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Harpsichords and Related Topics

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Subject:
From:
John Howell <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Harpsichords and Related Topics <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 15 Nov 1994 14:17:19 -0500
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A quick check in New Grove identified Johann Baptist Streicher, grandson of
Johann Andreas Stein and son of Nannette Stein Streicher, who became his
mother's partner in 1823, a year before JB invented his octave coupler.  It
did _not_, however, turn up any mention of the device itself.  (Article by
Margaret Cranmer.)
 
The firm was certainly well placed and respected.  According to the
article, Weber earlier prefered their pianos, and Beethoven may have
advised them on some matters.  I agree that if the idea had actually
worked, we certainly should have heard about it before now.  Was it
vaporware, announced but never actually perfected for production?  Perhaps
some of those who know the surviving instruments could comment on whether
they have ever seen anything like it on a living piano.  According to
Cranmer, Nanette's pianos typically had "four pedals: una corda, bassoon (a
yellow silk-padded rail pressed against the strings), pianissimo (a felt
inserted between the hammers and strings) and a damper pedal."
 
John
 
John & Susie Howell ([log in to unmask])
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia U.S.A. 24061-0240
(703) 231-8411 - FAX (703) 231- 5034

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