Detail of the 1795 Broadwood Square Piano
Further information:
The Pianos at Finchcocks
There are some seventy pianos at Finchcocks, which embrace most of the types produced in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Two pianos are similar to those that Mozart knew. The grand piano (or fortepiano as it was often referred to on the continent) by Sebastian Lengerer, built in the Tyrol in 1793, is old fashioned for its date. The other 'Mozart' piano is the grand by Michael Rosenberger dating from the last decade of the eighteenth century.
The Viennese fortepiano by Johann Fritz, dating from around 1815, looks surprisingly frail and yet can produce a tremendous sound with its Turkish Music device, consisting of bells, cymbal clash and a drum mechanism striking the soundboard. The collection owns two fine grand pianos by Conrad Graf, both similar to Beethoven's own Graf. Both instruments are in outstanding concert condition and are regularly used for concerts and recordings.
The collection owns some twelve pianos by Broadwood, of every shape and size. They include several examples of the ubiquitous square, ranging from the cheaply produced but charming little instrument of 1795, to the larger and more powerful early Victorian instrument that formerly belonged to Prince Albert. The grand pianos are represented by examples from 1801, 1823 and 1848, amongst others. There are five grands in the collection by Clementi, Broadwood's great rival in London.
A recent addition to the collection is the grand by Pleyel of 1842. This magnificent instrument is similar to that owned by Chopin. The case in so-called plum-pudding mahogany is an outstanding piece of workmanship.