85 note pianos

[Stephen Birkett]

Eric Leatha wrote:
>  positioning.  Many pianists *need* the full 88 keys to give them
>  the visual cues as to where their fingers lie. (I know I do)  Try
>  this:  play Brahms  Op. 118 No. 2 on a short keyboard (actually,
>  any Brahms will do).  You'll see .....

If you look at the expanding ranges of keyboards in an historical
context you see that at a particular time different ranges were
available according to what you wanted to pay. F.i. in 1820 Vienna
you could still buy a 5 octave piano, or 5.5, or 6, or the latest
model at 6.5 octaves. The bigger instruments were a lot less common
(the pentium's been around for a while now but there's a lot more
486s). Schubert (1797-1828) never used the notes below FF...all of
his music fits on a 6 octave piano. The final run in the F minor
impromptu, from the top to the bottom note on Schubert's piano, loses
its stunning effect on a modern instrument. Early musicians were a
lot more versatile than modern musicians who expect to find exactly
the `same' instrument wherever they go, and object to having to adapt.
The extra 3 notes to c5 are completely useless on a *domestic* piano
and must add somewhat to its overall cost. A domestic piano with a
6.5 octave range would probably be suitable for most amateur
purposes, and the acoustic effect of the extra notes is probably
insignificant on a low-end instrument also.

BTW Brahms had a 7 octave piano AAA to a4 when he wrote Op 118 and
the other late piano music. The earlier piano music was written for a
6.5 octave instrument, CC to g4. It's interesting to compare the two
versions of the B minor piano trio, or the two concertos.

Stephen Birkett (Fortepianos)
Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
tel: 519-885-2228
fax: 519-763-4686