Grand piano
Maker
Michael Rosenberger
Date1815 ca.
Place MadeVienna, Austria, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedMichael Rosenberger / [illegible] / in WienMarkingsWritten in pencil on the keyframe: 2
Written in pencil on the bottom board under the keyboard: 6
DescriptionThis is a typical Viennese six-octave grand piano, crudely shortened by cutting off the tail end. Compass FF to f4. Bone-covered naturals; sharps of ebony on black-stained pear. There were five pedals, from left to right: una corda, bassoon, dampers, dampers plus moderator, moderator. Bichord from FF to b-flat1; trichord from b1 to f4.
Gauge numbers in pencil on nut:
c43
g32½
d32
a2[1]½
d#21[?]
b10½
[?0]
c#12½/0
a2/0
f3½/0
c#3/0
A#4½/0
G#4/0
F#5½/0
Case exterior veneered in mahogany, with painted decorative borders at the bottom edge and around the lid. Painted decoration also on the canted front and cheek-bentside corners, the keywell, the leg blocks, the upper ends of the square-tapered legs. Interior around soundboard veneered in mahogany; lid interior veneered in oak.
In the late nineteenth or twentieth century, the tail was cut off to reduce the instrument to about half its original length. Part of the back, straight portion of the bentside was used to fashion a new tail wall, longer than the original, and a straight portion of the bridge in the tenor, from the cut-off part tail end of the soundboard, was used to fashion a new crude bass bridge. The shortening of the instrument could only have been done to keep it in use as a decorative object, as the strings in the bass half of the compass could not possibly have been tuned. (The new bass bridge just helped to keep them in place.) Since there was no musical work done, the keyboard and action remained untouched and are still in excellent condition. (The outer layer of leather appears to be an addition or replacement, probably from the second quarter of the nineteenth century.) One natural head cover is missing. Also, the damper rail and dampers are entirely absent – probably they were taken out while the case was being shortened and it was found easier to throw them away rather than put them back in. The pedals, most of the pedal holder, and the basson batten are also missing. The strings (i.e., the entire lengths of the treble strings and the front half of the bass strings) are old, perhaps original. During Koster’s ownership, when the instrument was dismantled for study, the strings were removed and put into envelopes. There is some woodworm damage, especially on the wood underlying the painted decoration on the canted corners. The maker’s inscription was long ago partially obliterated. (Hugh Gough surmised that this was done because Rosenberger might have been taken for a Jewish name.)
DimensionsLength (as cut short):1080 mm (originally about 2250)
Width: 1131
Height of outer walls: 277
3-octave measure of keyboard: 480
String lengths (longest string of the choir):
f4 58 mm
c4 72
f3104
c3145
f2211
c2276
f1404
c1542
g#675 (last original length)
Credit LineGift of John Koster, 2008
Object number14357
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