Historic Keyboards:
The beauty of handmade instruments: Pianos, Fortepianos, Harpsichords, and a Clavichord and Carillon
(Tuning)
Workshop at Zuckermann Harpsichords, Stonington, CT
Workshop at RJ Regier Fortepianos, Freeport ME
Clavichord, Chickering and Sons, Boston 1906, Yale Collection of Musical Instruments
Zuckerman “Z-box” Harpsichord
Jack, 1781 John Harrison Harpsichord, National Music Museum, Vermillion SD.
Harpsichord bridge and soundboard, William Hyman 1969, Yale Musical Instruments Collection
Keyboard, Zuckermann “Z-box” Harpsichord
Harpsichord Pin Block, William Hyman 1969, Yale Musical Instruments Collection
Bridge, 1781 John Harrison Harpsichord, National Music Museum, Vermillion SD.
Jacks, 1781 John Harrison Harpsichord, National Music Museum, Vermillion SD.
Name batten, 1781 John Harrison Harpsichord, National Music Museum, Vermillion SD
Zuckerman “Z-box” Harpsichord
Harpsichord keys, Frank Hubbard 1976, Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix
Soundboard and Bridges, French Double Manual Harpsichord (Zuckermann)
Internal framing and Le Boudin (“the sausage”), French Double Manaal Harpsichord (Zuckerman)
Harpsichord, Andreas Ruckers, 1640, Yale Musical Instruments Collection
Christofori fortepiano action model, 1722, Jack Wyatt Museum, Kansas City, KS.
Viennese Action of a Fortepiano, similar to that used by Beethoven
Viennese action model, the Prellmechanik, as used in the Graf and Walter pianos from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Internal frame of a fortepiano
Modern piano action model, Jack Wyatt Museum
Piano Action, Steinway D.
Piano Keys, Steinway B.
Keyboard of batons, Memorial Carillon 1966, Yale University
Video demonstrating the elegant simplicity of the Viennese fortepiano action, the “Prellmechanick”, that was used in the fortepianos available to Mozart and Beethoven. Depressing the front of the key causes it to pivot, lifting the entire hammer attached at the far end. The “beak” of the hammer is forced against a small rail which causes the hammer to rotate as it moves upwards, and the head strikes the string above (not shown here in this video of the action pulled from the fortepiano). Most importantly, the beak length is short enough that it “escapes”. Escapement allows the hammer to be released and fall back immediately after striking the string, and not held against the string which would prevent it from vibrating. In addition, the key raises the dampers, and they can be held off the string even after the hammer has fallen back, allowing for sustain as long as the key is depressed. And there’s more: when the hammer falls back, it lightly jams against the leather covered “catch” to prevent the hammer from bouncing and hitting the string again. But releasing the key allows the hammer to fall from the catch and return to rest.
Recordings
“Exploring Beethoven’s Fortepiano” a video recording by Cyrill Ibrahim.
“Vertigo” by Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer, played by Jean Rondeau.
“The Lost Sound” a documentary about the fortrepiano. Edwin Beunk.
“Six Degrees of Tonality (A Well Tempered Piano” by Enid Katahn, Gasparo, GSCD-344, 2000. (Piano prepared by Ed Foote). An excellent recording that is no longer available, but may be on Spotify or another streaming service.
“Beethoven in the Temperaments” by Enid Katahn, Gasparo GSCD-332, 1997. (Piano prepared by Ed Foote). Another excellent recording that is hard to find.
A list of recordings using the fortepianos of RJ Regier can be found here: https://rjregierfortepianos.com/about-us/#recordings
Two excellent sources of information on early keyboards:
“The Pianoforte in the Classical Era” by Michael Cole, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998.
“Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making” by Frank Hubbard, Harvard University Press, 1965.