Breitkopf & Hartel Piano

[mad_maz]

Hi

I wondered what you could tell me about the history of Breitkopf & Hartel Pianos.

I have advertised ours free to anyone willing to collect and have received several responses. It is only after people have asked for more information that I looked at the make of the piano.

It has not been played for about ten years, but still has a good sound (will need to be re-tuned I guess).

The date in the inside of the lid is 1719 - not sure if this was the date of manufacture.

The piano is upright and is a walnut coloured wood.

Any info much appreciated.

Marion

[Bill Kibby]

1719 is not the year of manufacture, pianos hardly existed then, it is the year Breitkopf & Hartel were established, but they were not originally piano makers, indeed although their name appears on pianos, they told me some years ago that they were unaware that the firm ever had a piano factory, so perhaps they simply put their name to pianos made by another firm. Martha Clinkscale says Mathias Muller & Andreas Streicher made some of their early pianos. Many of their pianos survive from a century ago, but we have very little informaton, and no funds for research trips to Germany.

[mad_maz]

Hi

Thank you for the reply. I also received information directly form Briekopf & Hartel as follows:

Breitkopf & Haertel began manufacturing upright and grand pianos in 1807. After a short period of time these instruments enjoyed a very good reputation. There are several documents in which Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Clara and Robert Schumann as well as Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner commended the good quality of the instruments manufactured by Breitkopf with regard to sound and workmanship. One of the Breitkopf pianos was a wedding gift for Clara Schumann. Breitkopf won golden prize medals for their instruments on important exhibitions for example on those taking place in Dresden and London. In the production department 20 people worked and manufactured on average 100 instruments per year i. e. they were more concerned with quality than with quantity. After approximately 5000 pianos had been manufactured Breitkopf stopped production in 1872 for lack of room and not at least for economic reasons.

You can find Breitkopf upright and grand pianos in many museums of musical instruments for example in Munich and Leipsic but also in the Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth and in many homes.

More detailed informations you could get only in German (Oskar von Hase: Breitkopf & Haertel. Gedenkschrift und Arbeitsbericht, vol. II, part I, pages 368-383, ISBN 978-3-7651-0110-6; see our webside: BV 110).

To find out the production-year of your Upright please find out the serial –Number, it is mostly stamped on the inside of the piano on the iron-frame!

Tell that number to your local Piano-shop , normaly they do have a special Register-book.These register includes the seriel-numbers / production-years of the most Piano-manufactures .