Johann Andreas Stein

Johann Andreas Stein was born 16 May 1728 in Heidelsheim. Stein settled 140 or so miles away in Augsburg about 1750. He learned his trade as an organ builder from his father and he built the organ at the Barfüßerkirche - this was the first Protestant church in Augsburg. As a bonus, he became the organist at the church! By 1760, he had decided to give up the organ building trade in favour of building stringed keyboard instruments.

Taking Schroters action design as a model, he set out to improve it, making his first piano in 1768. By 1780, Stein’s daughter Nannette, a musician but also, having a sound scientific grasp of piano-building, was involved in refining the Schroter design. This action was the preferred choice of the likes of Mozart and Beethoven.

With this action, the ‘German’ or ‘Vienna’ School of piano building was firmly established. The advantages over the ‘English’ School was the very easy, lighter touch and the sweeter tone. What these pianos lacked was the capacity for a stronger, powerful tone. But, for the time being, and with the endorsement of the great masters, there was strong demand for Stein pianos.

A further development of the Stein action came in 1824, designed by Stein’s grandson, Johann Baptist Streicher. Piano-building was clearly a genetic condition passed down through the generations! This action was instantly approved by players and other makers.

Over Stein’s career as piano maker, he made about 700 pianos. His pianos were widely reproduced - especially in Vienna. Good grounds for his being called the ‘father’ of the Vienna School.

 He died in Augsburg 29 February 1792. 

© Steve Burden

 

Christophe Schroter

Christophe Schroter was born 10 August 1699 in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, and became a composer and organist. Schroter’s part in Piano History, though small, is worthy of being noted. He is one of those figures who is rarely mentioned in books on piano history. Perhaps, if he had been an instrument maker with some financial backing, things might have been different. As it was, he was a man if ideas who tried to sell the idea when the piano was still in its infancy and speculation on such a project would have seemed incautious.

Impressed by the tone and dynamic range of Hebenstreit’s Panteleon, Christophe Schroter realised the potential in making a keyboard instrument using hammers to strike the strings, so invented two ‘piano actions’ - one striking the strings from above, and one from below - diagram of 1717 action. He persuaded a cousin who was a cabinet maker, to produce a working model.

His ‘actions’ were basic, even primitive, but worked well enough as a prototype to be demonstrated to the King of Saxony, the King declined any help or investment. Schroter did not seek to develop his invention any further but his idea did find a following among the instrument makers of Germany who, used the principles of his action and adapted them to make their own pianos.

In 1724 some pianos were being made in Dresden using actions very like Schroter’s and in 1728, Silberman was making pianos at Freiberg using an action based on Schroter’s model. Thus, what became known as the ‘German’ school of piano construction was born.

Christophe Schroter died 20 May 1782 in Nordhausen.

© Steve Burden

Panteleon Hebenstreit

Panteleon Hebenstreit was born 27 November 1668 and was a German dance teacher, musician and composer.

On 29 January 1691 Hebenstreit started at the University of Wittenburg and by 1697 was employed as a violinist, keyboard musician and dancing teacher in Leipzig. However, having to leave Leipzig to escape his creditors, he took a position in Merseburg as a private tutor.

He constructed a large hammered dulcimer which created a flurry of interest. It had 186 strings and was some nine feet long. The strings were struck by hand-held hammers in the manner of performers playing a xylophone. Hebenstreit took it with him on a tour of  Europe. 

In 1705 he played before Louis XIV. The French king, being so impressed both with the instrument and with Hebenstreit's mastery of it, renamed it "Le Pantalon”.

Returning from France, Hebenstreit sought court employment in his home region. He was a versatile and talented musician and took a number positions before in May 1714 he accepted a position at the Electoral Court in Dresden on a very good salary - 1200 Thalers. By 1729 Hebenstreit's failing eyesight, increasingly limited his capacity to fulfil all of his responsibilities.

Despite his undoubted virtuosity as a musician, his Pantaleon was too large, too expensive to build and too difficult to play to generate the kind of demand that would  justify commercial investment. Even so, because the instrument was played using hand-held hammers, thus allowing a huge dynamic range of sound, it carried the hints of the basic features of the piano. Some even deem it a precursor to the modern piano.

On 15 November 1750 Pantaleon Hebenstreit died and was buried in Dresden.

© Steve Burden

Johannes Zumpe

Johannes Zumpe was born 14 June 1726 in Furth, Nuremberg. He trained with Gottfried Silbermann. He was one of the German makers of keyboard instruments who fled to London in the late 1750s. He worked briefly for Burkat Shudi.

