Fortepiano ca. 1838 Conrad Graf Austrian Conrad Graf (1782-1851), maker of this six and one-half octave piano, was one of the most important fortepiano makers in Vienna between 1822-42. In 1824 Graf was appointed Austrian court keyboard instrument maker and in 1835 received a gold medal at the Austrian Industrial Products Exhibition. Composers such as Beethoven, Czerny, Schubert, Schumann, Kalkbrenner, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms, as well as the Empress of Russia, the Queen of Saxony, and the Archduke and Archduchess of Austria owned Graf pianos. This instrument was probably made th
Fortepiano ca. 1838 Conrad Graf Austrian Conrad Graf (1782-1851), maker of this six and one-half octave piano, was one of the most important fortepiano makers in Vienna between 1822-42. In 1824 Graf was appointed Austrian court keyboard instrument maker and in 1835 received a gold medal at the Austrian Industrial Products Exhibition. Composers such as Beethoven, Czerny, Schubert, Schumann, Kalkbrenner, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms, as well as the Empress of Russia, the Queen of Saxony, and the Archduke and Archduchess of Austria owned Graf pianos. This instrument was probably made the year before Robert Schumann's Graf piano, a period that includes many of the greatest works of the piano repertoire. Technical description: The Biedermeier case is typical of Graf's cabinetry from 1835-40; the book-matched walnut veneer, pedal lyre, and profile of the turned legs are nearly identical to Graf pianos in the Upplands Museet in Stockholm and the Colt Clavier Collection in Kent (); aside from an iron gap spacer, bridging the wrestplank and belly rail, the structure of the piano is entirely of wood (there is no metal fame as in the modern piano); the case is constructed of coniferous woods and oak veneered with figured walnut; the tail and cheek-piece miter, as well as the key-well sides are square (as opposed to rounded-over, as in Graf's earlier instruments); the tail and cheek miters are also square off; the instrument stands on three turned legs having brass casters; the pedal lyre supports four pedals: una corda, two moderators, and damper lift; the keyboard range is CC-g4; the nameplate consists of an engraved paper label under original glass, surrounded by an embossed ormolu frame; the nameplate inscription read: CONRAD GRAF/kaiserl : kon : hof-fortepianomacher/ WIEN/nachst der Carls-Kirche im Mondschein No. 102; on the soundboard there is a printed and signed label that reads: Goldene Medaille/FERDINAND I. KAISER VON OESTERREICH/Conrad Graf/in Wien/Fort
Size: 3239px × 3822px
Photo credit: © MET/BOT / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords:
