Erard Square Piano

Erard Square Piano

There are 2 strings per pitch, 92 steel strings, 44 brass. Of the brass strings, 20 are wound. The leftmost pedal presses a rail up against the dampers, lifting them off of the strings. The middle pedal is a moderator. The right pedal controls a mechanism that places a soft, thin material between the hammers and the strings to soften the attack of notes. Erard's double escapement/repetition action.
All key levers have weights at the front (under exposed key area) except the top 7, which are in the middle of the key lever. The top 7 keys also have no damper mechanisms

1809–1810

11/13/19 12:49

Clinkscale, Martha. Makers of the Piano 1700–1820. Clinkscale Online, 1995. http://db2.earlypianos.org/dbport2/MakerBioSearch12.aspx

Gift of Edward and Cathy Skorynko in 1994

Rue du Mail, Paris

Erard Frères

Length 164 cm; Width 60.8 cm; Height 83.1 cm

Five octaves and a fifth; FF-c4; 68 keys

Keyboard

Front of nameboard: "Erard Freres / Rue du Mail Nº. 21 & 23 à Paris 1810"; Back of nameboard: “Johannas C(osioly?), 1972”; keys are numbered in pencil; tuning pins have ink labels beside them

Heavy sun damage, playable. Missing several decorative brass pieces

Piano features a working key for the lock mechanism (possibly original)

Sébastien Érard (1752-1831) originally from Germany, moved to France, and was apprenticed to a Parisian harpsichord maker in 1768. He operated shop in rue de Bourbon then moved to rue du Mail in 1781 where his brother, Jean-Baptiste (1750-1826), joined him. They formed an official partnership in 1788 and opened a London branch of the Erard Brothers in 1792. In 1808 Sebastien invented two new design aspects: the repetition action (double escapement) and the agraffe (guide at tuning pin end of string with holes where the strings pass through--limits how much the strings can vibrate).

GK, MC, SR

Body is mahogany. Brass mounts. Ivory naturals, ebony sharps; brass and steel strings

Vassar Treasure Room