made by John Broadwood & Son in London, England in 1794. It is identical to one that Broadwood put at the disposal of Franz Joseph Haydn during his visit to London in 1793-1794. This piano has been restored to playing condition. The serial number for this grand piano is 715A and it has a compass of FF-c4, an English grand action, leather on wood core hammers, brass and iron strings, 3 strings for each note, 2 pedals: una corda and damper lifter, wood frame with iron gap spacers, straight-strung, and a mahogany veneer case.
label: Description
content: This beautiful piano, veneered in the best English tradition, has a range of five and one-half octaves, a rather advanced compass for its time. It is triple-strung throughout, and has two pedals mounted on its trestle stand. The right-hand pedal raises the dampers from the strings, while the left-hand pedal shifts the keyboard slightly to the right so that the hammers strike only one (una corda) rather than two (due corde) strings for each note. The large label visible on the soundboard reads: "By special appointment to H[is] M[ajesty] King George III."
label: Description
content: Broadwood was for many years England's largest piano maker, and the company's pianos were famous for a big tone. In 1817 the company presented a grand piano to Beethoven. This Broadwood grand dates from the year of one of Haydn's visits to London, and is the type of instrument for which he wrote his last piano sonatas and trios.
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
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content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Pianos
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Hugo Worch
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MI.303530
label: serial number
content: 715A
label: accession number
content: 62559
label: catalog number
content: 303530
objectType: label: Object Name
content: piano
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass; iron (strings material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (hammers material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (strings material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (frame material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood, mahogany (case material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 91 cm x 104.3 cm x 222.5 cm; 35 13/16 in x 41 1/16 in x 87 5/8 in