Now THIS is a Piano

[Richard Brekne]

List:

Dont know really where to start. Lets see. Norwegians never cease to
amaze me one way or the other. I had the curious pleasure of being
inside the house where the Norwegian National Anthem was written.
Lyrics: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832-1910).  Music: Rikard Nordraak
(1842-1866). The instrument it was supposedly composed on was the
subject of my visit. The house is a beautiful old building built in
classic style, remodeled innappropriately in the late 1800's and left to
memory since. Must have once been a real gem, but now is ignored by the
state, forgotten, and left to its own fate. Go figure.... What did they
do to Betsy Ross's home ?

Anyways... I didnt know what to expect, but what I found was really
worth the visit. I will be posting pictures very soon but what I can
tell you is that on first sight you think... ahh... a left handed piano.
Its a small forte / grand type instrument. The case looks like the
treble must be on the left and the bass on the right, but it only looks
this way. It is angle stringed from left to right, presumably to
increase the length of the bass strings. Not only that, but the
soundboard is on top. Upside down as it were... Strings are between the
soundboard and the action. Action had hammers facing the opposite way as
modern pianos... Vienna variant ?? tho I didnt remove the action tonite.
There was the semblence of an iron plate that one could see if you
crawled underneath the instrument and opened a latch that gave access to
the harp, strings, and bridge.

 The instrument hails from Paris, and by Henri Herz. serial # 2537 which
puts it around 1835 I would think. It is playable, but just.. tho it
could be made so with a few hours work. Tuning pins have been replaced
at some point with modern pins, and they are plenty tight enough to hold
a tuning. Pinblock is upside down and steeply angled down and away, all
notes etched in the wood. Sounded actually quite beautiful through the
wash of waayyyy out of tune notes... quite full and rich sound for such
an old neglected lady. Nasty case split and crack on the left side
probably means the instrument is really best kept in a museum.

Anyways... I will be putting up some pictures as soon as they come in.
The owner had a digital camera and will send me about 10 shots later on
this evening or in the morning.

Anyone knowing anything about these instruments, or having an interest
should contact me privately so I can put this in touch with the owner.

Cheers

RicB



--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
UiB, Bergen, Norway
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no
http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html