| 1700 Bartolomeo Cristofori's "new invention" of the piano e forte recorded, Florence, Italy 1711 - Scipione Maffei publishes a journal article about the piano - John Shaw invents the tuning fork 1716 Jean Marius submits hammer-keyboard designs to Royal Academy of Sciences, Paris 1721 Christoph Gottlieb Schröter submits hammer-keyboard designs to the Saxon Court, Dresden 1725 - Translation of Maffei's article into German stimulates widespread interest - Pianos advertised, Vienna 1730s - Gottfried Silbermann experiments in Dresden, Germany with pianos derived from Cristofori - Pianos known to be in Portuguese and Spanish courts 1730 - Fickert advertises hammer-keyboard instrument in Leipzig, Germany - Kirkman piano makers founded in London, England 1732 First published piano music, by Ludovico Giustini 1739 Domenico del Mela builds earliest known upright piano, Gagliano, Italy 1740s Christian Ernst Friederici makes upright pianos, Gera, Germany 1745 Franciso Perez Mirabal begins making pianos in Spain 1740 George Frederic Handel plays on a piano, London, England 1747 J. S. Bach plays a Silberman piano at the Prussian Court, Potsdam, and composes Musical Offering 1750s Pianos advertised for sale in France 1753-62 C. P. E. Bach: Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments published 1760s - Pianos derived from Cristofori built in Spain and Portugal - Pantalons, small hammer-keyboard instruments, made in Germany 1763 Reports of earliest public performances on pianos by Johann Baptist Schmid, Vienna 1766 Probable invention of the square piano by Johannes Zumpe, London 1767 Early public piano performances, one by Johann Christian Bach, London 1768 First public piano performance in Paris 1771 - Americus Backers produces the English grand piano, London; - Earliest reported public piano performance in North America by David Propert, Boston - Robert Stodart takes out a patent using the name "Grand" to describe his instrument. This was the first know use of the word "Grand" in a patent 1772 Johann Andreas Stein, a former apprentice of Silberman from 1749 -1750, develops the Viennese action in Augsberg, Germany 1773 - First public piano performance in New York - Broadwood Company established, London 1774 John Joseph Merlin comes to England in 1760 Introduced the "Una Corda Pedal" which moved the action to one side just hitting two strings instead of three, making the piano quieter 1775 John Behrendt makes and advertises a square piano in Philadelphia, PA 1777 - Sébastien Erard makes his first square piano, Paris - Robert Stodart patents the English grand action, London 1779 Muzio Clementi publishes his first piano sonatas, London 1780s - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach publishes series of sonatas and fantasias for piano - Haydn takes up the piano 1780 Anton Walter making pianos, including one for Mozart, Vienna 1781 Mozart and Clementi 'duel' in Vienna 1783 - Paris Conservatoire founded - Broadwood introduced a sustaining pedal, Broadwood is credited with the invention of the sustaining pedal. However, there is a Backers Grand of 1772 in the Russell Museum, Edinburgh with 2 pedals. It has 2 pedals 1 on each front leg pointing inwards. The right is a sustaining pedal, the left a una corda. Americas Backers was probably the first to use the sustaining pedal and the una corda, 1784 William Southwell makes a 5 1/2-octave square piano, Dublin 1784-6 Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 14-25 composed 1786 - John Geib patents the "grasshopper" square action, used for 70 years, London - Erard establishes piano manufacturing in London 1794 - John Broadwood makes 5 1/2-octave grand piano, London - William Stodart patents a large upright piano, a grand set on its head, London - Matthäus Andreas Stein and Nanette Streicher, children of Johann Andreas Stein, move to Vienna - Ibach established, Schwelm 1794-5 Haydn: 'London' piano sonatas and trios composed 1795 - Johann Jakob Könnicke makes a 6-octave, 6-keyboard piano, Vienna - Beethoven: 3 Piano Trios, Op. 1 and 3 Piano Sonatas, Op. 2 published 1796 Broadwood makes a 6-octave grand for the