Sebastien Erard's (1752-1831) inventions have had an enormous impact on instruments and musical life and are still at the foundation of piano building today. Drawing on an unusually rich set of archives from both the Erard firm and the Erard family, author Robert Adelson shows how the Erard piano played an important and often leading role in the history of the instrument, beginning in the late eighteenth century and continuing into the final decades of the nineteenth.
The Erards were the first piano builders in France to prioritise the more sonorous grand piano, sending gifts of their new model to both Haydn and Beethoven. Erard's famous double-escapement action, which improved the instrument's response while at the same time producing a more powerful tone, revolutionised both piano construction and repertoire. Thanks to these inventions, the Erard firm developed close relationships with the greatest pianist composers of the nineteenth century, including Hummel, Liszt, Moscheles and Mendelssohn. The book also presents new evidence concerning Pierre Erard's homosexuality, which helps us to understand his reluctance to found a family to carry on the Erard tradition, a reluctance that would spell the end of the golden era of the firm and lead to its eventual demise. The book closes with the story of Pierre's widow Camille, who directed the firm from 1855 until 1889. Her influential position in the male-dominated world of instrument building was unique for a woman of her time.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
The infusion of new perspectives and insights into the lives of the Erard brothers and their immediate family does much to position Adelson's new book as a meaningful and valuable contribution to Erard scholarship...Adelson's book, meticulously researched, is an accessible and enticing chronicling of the Erard family and their firm's history. Integrating the contents of a previously undiscovered archive with an already sizeable body of documentary evidence is no small feat. Adelson has produced a work that is deeply informative, yet flows with ease. With this wide appeal, it stands to become the go to volume for gaining understanding of the people and pianos behind the formidable Erard firm. * Elly Langford, The Galpin Society Journal * An excellent and eminently readable book. * Tilman Skowroneck, Eighteenth-Century Music * The text is replete with felicitous wordings ...This also makes it a very enjoyable, pleasant reading! * Marvin J. Ward, CVNC * This is a valuable book for music historians and those interested in the history of the piano and pianism in the 19th century. * K. Boyd, CHOICE Connect, Vol. 59 No. 8 * Drawing on newly-discovered family archives, this vivid and fascinating book combines narrative verve and impeccable scholarship to tell the story of the Erards in an age of revolution and discovery, from Louis XVI to Queen Victoria. Their contributions to the harp and piano are with us today, as is the great music they inspired. * Christopher Clarke, Early keyboard specialist and piano builder * Erard is a valuable, welcome addition to historical business studies. * Pheaross Graham, H-France Review Vol. 23 * Erard: A Passion for the Piano provides an invaluable service in assembling and conveying a considerable wealth of background information concerning the Erard piano business and its historical context, details about the piano itself and Sebastien Erard's contribution to its development are sparse and unreliable. A definitive work on Erard and the piano remains to be written. * Fred Sturm, Notes: the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association vol. 80 *
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Produkt-Hinweis
Fadenheftung
Gewebe-Einband
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 239 mm
Breite: 163 mm
Dicke: 24 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-19-756531-5 (9780197565315)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Robert Adelson is Professor of Organology and Music History at the Conservatoire de Nice-Universite Cote d'Azur. Between 2005 and 2016 he was curator of the collection of historical musical instruments at the Musee du Palais Lascaris in Nice and since 2017 he is curator of the Camac collection of historical harps. His numerous publications explore the history of the piano and the harp, opera and the sociology of music. In 2019, he received the Frances Densmore Prize, awarded by the American Musical Instrument Society.
Autor*in
Professor of Organology and Music HistoryProfessor of Organology and Music History, Conservatoire de Nice-Universite Cote d'Azur
Figures
Abbreviations
Editorial note
Erard family tree
Introduction
Acknowledgements
1. Making a harpsichord sound like a piano
2. Founding a workshop
3. Square pianos and piano-organs
4. A modern business
5. Harps, the Revolution and London
6. The French grand piano
7. Gifts for Haydn, Beethoven and many others
8. Financial struggles
9. Faster and louder: the double-escapement action
10. Liszt and the introduction of the new piano
11. Piano wars
12. Family strains and secrets
13. Mendelssohn and the Erards
14. Passing the flame
15. Camille Erard and the end of the Erard Empire
Afterword
Notes
Bibliography
