„denn er arbeitet nur zum nutzen der Musique, und nicht seines nutzens wegen allein, sonst würde er gleich fertig sein“ – Die Analyse von handwerklichem Aufwand beim Bau von frühen Hammerflügeln

Abstract

The collection of musical instruments at the Technisches Museum Wien (TMW) contains a fortepiano dated c. 1782. A number of details point to the builder having been Anton Walter. That said, the action is unique among Walter’s early pianos and its specific characteristics suggest that it is his oldest surviving type of action. Two other early fortepianos – one of them in the possession of W. A. Mozart – were later modified but show signs of having originally had similar actions. The discourse concerning Mozart’s fortepiano in the 1990s assumed that the TMW-fortepiano’s action was the low-grade work of an early 19th-century piano builder. Reconstructing the steps of the building process can help us to classify the details of historical instruments in a new way. In fact, the interaction between capsule and hammer shank in TMW-fortepiano is an excellent technical solution to a musical demand, and the capsule’s handcrafted production is much more complex than it might initially seem. Thus, analysis and reconstruction by hand can give us deep insight into the technical mastery and the inventive spirit of historical piano builders.