Square piano

In 1782 W. A. Mozart wrote to his father:

“The Baroness Waldstätten is leaving here and would like to have a good, small pianoforte. As I have forgotten the name of the pianoforte maker at Zweybrücken, I should like to ask you to order one from him. It must, however, be ready within a month, or six weeks at the latest, and the price should be the same as that of the Archbishop’s [Colloredo].”

The Archbishop’s piano spoken of in this letter is housed today in the Carolinum Augusteum Museum in Salzburg and is signed “Christian Baumann”. The instrument which Bernard Brauchli plays is identical and is a rare example of the first steps in the evolution from the clavichord to the hammered piano. Mozart owned, performed and composed on clavichords while simultaneously taking part in the advent and rise of the hammered piano. Hearing Mozart’s music performed on either of these instruments gives yet another perspective of his genius and allows us to come just a step closer to his time.

Square piano, original, by Erard (Parigi, 1817) [FF-c4]

Sample programs

Early Works for the Piano

Works by C. P. E. Bach, D. Cimarosa, B. Galuppi, J. Haydn, W. A. Mozart

W. A. Mozart and His Contemporaries

Works by C. P. E. Bach, J. Haydn, Fr. Seydelmann, W. A. Mozart

The Intimacy of W. A. Mozart

Works by W. A. Mozart

Combined with the clavichord

From the Clavichord to the Fortepiano

Works by H. Aston, G. Frescobaldi, J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, W. A. Mozart, J. Haydn