Square piano

The square piano is an early design of the piano, but in which the strings run horizontally or transversely and / or at an angle to the keyboard. The instrument originated in the beginning of the 18th century ( " Pantaleon "). This construction enables a rectangular configuration of the housing in the form of a table ( " Table "). The instrument can therefore be used in the closed state as a sideboard or the like, and takes up less space than a wing. The idea of this particular design, however, was not new, but was already used in the Baroque in the clavichord and the Virginal.

Square pianos were very popular especially in the 19th century. Famous musicians such as Franz Schubert, Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt played and composed their works on blackboard pianos.

From 1850 square pianos were made increasingly industrial. The first instruments with struts framework and Annex plates of metal emerged to absorb the ever-increasing string tension. Thus, the instruments were getting heavier. What was previously made by small family farms, has now been partially (eg John Broadwood & Sons) made in series with up to 600 employees.

With the advancement of a piano with vertical stringing ( giraffe piano, Lyraflügel, upright piano, piano droit, Upright, etc.), the square piano came gradually in the second half of the 19th century out of fashion and was hardly produced in Europe after 1870. In the U.S., the square piano survived in artisanal production until about 1900, most recently in 1888 industrially mass-produced at Steinway & Sons.

Designs

Instrument makers experimented with different types of construction and materials, so that a square piano well could cost as much as a grand piano. For the body of fine timber were up to cheaper, veneered softwood installed all quality levels (eg, cherry). A distinction must be (at least) the following designs:

String course In most cases, the square piano takes over the course of strings from the precursor clavichord: lowest Bassaite front ( diagonally from back left to front right), highest Diskantsaite back.
Rarely, the reverse, inherited from the spinet type is deepest Bassaite rear, highest Diskantsaite forward.
From initially tend parallelsaitigen reference one goes in the second half of the 19th century, more and more of a ray-shaped cover over - in some cases so severe that the highest treble strings (like the wings ) extending in the direction buttons. The kreuzsaitige reference was built inter alia by Schiedmayer in square pianos, however has not been set for this type of instrument.

Just as important during the entire time of occurrence of the square piano are each evolving shock ( "English" ) and bounce ( " German " or "Vienna " ) tuners.
Rarely, mechanics special forms, such as built by Jean -Henri Pape, Paris

As the fortepiano have square pianos of the 18th century, no pedals, but mounted under the instrument ground toggle through whose operation can be the cause " change".
Typical of square pianos later - apart from special forms - the small number of pedals. Basically common is the forte pedal repealing string dampening, which often represents the only pedal on the instrument.
Unlike wing and piano at the square piano, the construction of the " shift ", ie the " una corda " pedal ( often called " Piano " pedal called ) is problematic, since the distance of the strings to each other decreases continuously from bass to treble. A piano - effect is instead - in adaptation of harpsichord or spinet - by the lute related damping the string directly at its beginning (reduction of forming overtones ) possible.
More " change" could be: " sill " (especially in the English panel pianos, a part of the lid to raise or lower and thus generate additional volume differences ); Suboktavkoppel ( the Cologne Constantin Wilhelm Schiffer, 1795 ); the Fagottzug etc.

Examples

In Homburg Castle in Triefenstein a square piano by Johann Christoph Jeckel from 1770 can be seen. It is decorated with great effort and the finest taste. For the marquetry of the instrument Jeckel processed walnut, plum, maple, rosewood ( rosewood ) and Padouk, the keyboard is artfully covered with ebony and bone. Its perimeter is F1 -f3. Inv. No. 6
In the Westphalian State Museum for Art and Cultural History in Münster square piano by Julius Blüthner with the serial number 453 is handed down from the period around 1860. It was in previous years Erbdrostenhof to Münster in use.
In the Piano Museum at Brunswick is a 1856 by Zeittler & Winkelmann, Brunswick, crafted square piano.
With 13 board pianos from the period 1771-1875, the Piano Museum Haus Eller provides an overview of a century Tafelklavierbau.

The stop of the Tafelclaviers

The invention of the Tafelclaviers ( and the fortepiano ) allowed, compared to the harpsichord, a new type of stroke and the design in the area of dynamics. This is done through a small "hammer", through which the string is struck, in contrast to the " spine " of the harpsichord, which touches on the string. Giustini Lodovico di Pistoia from Florence in 1732, composed expressly for this new modulatory capabilities stop SONATA because Cimbalo di piano e forte detto di volgarmente Martelletti. This is the first work expressly for fortepiano. The name of the instrument varied in its early days. Cimbalo di piano e forte was called there by Giustini and volgarmente di Martelletti ( with hammers struck). Pantaleon was beaten with mallets after the concert dulcimer of Pantalon Hebenstreit, a musician of the Dresden court orchestra, called.

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