Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/481

 *signed to make profit out of the rapidly widening popular interest in music. But most of them were also guided by truly artistic ambitions and were put forth under the lead of experienced musicians, so that their total value to artistic progress was immense, even though some experiments were failures and the utility of others was but slowly perceived.

Naturally, the interest in piano-making much outstripped all others of these business interests, since the piano was seen to be on the whole the most widely available of musical implements. Upon its construction was brought to bear so much inventive genius, in both Europe and America, that in sonority, tone-graduation and durability the instrument was actually revolutionized. Improvements in orchestral instruments, also, like the flute, the oboe, the clarinet, several brass instruments, the harp, etc., now came in rapidly, bringing notable gains in beauty of tone, variety of effects and ease of manipulation. Such improvements made solo-playing far more impressive, and greatly enriched orchestral and chamber ensembles. In the general development of musical mechanisms the intricate problems of the organ were not forgotten, though the conquest of some of them was still delayed. The invention of the reed-organ was really a notable event, in spite of its small value as a concert instrument, since its simplicity and cheapness speedily made it a useful agent in the popularization of music.

Altogether, then, it is important to remember that side by side with the splendid advance made in composition and in technique went a purely mechanical advance in implements that was indispensable for attaining the total artistic results.

In piano-making the chief centres continued to be London, Paris and Vienna. But it is notable that several of the signal improvements in structure were first conceived by workers in America. When we consider how far behind America was in musical culture as compared with any European country, its ingenuity and enterprise in this regard from about 1800 is astonishing. Before 1840, American pianos had begun to rank among the best.

During the 18th century the special problem in piano-making was that of the action. Of this two main types were prominent, the English and the Viennese, differing in the position and articulation of the hammer (see sec. 160). In 1809 a notable gain was made by Érard's invention of a double escapement, enabling the hammer-stroke to be repeated without releasing the key. But before 1800 it was seen that the next great