Queen of Spain, London 1797 - First piano magazine, The Pianoforte, London - James Hewitt: The Battle of Trenton published 1798 François-Adrien Boieldieu named professor of piano at Paris Conservatoire 1800s 1800 - John Isaac Hawkins, Philadelphia, and Matthias Müller, Vienna, make small uprights - Alexander Reinagle: Piano Sonatas completed, Philadelphia 1801 Edward Riley obtains a patent for a transposing piano, in which the keyboard moved laterally, allowing keys to work on different notes 1802 Nanette Streicher separates from her brother, Matthäus Andreas Stein, to make pianos in her own name 1803 Erard Brothers of Paris present Beethoven with a piano 1804 - Jan Ladislav Dussek plays a concerto with his profile toward the audience, Prague - Challen Pianos London were established. Their clam to fame is that they made the worlds largest grand: twelve feet long 1807 - Pleyel established, Paris - The sticker action was invented by William Southwell 1808 - Erard patents the agraffe, a metal stud through which strings pass from the tuning pin - Bracing bars of metals were used to support the wooden frame in Broadwoods grands 1809 - Erard patents pinblock bushings, used to strengthen pinblock from string pressure on tuning pins - Erard introduces the "Roller Double Escapement" or compound escapement action 1810 - English and Continental makers design 6-octave pianos, English from C-c, German from F-f - "Upright grands" made in England and "giraffes" in Germany and Austria 1811 - Robert Wornum patents small upright, London - Conrad Graf established, Vienna - Prague Conservatory founded 1816 Nanette Streicher makes 6 1/2-octave grands, C-f, Vienna 1817 - Thomas Broadwood, London presents a grand piano to Beethoven, Vienna - Vienna Conservatory founded 1819 Carl Sauter Company established, Spaichingen, Germany 1820 - First successful use of metal in grand piano frame by Thom and Allen, London - Freres Aucher, of France was one of the first piano makers with a folding keyboard, came to be know as a ship's piano 1821 - Sébastien Erard patents the double-escapement "repetition" action, basis of modern grand action, Paris 1822 Erard makes a 7-octave piano 1823 - Jonas Chickering begins making pianos in Boston - Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Piano Sonatas Nos. 31 & 32 published 1825 Alpheus Babcock patents first single-piece metal frame for squares, Boston 1826 - Henri Pape patents use of felt for hammer covering, Paris - Robert Wornum patents tape-check action, the basis for modern uprights, London - Clementi: Gradus ad parnassum published - Benjamin Carr: Analytical Instructor for the Pianoforte published 1828 - Ignaz Bösendorfer making pianos, Vienna - Henri Pape first uses cross-stringing in small "console" uprights, Paris - Schubert: Last three piano sonatas composed - Johann Nepomuk Hummel: A Complete Theoretical and Practical Course of Instruction on the Art of Playing the Piano Forte published 1833 Chopin: Études Op. 10 published 1835 Grotrian-Steinweg pianos established by Friedrich Grotrian 1837 - Knabe Company established, Baltimore - Schumann: Carnaval, Davidsbündlertänze, and Symphonic Études composed - Liszt and Thalberg 'duel' in Paris 1839 - Moscheles: Méthode des méthodes published - Czerny: The Compete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School, Op. 500 published - Liszt establishes the solo recital, performing from memory without assisting artists 1840 Herz modifies Erard's "repetition" action 1841 - Becker Company established, St. Petersburg - Liszt: Norma, Don Juan, and Robert le Diable Fantasies published 1843 - Chickering patents one-piece metal frame for grands - Antoine-Jean Bord invents capo d'astro bar (downbearing bar at tuning-pin end of strings) - Leipzig Conservatory founded 1844 Schwander opens his piano action making factory in Herrburger, Germany 1845 Leopold De Meyer tours U.S. 1846 Henri Herz tours U.S. 1847 Gaveau Company established, Paris 1848 Debain invents an automatic mechanical piano, Paris 1849 Ed. Seiler Company established, Liegnitz/Kitzingen 1850 Heintzman Company established, Toronto 1851 "Great