Books › Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937 › scan 124
Scan 124
Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937
20 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 102. See the scan on archive.org.
12. EUROPEAN PREDECESSORS
3What has been accomplished can be appreciated better if we realize the status of the pianoforte in England, France and Germany, the centres of pianoforte making in the early nineteenth century.
5Square pianofortes were first made in England by some Germans, Johann Zumpe and his fellows, who arrived there in 1760.
7The Dutchman, Americus Backers, in 1772 made important improvements in the action substituting direct lever action for Cristofori's intermediary under-hammer. His invention is known as "English action." There were also three strings to each note.¹
9In 1780 John Broadwood remodeled Zumpe's action, moved the wrest plank to the back of the case opposite the keyboard, brought the compass to five octaves—F to F, substituted pedals for hand controlled levers to lift the dampers, and used crankshaped under-dampers in place of the "mopstick" arrangement. This improved and reconstructed instrument was patented in 1783. By 1794 the compass had been extended to six octaves—C to C.²
11In 1786 John Geib, a craftsman of Longman and Broderip, incorporated the "hopper" into the action.
13The term "grand" was first used for a pianoforte in 1777, and the first entry of a grand on Broadwood's books was in 1781.
15Uprights in the last of the decade 1770-80 were constructed to resemble a bookcase and were called cabinet pianos. They were horizontal instruments turned up on the broad end, upon a stand. Not until 1800 was the idea of extending the strings below the level of the keyboard, with the bottom of the instrument upon the floor, put into practical effect by John Isaac Hawkins of Philadelphia, who patented his upright in America, and in England in his father's name.³ The strings were perpendicular, had the same length as in a grand of that day, and had three in unison fixed to the same screw. It had "a complete iron frame within which the belly is suspended independent of the case; resistance to the drawing power of the strings is also met by metal rods at the back of the case; there is an upper bridge of metal and a system of tuning by mechan-
17¹ James, Philip. Early Keyboard Instruments p. 54.
18² Ibid p. 55.
19³ Hipkins, A. J. A Description and History of the Pianoforte p. 111.
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