Erard evaluation

[Overs Pianos]

Hi all,

For those of you who may have passed over Stephen Birkett's 'Erard 
evaluation' post, the Erard page on his website is worth a look. I 
found the mp3 samples of various early Erards (the dates of the 
pianos recorded accompany the links) to be particularly interesting. 
The tone of the earlier instruments is, to me, characterised by a 
shortness and woodiness of tone, particularly in the high treble, 
which would seem to be as much a consequence of the lighter sound 
board construction which characterised these earlier designs. Similar 
tonal tendencies in a contemporary manufacturer's instrument, which 
also has a very light sound board construction, reinforces this idea 
in my mind.

It leads me to wonder if the heavier boards of the modern piano might 
contribute more to its tonal characteristics, than the more commonly 
attributed higher tensions.

Anyone else got any hunches on this? Have a listen to the mp3 on 
Stephen's web link below.

>>Although I rebuild, I would not tackle this one myself so I need
>>to find someone who is experienced in working on
>>pianos such as this one that may date back to about 1830.
>
>If it really is 1830 it is worth restoring for sure, particularly if 
>it has the original action echelle. These tended to be retrofitted 
>by the factory after the new action was brought out around 1840, so 
>an original early action echelle is quite rare. Even so an 1830s 
>Erard is a wonderful piano and would be ruined with a rebuild, 
>turned into a bastardized piece of junk with modern bits spliced in.

Indeed. There's nothing so disappointing as a souped up older design. 
A foot in both camps while satisfying neither.

>It shouldn't be difficult to work out the date. Apart from technical 
>characteristics (keyboard compass, length of c string(s), bracing vs 
>plate, straight vs overstrung etc.) there is the serial number....to 
>interpret that properly you need to determine if it is a London of 
>Paris Erard (look at the nameboard).
>
>For comparison, check out the Erard page on my website:
>http://real.uwaterloo.ca/~sbirkett/erard_info.htm
>
>There are various vintage Erards shown, including my 1836. Also, 
>some mp3 samples of restored Erards, both an 1822 and 1842 Erard. 
>The Louchet link contains quite a bit of Erard information too.

Did the rebuilt Erards get new sound boards Stephen?

Also worth hearing is the Richard Lipp circ 1870  concert grand. A 
good image of the restored piano is available on Stehen's website at;

http://real.uwaterloo.ca/~sbirkett/lipp_info.htm

Links to mp3 samples of the instrument are underneath the image. 
Richard Lipp was a 'forward thinking' piano designer (to use that 
'Death of public language' phrase). The evolution of of the piano 
towards its contemporary state is evident in these recordings.

Ron O.
-- 
OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY
    Grand Piano Manufacturers
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