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