On 3 December 1760 he married Elizabeth Beeson. The following year, he set up his own Piano business in Princes Street, Hanover Square. Zumpe's pianos were made from 1761 to about 1800. 

His shrewd business approach recognised that the high-priced offerings from the likes of Shudi were always going to be out of the reach of all but the wealthy, so he set about producing adequate pianos for a modest price. Thus the English square piano was born. It had a compass of about five octaves and was, despite the name, rectangular in shape. Compact and more affordable than the full-size wing-shaped instrument, they were very popular and provided the wider public, especially amateur musicians, access to the new instrument. 

His business partner from 1769 was Gabriel Buntebart until September 1778. He was then joined, for a few years by Meincke Meyer but the business was finally taken over by Frederick Schoene in 1783, who in his adverts, still claimed to be ’Successors to Johannes Zumpe.’

Johannes Zumpe prospered and amassed a fortune that enabled him to retire early - most likely after Frederick Schoene take-over. His will was dated 1784, and gave his address as Queen Charlotte Row in the parish of St Mary-le-Bow. He died 1790 in London.

© Steve Burden

Americus Backers

 It is not known when or where Americus Backers was born but it is thought his parents were Dutch. The details of his origins seem to be hidden from official record, but by the time of his death in 1778, he had left his signature, as it were, on the unfolding story of piano manufacture. 

Americus moved to Freiberg and was apprenticed to Gottfried Silbermann, the organ, harpsichord and piano builder. Silbermann set up his organ workshop in 1711 and by 1730 was building harpsichords and pianos in both square, and harpsichord cases. Americus is likely to have arrived between 1720 and 1725 but no date can be thought definite.

Twelve ex-apprentices from Silbermann’s workshop came to England about 1760 and began building pianos. Americus Backers, among the first to arrive, brought Silbermann's Cristofori-type action and refined it to produce a reliable and responsive version which he fitted to a grand harpsichord case. This new, groundbreaking piano was a great turning point in the story of keyboard instruments, the harpsichord’s days were numbered, as Americus’s gift to English music became the blueprint for what we recognise as the modern grand piano!

Backers Action 1777

The eleven other ‘apostles’ also established themselves as piano builders though they favoured the square piano. Most well-known was Johannes Zumpe. 

1763 Americus’s moved his home and workshop to Jermyn Street, London. John Broadwood and Robert Stodart, both apprentices to Burkat Shudi would often visit Americus in the evenings to help his work on perfecting the escapement feature on his action.

To conclude, the Backers ‘piano in a harpsichord case’ was the first of what was to become known as the 18th Century English grand piano. There is no exact date for the very first instrument to be offered for sale but its earliest appearance in public was in 1770.

In 1776, Americus had perfected his action as far as he could he take it - simplifying and improving the best features of the Cristofori action. His principles were used as the model for the English action.

Americus Backers died at his home in Jermyn Street, London in 1778. His contribution to the development of piano construction was of the utmost significance.

©Steve Burden

SIlbermann

Gottfried Silbermann was born 14 January 1683 in Kleinbobritzsch. He was the youngest son of Michael Silbermann, a carpenter. They moved to Frauenstein in 1685. He became a builder of keyboard instruments - harpsichords, clavichords, organs and fortepianos in Germany.

 In 1723 he was given the title Honorary Court and State Organ Builder to the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. As well as building organs, from about 1728 he began building pianos using Shroter actions. The Schroter actions were very basic, inexpensive, and didn’t work too well. 

Silbermann showed a couple of his pianos to J. S.  Bach, who was very critical, saying that the tone was weak in the treble and the keys were hard to play even though the tone was pleasant. Initially annoyed by the negative comment, Silbermann overcame the snub and set about to improve his pianos. The improvements paid off and when Bach sampled the later pianos, he responded with positive approval!

King Frederick the Great of Prussia became acquainted with Silbermann's pianos and bought a number of them in about 1747. In these pianos, he used actions that were almost identical to the Cristofori models. 

For a while, both action types: the ‘Cristofori’ and the ‘Schroter’ were used by Silbermann in his pianos even though they were so different. In the decades to follow, the development of each action-type separated the piano-construction world, becoming known as the ‘English’ School and the ‘German’ or ‘Viennese’ School. It is significant that for a while, Silbermann provided the space for both these action-types to evolve a little before they became very distinct schools of approach. 

Silbermann’s nephew and pupil Johann Andreas Silbermann taught Johann Andreas Stein, who went on to perfect the ‘Viennese’ action.