Exhibition" displays state-of-the-art pianos, Erard favored, London 1852 - Mathushek Company established, New York - Weber established, New York 1853 - Steinway & Sons, New York established - Chickering builds new factory, second largest building in U.S., Boston - Liszt: B minor Sonata composed - Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 3 composed - Louis Moreau Gottschalk returns to U.S. as a touring virtuoso - Bluthner piano company established in Leipzig, Germany - Bechstein established in Berlin, Germany 1854 Mason & Hamlin established in Boston 1855 William Mason establishes chamber music series in New York 1856 - Wurlitzer Company established, Chicago - Thalberg tours U.S. - Lebert & Stark: Grand Theoretical and Practical Piano School published 1857 - George Steck Company established, New York - Peabody Conservatory founded, Baltimore 1859 - Henry Steinway, Jr. patents cross-stringing for grands - August Förster Company established, Lobau, Germany 1860 - Julius Feurich established, Leipzig - Broadwood & Sons make their last square; uprights dominant in European homes 1862 - At London Exposition, Steinway wins a medal with cross-strung grand - DH Baldwin established in Cincinnati, Ohio 1864 Petrof Company established, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic 1865 - Grotrian Company established as successors to Theodore Steinway, Braunschweig, Germany - Oberlin Conservatory founded, Oberlin, Ohio 1867 - Chickering and Steinway win the top prizes at Paris Exposition - New England Conservatory founded 1869 Balakirev: Islamey composed 1872 - Theodore Steinway patents the duplex scale to enrich the tone - Steinway presents Anton Rubinstein's U.S. tour - Sohmer established, New York 1874 Albert Steinway patents the sostenuto pedal (middle pedal on modern grands) 1874 Musorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition composed 1875 Chickering presents Hans von Bülow's first U.S. tour 1877 British Piano Manufacturing Co. established in London 1878 A Japanese square piano is exhibited at Paris Exhibition 1880 - Wurlitzer Company begins making pianos - Theodore Steinway develops the laminated grand piano rim 1881 Mason & Hamlin Company begins making pianos, Boston 1882 Louis Renner Company founded to make piano actions, Stuttgart, Germany 1885 - Schimmel Company founded near Leipzig - Aeolian Organ & Music Co., later Aeolian Co., founded to make automatic organs, later automatic pianos 1888 Steinway & Sons makes its last square piano; other Americans continue making them 1891 - D. H. Baldwin Company, Cincinnati, begin making pianos - Steinway presents Ignacy Jan Paderewski's first U.S. tour 1893 Estonia Pianos opens in Russia 1895 - Story & Clark Company making pianos, Chicago, later Grand Haven, Michigan - Aeolian Company making automatic pianos, New York 1896 - Kohler & Campbell Company established, New York - Edward MacDowell: Woodland Sketches composed 1899 - Torakusu Yamaha begins making pianos, Hamamatsu, Japan - Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag published - Eubie Blake: Charleston Rag composed - First competition of pianists, Russia 1900s 1900 - E. S. Votey, Aeolian Company, patents pneumatic piano player, the "Pianola" - Baldwin wins grand prize at Paris Exposition 1901 Welte-Mignon invents a player-piano mechanism, Freiburg, Germany 1901 - Debussy: Suite pour le piano composed - Ravel: Jeux d'eau composed - Piano Manufacturers Association founded, later PMAI 1903 - Winter & Co. established, New York - Rachmaninoff: Ten Préludes, Op. 23 published 1904 - American piano manufacturers make bonfire of square pianos, Atlantic City - Chickening produced a quarter grand, said to be the smallest of its kind, it was 5-foot long, and only 50 inches wide. 1905 - Hupfeld makes the "Dea" reproducing-piano mechanism, near Leipzig - The Juilliard School founded - Octavius Beale started making pianos in New South Wales Australia 1906 Gulbransen Company established, Chicago 1908 - American Piano Co. founded, incorporates Chickering, Knabe, Weber, Haines Brothers, and others - National Association of Piano Tuners founded 1909 