Makers of the Piano: Volume 2

The early piano has grown in popularity over recent years. It is now recognized as a window to the past and indispensable in revealing the sounds in the ears of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century composers. Yet rarely are two instruments more than superficially alike: the earliest instruments were constructed individually to the taste of each maker and often to that of his customer. Furthermore, pianos built in the same year by the same maker - even in a series - often have not enjoyed the same standard of conservation: one may have its original strings and hammers, while another may have suffered the improper replacement of its entire action with parts designed for the modern Steinway. Many old pianos are still well-maintained and are in playable condition, while others need extensive and careful restoration. Fulfilling a need for a comprehensive study of early pianos, Makers of the Piano 1700-1820 is the first book to present details about all known extant pianos built during the earliest years of the instrument's existence. Biographical information about each maker and such details about his instruments as the place and date of manufacture, style, compass, case description and measurements, strings, action, stops, pedals, and present and former owners are given. Bibliographical references are listed separately for individual pianos. Builders whose pianos have been lost are identified; however, anonymous pianos have not been included unless an attribution to a known maker is likely. Principal collections with their catalogues and an exhaustive bibliography complete this valuable reference work.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.