Piano Keys (Forwarded Message)

[Alan R. Barnard]

Wow, it's neat to know how much stuff some people know! By the way, where
can I get one of those "harpsichrods." :-}

Alan Barnard


----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Birkett" <sbirkett@real.uwaterloo.ca>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Cc: <angelfreewings@msn.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2002 12:08 AM
Subject: Re: Piano Keys (Forwarded Message)


> David forwarded:
> >Begin Forwarded Message
> >>To whom this may concern,
> >>I am a college student doing research on the history of the piano.  What
> >>I am trying to find out is why in the earliest pianos the keys that are
> >>white today were black then and why did the color change?  Can you
please
> >>help me with this information?
>
> Angela,
>
> You won't be able to find an answer becuase the statement is not true.
>
> First, it is a generalization that fails geographically (e.g. English
> pianos and harpsichords) and temporally (Ruckers harpsichords from the
> earliest 16th c had bone keyboards with dark bog oak sharps; italian
> harpsichrods often had light boxwood keyboards).
>
> Second, it is a generalization that fails even within the context of
> Viennese pianos. All you can really say is that pianos after about 1815
all
> had white keyboards (either bone or ivory). But there is at least one
> extant Viennese piano as early as 1785 with white naturals. Prior to 1815
> both types of keyboard were made and the colour of the keyboard cannot be
> used as an indication of the date of the piano. All that can be said is
> that white keyboards generally were coupled with fancier, more expensive
> case veneering and ornamental stuff, often mahogany, while black keyboards
> were used on pianos veneered more plainly, with fruitwoods or oak.
>
> When it comes down to it it is all just fashion and economics - no
> different from now.
>
> Yo. How about doing some real research if you are a college student. Check
> out the source material, organological literature etc. It's easy to ask
but
> more rewarding to do the legwork in the library yourself. And don't
believe
> everything that is written either - much of it is wrong.
>
> Stephen
>
> Stephen Birkett Fortepianos
> Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos
> 464 Winchester Drive
> Waterloo, Ontario
> Canada N2T 1K5
> tel: 519-885-2228
> mailto: sbirkett@real.uwaterloo.ca
> http://real.uwaterloo.ca/~sbirkett
>
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