Albéniz: Iberia published 1910 - Steinway & Sons moves its factory entirely from Manhattan to Astoria, Long Island - Broadwood among the first British piano maker to make player pianos 1911 - Bartók: Allegro barbaro composed - Granados: Goyescas published - Kemble piano company established, England 1912 - Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1 composed - Eastman School of Music founded 1913 - Aeolian Co. patents "Duo-Art Reproducing Piano," New York - American Piano Co. makes "Ampico" player mechanism, New York 1915 Charles Ives: Concord Sonata composed 1916 Mannes College of Music founded 1917 - Manhattan School of Music founded - San Francisco Conservatory founded 1918 Hector Villa-Lobos: Prole do bebê composed 1919 156,000 pianos; 180,000 player pianos manufactured in U.S. 1923 Jelly Roll Morton's first recordings, Chicago 1924 - Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue premiered - Curtis Institute founded 1925 Henry Cowell: The Banshee composed 1927 Kawai Company making pianos, Hamamatsu, Japan 1928 Earl "Fatha" Hines records Apex Blues, Weather Bird 1928-30 Neo-Bechstein, electric piano with electromagnetic pickups to amplify struck strings 1929 Great Depression seriously limits piano manufacture everywhere 1930 - Koichi Kawai leaves Yamaha and starts his own firm, Japan 1932 - American Piano Co. and Aeolian merge to form Aeolian American Corporation - Tobias Matthay: The Visible and Invisible in Pianoforte Technique 1933 - Art Tatum's first professional solo recordings - Challen Company makes the largest (11-foot-8-inch) grand ever made, London 1935 Alfred Knight Company founded to make uprights in Essex, England 1939-45 World War II effectively halts piano manufacture everywhere 1940 - John Cage: Bacchanale composed - American Association of Piano Technicians founded 1945 Mary Lou Williams: Zodiac Suite composed 1947 Conlon Nancarrow begins Studies for Player Piano 1948 Pierre Boulez: Piano Sonata No. 2 composed 1953 Liberace wins 2 Emmy Awards for network television programs 1955 Guangzhou-Pearl River Company established, Guangzhou, China 1958 - Samick Company established, Inchon, S. Korea - Shanghai Piano Co. established, Shanghai - Beijing Piano Co. established, Beijing - Van Cliburn wins Tchaikovsky Competition, Moscow - Piano Tuners and Piano Technicians Associations merge as Piano Technicians Guild 1960 Harold Rhodes develops the electric piano (Fender-Rhodes) 1961 Pleyel, Erard, Gaveau merge 1963 Kawai America established; followed by Kawai Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia. 1966 Bösendorfer, Vienna, acquired by Kimball, Chicago 1968 Young Chang begins making pianos, Inchon, S. Korea 1969 - Japanese piano production exceeds that of all other countries - Yamaha is Japan's largest producer - Astin-Weight patents larger soundboard design for uprights, Salt Lake City 1971 Schimmel acquires Pleyel, Erard, Gaveau 1972 CBS buys Steinway & Sons 1973 Steve Reich: Six Pianos composed 1974 Baldwin buys Bechstein, Berlin 1975 Frederic Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated composed 1977 John Adams: Phrygian Gates composed 1980s Development of computerized player pianos, Bösendorfer, Yamaha, Baldwin, and others 1980 Fazioli pianos presented, Sacile (Portenone), Italy 1985 - A group of Boston businessmen buys Steinway & Sons from CBS - Aeolian Corporation disbanded - Wurlitzer buys Chickering name 1987 Baldwin sells Bechstein back to employees 1988 Klavins builds a 12-feet-high experimental upright, Bonn, Germany 1990 - Young Chang buys Kurzweil Music Systems, American maker of electronic keyboards - PianoDisc (Music Systems Research) established, Sacramento - Chavanne Pianos established in France 1991 Boston Piano Company established as Steinway subsidiary, New York 1993 Darrell Fandrich patents new upright action design, Seattle 1995 - Steinway and Selmer merge into Steinway Musical Instruments - Baldwin buys Wurlitzer and Chickering names 1996 - Piano Disc takes control of Mason & Hamlin, Sohmer, and Knabe - Young Chang opens factory in Tianjin, China - Kimball ceases piano manufacture 1997 - Broadwood