Makers of the Piano: 1820-1860


Book Description

This book continues the overview of early pianos begun in Clinkscale's Makers of the Piano 1700-1820 (OUP, 1993). Although a few of the biographies overlap, the majority of the makers are completely new. Approximately 2,400 makers and manufacturers and about 2,200 pianos are listed. Of this total, about 645 are English, the majority of whom were active in London; more than 200 of the London makers have not been discussed in previous publications.




The Piano


Book Description

The Encyclopedia of the Piano was selected in its first edition as a Choice Outstanding Book and remains a fascinating and unparalleled reference work. The instrument has been at the center of music history with even composers of large symphonic work asserting that they do not write anything without sketching it out first on a piano; its limitations and expressive capacity have done much to shape the contours of the western musical idiom. Within the scope of this user-friendly guide is everything from the acoustics and construction of the piano to the history of the companies that have built them. The piano-lover might also be surprised to find an entry for Thomas Jefferson, and will no doubt read intently the passages about the changing history of the piano's place in the home. Uniformly well-written and authoritative, this guide will channel anyone's love for the instrument, through social, intellectual, art history and beyond into the electronic age.




The Pianist's Bookshelf, Second Edition


Book Description

Originally published in 1997, The Pianist's Bookshelf, was, according to the Library Journal, "a unique and valuable tool." Now rewritten for a modern audience, this second edition expands into the 21st century. A completely revised update, The Pianist's Bookshelf, Second Edition, comes to the rescue of pianists overwhelmed by the abundance of books, videos, and other works about the piano. In this clear, easy-to-use reference book, Maurice Hinson and Wesley Roberts survey hundreds of sources and provide concise, practical annotations for each item, thus saving the reader hours of precious research time. In addition to the main listings of entries, such as "Chamber Music" and "Piano Duet," the book has indexes of authors, composers, and performers. A handy reference from the masters of piano bibliography, The Pianist's Bookshelf, Second Edition, will be an invaluable resource to students, teachers, and musicians.




A History of Stringed Keyboard Instruments


Book Description

This book explores the history of keyboard instruments from their fourteenth-century origins to the development of the modern piano. It reveals the principles of their design and describes structural and mechanical developments through the medieval and renaissance periods and eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries, as well as the early music revival. Stewart Pollens identifies and describes the types of keyboard instruments played by major composers and virtuosi through the ages and provides the reader with detailed instructions on their regulating, stringing, tuning and voicing drawn from historical sources.




Keyboard Instruments in Eighteenth-century Vienna


Book Description

Although eighteenth-century Viennese keyboard music, especially by such composers as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, is among the most popular ever written, there has been surprisingly little serious research into the instruments for which it was composed. This book fills that gap. Based on evidence from primary source material, much of it previously undiscovered or neglected, Maunder traces the history and development of the various keyboard instruments available in Vienna throughout the eighteenth century--harpsichords, clavichords, and pianos--and their use by composers and performers.




Music in New Jersey, 1655-1860


Book Description

Employs nearly 4,000 names of music teachers, performers, instrument, makers, and tradesmen who contributed to the musical upbringing of one of our nation's earliest-settled regions. Also includes a study of sacred and secular music, concert life, music education, publications, and the music trades in New Jersey in this period.




The Contemporary Piano


Book Description

With Contemporary Piano: A Performer and Composer’s Guide to Techniques and Resources, Alan Shockley provides a comprehensive resource for composers writing music that uses extended techniques for the piano, and for pianists interested in playing repertoire that makes use of techniques and/or implements unfamiliar to them. Shockley explains dozens of ways to prepare a piano without damaging the instrument, how to notate every standard technique and many, many obscure ones, and the specific geographies of every common concert hall piano. This will be the standard reference for pianists touring and playing inside-the-piano repertoire, and for composers at all levels of familiarity with the piano hoping to understand the mechanical miracle that is the modern piano.




Music, Women, and Pianos in Antebellum Bethlehem, Pennsylvania


Book Description

This volume documents not only the academic and music curricula offered at a distinguished seminary, but the importance of piano study from a sociological viewpoint, music making in a gendered environment, and performance opportunities available for 19th century women.







The Manual of Musical Instrument Conservation


Book Description

This is the first book to combine museum-based conservation techniques with practical instructions on the maintenance, repair, adjustment, and tuning of virtually every type of historical musical instrument. As one of the world's leading conservators of musical instruments, Stewart Pollens gives practical advice on the handling, storage, display and use of historic musical instruments in museums and other settings, and provides technical information on such wide-ranging subjects as acoustics, cleaning, climate control, corrosion, disinfestation, conservation ethics, historic stringing practice, measurement and historic metrology, retouching, tuning historic temperaments, varnish and writing reports. There are informative essays on the conservation of each of the major musical instrument groups, the treatment of paper, textiles, wood and metal, as well as historic techniques of wood and metalworking as they apply to musical instrument making and repair. This is a practical guide that includes equations, formulas, tables and step-by-step instructions.