The so-called ‘twelve apostles’ were a group of Silbermann’s pupils who, from about 1756, fled Germany and migrated to England. Among the twelve, was Johannes Zumpe, who popularised the square piano, and, Americas Backers who remodelled the Cristofori action to become the ‘English’ action. 

The action used today in modern pianos is the direct descendant of the ‘English’ action. It was significantly reworked and perfected some 50 years later by the likes of Sebastien Erard and, later still, by Henri Herz.

Silbermann died in 1753, possibly from tin-lead poisoning while working on an organ in Dresden.

© Steve Burden

Cristofori

Bartolomo Cristofori was born 4 May 1655 in Padua, Italy. He was the genius who invented of the piano. Remarkable to come up with a novel idea and set about putting it together despite there being no particular reason for the effort beyond the process and excitement of creating something new. 

The first written mention of anything remotely like a piano was in an inventory of the Medici collection of instruments in 1700. Cristofori's ‘piano’ is described in some detail, though at the time, the instrument was called an ‘Arpicembalo’ which roughly translates as a ‘harp-harpsichord.’ Cristofori’s main day job was to care for the many instruments owned by the Medici family, so work on improving his invention was by no means a full-time pursuit. However, the Medici inventory not only includes the Cristofori instrument but also provides hints of its distinct features.

Constantly seeking to refine his project, the concept for his piano action was more or less complete by 1707 but his prototype model was not exhibited until 1711 - now called a “piano e forte.” 1709, generally, was the year given for the invention of the piano - so difficult to be precise in these matters but in terms of a working example, 1709 would be about right. 

By 1720 his ideas had developed further still - the case was strengthened to cope with the greater tension of the strings, and the action improvements allowed the performer an increased range of dynamic expression. 

The dominance of the clavichord and harpsichord in the world of keyboard instruments was destined to give way to this new, groundbreaking instrument.

Prince Ferdinando, Cristofori's patron, died at the age of 50 in 1713 but Cristofori continued to work for the Medici court. When the inventory of the musical instrument collection was updated in 1716, Cristofori was now the curator of the collection.

The prosperity of the Medici princes during the early part of the 18th century was waning markedly, and Cristofori began selling his work to others. At least one of his instruments was sold to the King of Portugal.

By the 1720s, Cristofori’s pianos embodied most of the features of the modern instrument though still of very light construction. Without the strength of a metal frame, it could never produce a powerful, bright tone. 

Up until nearly the end of his life, Cristofori continued to make improvements to his pianos. He died in Florence, 27 January 1731 at the age of 75. He may not have been wealthy in material things but he left the world endowed with the extraordinary gift of the piano. Ever since, the world has been blessed - and made a better place because of it!

©Steve Burden

Allison Piano Serial Nos.

Year	Serial No.	Year	Serial No.
1890	21000	1924	48400
1892	22600	1926	49800
1894	24200	1928	50800
1896	24700	1930	52000
1898	25800	1932	53000
1900	29000	1934	53800
1902	30000	1936	54800
1904	32000	1938	55800
1906	34000	1940	56800
1908	36000	1942	57000
1910	38000	1947	57100
1912	40600	1949	57520
1914	41600	1951	59000
1916	42800	1953	57900
1918	44400	1955	58095
1920	46000	1957	58300
1922	47200	1959	58700

It is remarkable that data on piano serial numbers has survived so well for over a century. However, some inaccuracies are inevitable. These serial numbers are to be used only as a rough guide to a piano's age. An exact date does not make a material difference to a piano assessment. To be within 2 to 5 years is accurate enough to give an informed report on a piano.

Gaveau Piano Serial Nos.

Year	Serial No.	Year	Serial No.
1900	33800	1950	102000
1905	43000	1952	104000
1910	51500	1954	105500
1915	61900	1956	107100
1920	66100	1958	108653
1922	69400	1960	110380
1924	74600	1962	111741
1926	80400	1964	112811
1928	84300	1967	114012
1930	88400	1970	115662
1932	90200	1972	116800
1934	92500	1974	118000
1936	93500	1976	119200
1938	94500	1978	120300
1940	95100	1980	121100
1942	96600	1982	121800
1944	97300	1984	122100
1946	98100	1986	122300
1948	100000	1988	122500

It is remarkable that data on piano serial numbers has survived so well for over a century. However, some inaccuracies are inevitable. These serial numbers are to be used only as a rough guide to a piano's age. An exact date does not make a material difference to a piano assessment. To be within 2 to 5 years is accurate enough to give an informed report on a piano.