barless grand piano design patented and launched - Dietrich Heinrich Dotzek of Sweden, takes out a patent for a magnetic assisted upright piano action 1998 - The U.S. International Trade Commission starts an investigation into the competitiveness of the US piano industry due to piano imports from China, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea - released in 1999 see below - Steinway acquires Kluge, Europe's largest manufacturer of piano keys - Broadwood celebrates their 270th anniversary 1999 - Deutsche Bank announces purchase of Baldwin retail financing units at a cost of 35 million dollars, helping Baldwin Pianos to clear some of it debts and concentrate on piano production. - U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION RELEASES FACT-FINDING REPORT ON ECONOMIC AND COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE U.S. PIANO INDUSTRY: Click Here To View Full Report 2000 2000 - The year 2000 marks the 300th year of piano manufacturing - Piano300 exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. - Ron Overs (Australia) presents a revolutionary new grand piano action design, offering pianists a level of control, responsiveness and speed unrivalled in grand pianos to date - Kawai launches Shigeru custom grand piano - Pearl River Piano Group announced they were to begin production of the old German make, Ritmuller - Whelpdale, Maxwell & Codd Ltd. and Woodchester Pianos merge into The British Piano Manufacturing Company Ltd. - Schaff Piano Supply Co. buys American Piano Supply Co. (USA) 2001 - Steinway begins distributing their Essex line, manufactured by Young Chang - Baldwin files for bankruptcy 2002 - Gibson purchases Baldwin Piano Co., including the Chickering and Wurlitzer names. - Bosendorfer purchased by BAWAG - PSK GROUP, Austria's third largest banking group. - Bosendorfer releases Porsche Design 7 foot grand 2003 - Steinway celebrates its 150th anniversary at Carnegie Hall in New York - Bosendorfer celebrates its 175th anniversary - Inter Music (England) purchases the stock of the British Piano Manufacturing Co Ltd., also acquiring the piano names of Bentley, Knight, Welmar, and Woodchester - Bluthner releases its "left-handed" or "backwards" grand piano - with the treble keys, hammers and strings on the left and the bass on the right. - Grotrian (Germany) introduces its Duo Grand Piano - 2 grand pianos placed side by side with keyboards at opposite ends, as in a duo piano concert, with connected soundboards and a common lid. - The British Manufacturing Co. ceases operations in April 2005 - Steinway announces to move production of some of the Essex models to the Pearl River Factory in China. 2006 - Steinway & Sons' New York factory announces the return in production of the Model O grand with its characteristic round tail, curved bass bridge, and rear duplex scales. The Model O was originally introduced in 1902. By 1923, the last of the Model Os were produced in New York (although the model has since been made at their Hamburg factory). - Schulze Pollman partners with Ferrari Motor Car to launch limited edition pianos based on the Ferrarl 612 Scaglietti series. 2007 - Bechstein acquires Czech Republic firm, Bohemia Piano Co., which it integrates into a new entity called C. Bechstein Europe. 2008 - Bösendorfer becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of the Yamaha Corp. of Japan after they purchased all their shares from BAWAG, Austria's third largest banking group. - Seiler sold to Samick Music Corp., who who agrees to continue the tradition of making the highest-quality pianos 2009 - Bösendorfer unveils the Audi Grand Piano whose design, in collaboration with Audi, is reminiscent of automobiles. - The final piano is built by England's Kemble Pianos after nearly 100 years of production. Yamaha, the main shareholder of Kemble, has announces plans to transfer production to Asia. - Steinway signs deal with Korean firm, Samick Music Corp., to take a minority stake in Steinway in order to get rid of outstanding debt. |
| The Piano Time Line: A Chronological History |
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