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Beatification Candidate |
Here's another:  Caspar Katholnig, c. 1805-1810, Vienna. This piano was purchased from Manfred, Count von Schönborn, whose signed affidavit states that the piano had been part of the entailed estate of his wife's family, the Esterhazys, and that it had been among the furnishings at the Esterhazy palace at Eisenstadt. It was, therefore, almost certainly played by the composer and pianist Johann Nepomuk Hummel, who as a child prodigy had been a pupil of Mozart and of Clementi, and later was Haydn's successor to the position of Kapellmeister to the Esterhazys, serving in that capacity from 1804-1811. This piano may have been at the Esterhazy palace at Eisenstadt when Beethoven was there to conduct a concert in 1807. Since the Katholnig represents the last kind of piano sound Beethoven was able to hear before becoming severely deaf, one may suppose his compositions even after this time were conceived for the kind of piano tone Beethoven remembered, rather than for later instruments whose sound he could only imagine. The reverse color keyboard is quite typical of Viennese pianos made around 1810. The pedals are, from left to right, una corda, "bassoon stop" (an uncouth effect for popular music of its day, presently disconnected), the moderator (a mute stop, yielding a pianississimo), and the damper pedal.
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| Beatification Candidate |
All you need is some paint, a steady hand and a good eye... 
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| "The Veiled Male" Gadfly  |
Fascinating history on that Viennese instrument - and I like the hand painted baby grand as well! Keep 'em coming!
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| Beatification Candidate |
Grand piano by Nannette Streicher und Sohn, Vienna, 1829. This immaculately preserved grand piano represents a glorious moment in the history of instrument making. When J. A. Stein died in 1792, his workshop was kept in operation by his daughter, Nannette (1769-1833), and her brother, Matthäus Andreas (1776-1842), known as André. In 1794 the siblings moved the business from provincial Augsburg to Vienna, where they worked together until 1802, when André set up his own workshop. Nannette, who in the meantime had married the pianist and composer, J. A. Streicher, is an extremely rare historical instance of a woman visibly in charge of a major business. Moreover, it is virtually certain that her role was not confined to the front office. She was actively engaged in the design and musical finishing of the instruments bearing her name.  A radically redesigned new model with a downstriking action, of which the Museum's example is one of the earliest in existence and undoubtedly the best preserved, it was patented in 1823 by Johann Baptist Streicher (1796-1871), Nannette's son, the same year that he joined the firm as a partner. The Streichers maintained a long and cordial association with Beethoven, and the downstriking model, expensive to produce, was the top of their line.  
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| Incognito Beatification Candidate  |
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
Somehow, the face on that last photo looks familiar... 
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JodiMinor Deity |
I wonder what she's working on? Do you think she's ever googled "piano" and found PW? Or WTF? Wouldn't that be something!
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| Incognito Beatification Candidate |
I've wondered the same thing and even wondered if any of the faceless voices on our little planets might have been hers. I think it would be truly cool if she *did* join in. I liked everything about that picture, from the nearly sepia-toned limit of the color palette to the composition. Loved the dress (she has perfect arms and collar bones for it). I think that's her Chickering.
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| "The Veiled Male" Gadfly |
I apologize for this one, its just hideous... From another forum: 
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| Beatification Candidate |
... not sure what those extra keys do... 
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| "The Veiled Male" Gadfly |
Those may be for a small organ. When I was a kid, one of my neighbor's had a Baldwin grand that I'd go to play once in a while - it had a small keyboard like this one (but way shorter) that she told me was for an organ. Dunno if it worked or not...
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| Revenant Beatification Candidate  |
 "Grand piano by Manuel Antunes, Lisbon, 1767. Cristofori action. One of the earliest, best-preserved pianos known to survive." You can actually HEAR it at the link below. Check it out at the National Museum of Music, a wonderful small museum on the campus of the University of South Dakota. (Who'd 've thunk it? ) There are more treasures, keyboard and otherwise, to be found including a gorgeous harpsichord and a very "rough" one with a great sound. Explore.http://www.usd.edu/smm/abell1.html
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| Beatification Candidate |
Here's a little sewing/workbox/piano 
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| Beatification Candidate |
This is new to me... anyone ever hear of a Janko keyboard? I can't link to the pictures, so check it out here: http://www.red-bean.com/~noel/uniform-keyboard/
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| "The Veiled Male" Gadfly |
Surprised you haven't heard of the Janko. It seems to me that it was the equivilant of Betamax, Macintosh, Linux, or even the Dvorak typewriter keyboard - superior in every respect yet rejected by the marketplace.
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