# Fortepiano



## JSBach85

I am interested to know further about 18th century fortepianos and the differences between them and modern (19th century and later) pianos in terms of building and sounds. I would appreciate also if someone can tell me which fortepianos were used by Mozart, Haydn, Boccherini (I am not familiar with Boccherini keyboard works if any), Kozeluch, Beethoven. I am also trying to listen some youtube videos since I do not own recordings so any recommendation will be very welcomed.


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## wkasimer

I don't know much about the technical aspects, or the differences between various instruments - I just enjoy the sound in the appropriate music. For Mozart, I love the recordings by Tuija Hakkila on Finlandia, unfortunately out of print. She plays on a modern reproduction of a Walter fortepiano.

One of my favorites is the late Beethoven sonatas played by Peter Serkin on a Graf fortepiano, e.g.


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## eugeneonagain

These are interesting:


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## chill782002

Paul Badura-Skoda has made a number of recordings of the keyboard works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert on period fortepianos. This is interesting as many fortepiano recordings by other pianists are made on modern copies of fortepianos rather than original instruments.

The fortepianos I have details of him using in relation to each composer's works are:

Haydn - Johann Schantz (Vienna) fortepiano c.1790, John Broadwood (London) fortepiano c.1795

Mozart - Anton Walter (Vienna) fortepiano c.1785, Johann Schantz (Vienna) fortepiano c.1790

Beethoven - Johann Schantz (Vienna) fortepiano c.1790, John Broadwood (London) fortepiano c.1815, Conrad Graf (Vienna) fortepiano c.1824

Schubert - Conrad Graf (Vienna) fortepiano c.1824, Johann Baptist Streicher (Vienna) fortepiano c. 1841, Johann Michael Schweighofer (Vienna) fortepiano c.1845

So we can clearly see that Vienna was the centre of fortepiano manufacture. The fortepiano had pretty much disappeared by about 1865, being replaced by a design much closer to the modern piano. However, the fortepiano itself was changing all the time and the difference in sound between a 1785 Anton Walter fortepiano and an 1845 Johann Michael Schweighofer fortepiano is very noticeable.


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## Mandryka

JSBach85 said:


> I am interested to know further about 18th century fortepianos and the differences between them and modern (19th century and later) pianos in terms of building and sounds. I would appreciate also if someone can tell me which fortepianos were used by Mozart, Haydn, Boccherini (I am not familiar with Boccherini keyboard works if any), Kozeluch, Beethoven. I am also trying to listen some youtube videos since I do not own recordings so any recommendation will be very welcomed.


One interesting fortepiano is on Robert Hill's recording of W F Bach's Polonaises for Naxos. The music is not bad at all.

Another interesting one to explore is the Scarlatti CD by Enrico Baiano called something like The Transition to Modern Pianism.

You may want to try to get hold of Georg Demus's Beethoven recordings made on Beethoven's Graf. I concur with the recommendation of Badura Skoda at least for Mozart and Beethoven. For Haydn you really should hear Tom Beghin.


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## JSBach85

eugeneonagain said:


> These are interesting:


Thank you for the videos, those are good as introduction to this topic and very educational. I think I clearly prefer viennese 18th century piano for classical era composers because I agree with David Schrader that covers the needs of composers of that time (the music was written to be played on these instruments, and the concert halls/places where keyboard music were performed suited in size the sound/volume that those instruments could produce) and also because I like "the wood resonance" over the metal and softer sound produced by modern pianos.


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## Triplets

JSBach85 said:


> Thank you for the videos, those are good as introduction to this topic and very educational. I think I clearly prefer viennese 18th century piano for classical era composers because I agree with David Schrader that covers the needs of composers of that time (the music was written to be played on these instruments, and the concert halls/places where keyboard music were performed suited in size the sound/volume that those instruments could produce) and also because I like "the wood resonance" over the metal and softer sound produced by modern pianos.


I would stay open minded. It isn't clear that the Composers of the Classical Period were all that happy with the then current state of their instruments and their correspondence to manufacturers is filled with suggestions for improvements, and the evolution in Piano manufacturing was largely due to the realization that fortepianos were limited and not up to the demands of Composers and players.
I was pretty allergic to fortepianos until I heard Ronald Brautigan play Beethoven. It depends on the player. The best Mozart players can scale down the power of the Steinway or Bosendorfers and get outstanding results


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## Gaspard de la Nuit

JSBach85 said:


> Thank you for the videos, those are good as introduction to this topic and very educational. I think I clearly prefer viennese 18th century piano for classical era composers because I agree with David Schrader that covers the needs of composers of that time (the music was written to be played on these instruments, and the concert halls/places where keyboard music were performed suited in size the sound/volume that those instruments could produce) and also because I like "the wood resonance" over the metal and softer sound produced by modern pianos.


I totally agree....I think the timbre of the earlier piano and the harpsichord are a lot more interesting than the modern piano generally, but especially for the repertoire made during their time. I certainly wouldn't trade the dynamic capability of the modern piano for what the other ones provide.

The modern piano, besides having a uniform tone color as he said, has kind of a non-complex sound compared to the others to my ear.....the other ones have a lot of charm, the sound is more delicate but more interesting. And I thought the one pedal that muted the sound on the fortepiano was great, the ability to manipulate the timbre (which certainly seems to be a thing on a lot of harpsichords though I don't know if those are historical ones) to me is more alluring than what the modern piano offers.


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