Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/731

PIANOFORTE. James Shudi Broadwood, who, in 1804, having carried the compass of the grand piano up to F,  found that the wrestplank was so much weakened by this extension that the treble sank in pitch more rapidly than the rest of the instrument. Accordingly in 1808, in three grand pianos, he applied steel tension-bars above the strings to remedy the inequality. This experiment is recorded in Messrs. Broadwood's work-books of that date, and the experiment was repeated in 1818, the metal bars being then four in number in place of three. In Messrs. Broadwood's International Exhibition book, 1862, p. 29, we learn that the mode of fixing these bars was at first defective, the wood giving way to the thrust of the bars. It is certain that they did not use tension bars at this time constantly, for the grand piano which was presented to Beethoven by James and Thomas Broadwood in 1817 [see vol. i. p. 194] had no tension bars, and moreover only went up to C. (Six octaves C–C.)

Sebastien Erard's patent in 1808 (No. 3170) records an ingenious step towards a successful repetition action, viz. the 'double escapement'; and an improvement which afterwards proved to be of great importance, viz. the upward bearing of the bridge next the tuning-pins by substituting for the pinned wooden bridge, metal studs or agraffes drilled with holes for the passage of the strings, and separately fixed for each note. The same patent includes what is now known as the 'celeste' piano pedal, in which the hammer strikes a piece of leather (now always felt) interposed between it and the strings.

About this time, in the very first years of the present century, an entirely new form of pianoforte was invented, the, with the strings descending below the keyboard. There had been upright harpsichords and upright grands (the latter patented by John Landreth in 1787), but these were merely horizontal instruments turned up on end, with the necessary modification of the action to adapt it to the position. In 1800 Isaac Hawkins patented (No. 2446) [App. p.748 "add that Isaac Hawkins took out the London patent for his son John Isaac Hawkins the inventor, who was at that time living in Philadelphia, U.S.A."] a perpendicular pianoforte from 3 to 4 feet in height, descending to within a few inches of the floor, to give the instrument a 'more convenient and elegant shape than any heretofore made.' His patent includes two other important ideas; the use of coiled strings for the bass, and a sostinente, obtained by reiteration of hammers set in motion by a roller. In 1802 Thomas Loud (patent No. 2591) gave a diagonal shape to this upright piano by sloping the strings in an angular direction, portability being the 'leading intention and feature.' James Broadwood claims to have given a sketch for a piano (Some Notes, etc., p. 9) in 1804 to William Southwell, who in 1807 patented (No. 3029) a damper action to the instrument there called by that name. From this tall instrument the lower upright or piano followed almost immediately. 'the younger' patented (No. 3419) one diagonally strung in 1811, and in 1813 made a vertical one, naming it 'Harmonic.', who about 1800 had with Muzio Clementi taken up the business of Longman & Broderip, in 1811 essayed an oblique pianoforte (Patent No. 3481) by turning a square one 'upwards on its side.' Nearly all improvements in the pianoforte have been of slow and patient elaboration, the introduction of metal in framing, and Erard's special action being prominent examples. Wornum's excellent cottage action was no exception to this general experience, for he did not complete it till 1828 (Patent No. 5678). Camille Pleyel recognised its value, and through his introduction it became generally used in France, so that at last it was known in England as the 'French' action. But Wornum's merit as the inventor of this 'crank' action needs now no vindication, and Southwell's 'sticker' action, long the favourite in England, is giving way and will probably be in time entirely superseded by it. In France and Germany Wornum's principle universally prevails.

We may now look back a hundred years, in the first half of which the pianoforte had really no independent existence as a keyed instrument; but between 1770 and 1820 we find the grand piano complete so far as its construction in wood permitted, and a constellation of remarkable players that included Clementi and Dussek, Cramer and Field, Hummel and Ries. Weber in Germany had initiated the Romantic school in pianoforte music; Kalkbrenner in Paris was forwarding technical discipline; and above all, Beethoven, whose early eminence as a pianist has been to a large extent overshadowed by his sublime genius as a composer, was in the latter years of this epoch engaged in completing that series of masterpieces for the pianoforte that have not only enabled it to rival the orchestra in the wealth of its possessions, but have by their own immortality ensured it an existence as a musical instrument which no change of fashion can affect. The further development of technique, essential to the interpretation of Beethoven, attained its highest perfection between 1820 and 1850, and was based upon conditions rendered possible by the introduction of iron as an essential constituent in the framing of grand pianos, and in a certain degree of that of the other kinds also. Gradation of power was the great desideratum of the player; and the possibilities of this were intimately connected with the freedom of the wrist, which had previously been disallowed, and with the discovery, made almost instinctively, that to give elasticity to the fingers, they should be raised in order to descend and not be drawn inwards as was the case with the old Bach touch. This change of practice involved a blow by the hammer which the indifferent Berlin wire of that time could not stand. Thicker wire produced greater strain on the framing which the wooden cases were not strong enough to resist. The use also of two metals in the stringing, brass and iron, led to unequal changes in