On Jul 18, 2008, at 8:43 PM, David Ilvedson wrote: > Who developed the first sostenuto system? > > David Ilvedson, RPT > Pacifica, CA 94044 Although the usual, simple answer given is Steinway, apparently that isn't entirely accurate. At the end of the patent application (1875 grand sostenuto), Albert Steinway says he specifically does not claim: "the combination of a pedal or equivalent devise, and the dampers of a piano with a swinging bar or intermediate mechanism to uphold the dampers, so that while the pedal is pressed, only those dampers are upheld which correspond with the keys pressed by the performer, since such a combination of parts is already well known;" Apparently this refers to the invention of a somewhat differently designed system which accomplished the same thing, by Claude Montal, a Frenchman who is credited as being the first blind piano tuner (info courtesy of Bill Shull, apparently posted to Pianotech a while back). Montal wrote a book about how to tune a piano, in which he is supposed to have described his invention (1856 or so). I have requested a copy through interlibrary loan, as this has happened to catch my fancy. At any rate, the correct answer to the question is that Montal invented the first sostenuto system, but Steinway invented the current design (a rotating rod with a blade catching tabs), and was responsible for its eventual "success" in being standard equipment on "serious" pianos. Credit and blame both <G>. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20080721/e70d84d6/attachment.html
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