English and Viennese Actions

[Anne Acker]

Hear, Hear!!!

With one exception:  I find that the better makes, properly set up, and played by the sensitive player, have equally fast repetition.  Proving this will be part of an ongoing research project.

Anne 





from Stephane________________________________________
 
For me, the difference between modern action and viennese, or even english action, is most obvious when the pianist plays very subtle PP dynamics.  In a modern action, when you depress the key very slowly, everything goes fine until you encounter the spot where repetition lever and the jack both hit their button.  You then have much increased friction, more noticeable at PP playing because you don't profit from parts inerty to overcome it, plus you have the repetition spring to bend, even more if you regulate large drop values.  Add to this that because of the bouncing effect of the shank on the springy lever you have to regulate the letoff comfortably far away from the string, and you understand that the dynamic range below PP is inexistant in a modern action.
A contrario, on an english or a viennese action, there is nothing that comes in the way when you depress the key : it is a continuous movement with constant feel of resistance untill the very set off, which, because no lever and no spring, you can regulate much closer to the string.  This means that ANY movement of the finger to the bottom of the dip will cause a sound from the string, proportionnal to the speed of stoke, foreseen that the set off (the only regulation on those actions) is regulated evenly.  The dynamics below PP are MUCH more controllable.
You could say : who cares to play that low levels ?  But then, in the hands of a good pianist who took the time to understand these actions, those less than PP dynamic ranges are used with great advantage to, for example, lowering the level of the left hand accompanyment, while playing the right melody at usual level, which results in a sort of tonal colour shades that are simply unattainable on a modern action.  Most skilled pianists even put some difference between the notes in one single chord played PP, like for example a tid bit emphasizing the third in the chord, in order to give the chord a rich warm colour (even more so with historical temperaments), or emphasizing the fifth to obtain a colder but sturdier finale effect.  This of course you can do also on a modern action, but not at PP level.  It is a real experience to discover how much more a (well regulated) english action can do for interpretation, at the cost of lightning repetition.  Even this is only partially true :
 english action does repeat very well if the pianist takes care to lift his fingers high enough between two repetitions.  By the way, only a very small part of repertoire really requires this lighning repetition.  Not even Liszt does.
The good in Blüthner patent action is that it retains the qualities of english action (direct stroke, no intermediate levers) while providing a slight hammer raise by mean of a spring, but you don't feel the spring as it is constantly engaged in the system.
 
Best regards.
 
Stéphane Collin.