Interview: Chris Maene on Beethoven and the development of the piano

Each period, the lightly built and brightly sounding 18th century instruments with 5 octaves underwent a continuous metamorphosis into robust pianos with metal reinforcements and 6 1/2 octaves, thicker strings and larger hammer heads, resulting in a heavier touch response. Meanwhile, the pianoforte developed in three important centres: Vienna, London and Paris, each with their own building schools and typical characteristics. They competed with each other with constant innovations to conquer the European market. Successive changes in keyboard size, case construction, frame, soundboard, action, hammers and pedals resulted in an ever-increasing sound.

In Beethoven's time, an ever-growing market quickly emerged. Whereas the harpsichord was still the privilege of the aristocracy until the middle of the 18th century, the pianoforte became the living room instrument of the bourgeoisie.

Thus piano building evolved from craft to industry. At the end of the 18th century, Anton Walter was making 30 instruments a year. Twenty years later Conrad Graf was building more than 100 pianos a year, while Broadwood was already producing several hundred instruments. The number of piano builders also grew enormously. At the end of the 18th century, there were about 10 builders active in Vienna, 20 years later there were more than 50.

By the time of Beethoven's death in 1827 the piano had evolved so much that various builders already had all the elements of the modern grand piano: keyboard size of 7 octaves, Erard's double-action mechanism, Pape's felt hammerheads, Pape's cross-stringing, Erard's metal frame of 1822, Pleyel's of 1825. Between the 1770s and 1830s, the piano evolved more than in all the subsequent years.

We cannot assume that the plentiful developments in piano building coincided with the brilliant compositions of Beethoven, who is often unquestionably called the greatest piano composer of all time.

Due to the rapid changes in piano building, he was undoubtedly a groundbreaking piano composer who struggled in a love-hate relationship with the limited possibilities of the instruments available at the time.

With his compositions, Beethoven must have been an enormous stimulus for all the relevant piano builders of that period. Many builders tried to fall into Beethoven's grace in the hope that their instrument would be appreciated more and thus boost sales. Beethoven was always looking for new sound possibilities and was not loyal to the Viennese builders.

In 1803 he already owned an Erard that was so different in sound, touch, pedals and stop possibilities that this instrument was difficult to maintain by the Viennese builders with their completely different knowledge and values.

In 1817, Beethoven was offered a grand piano by Thomas Broadwood, who was trying to gain a commercial foothold in Vienna with it. This English piano had a totally different sound and playing characteristics to the Viennese piano, which opened up new possibilities for groundbreaking compositions.

NANETTE STREICHER 1814

When Andreas Stein died in 1792, he was very famous. His daughter Nanette took over the business. In 1794 she married Andreas Streicher and settled in Vienna. 

Until 1805 they made conservative instruments in the style of her father.

The Streichers are known to have maintained close contacts with Beethoven. They were among the first Viennese builders who sensed and recognised Beethoven's innovative ideas.

The powerful way of playing of Beethoven and his followers inspired them to design a new kind of 6-octave pianoforte. By interventions in the case construction, soundboard and mechanism, the tone became fuller, longer and more romantic than the sound of of the classical Viennese pianoforte.

Although all previously discussed pianos were perfect at the time they were made, the evolution was so swift that they soon fell out of fashion.

The keyboard size went from 5 octaves to 5 ½ octaves then to 6 and then to 6 ½ octaves. The cabinet weight increased from 80 kg to 130 kg. The strings went from 2 thin strings to 3 thick strings per note. The hammer heads became larger, which made the touch feel heavier.

The sound evolved from classical to early romantic. The fact that Beethoven's compositions evolved quickly, his strict expectations and his progressing deafness mean that he always had higher demands and expectations. It makes me suspect that he was never satisfied with his pianos.

Out of all pianos available to Beethoven, the Broadwood and the Erard were the most innovative. They were instruments of a competing school of construction (the English and the French), which also profoundly changed the Viennese pianos.

Ultimately, it were the English and French pianos that lay at the foundation of the modern grand piano.

Beethoven's death coincided with new developments in French and English piano building. Through the use of heavy metal bracing and metal plates, the tension on the strings could be increased, which significantly increased the volume.

The heavier hammer heads required a new type of mechanism that felt heavier than the Viennese ones. The Viennese builders always claimed that their Prell-mechanic played more precise and sensitive than the Stoss-mechanic and therefore they stuck to their wooden frame for several years.

If Beethoven had lived in a time where cars, trains and aeroplanes existed, he would certainly have had the best hearing aid. His life would have been totally different, his compositions too. Let us be glad that he lived at the time of the early development of the piano and that he made a very important contribution to it with his compositions.

It was long mistakenly thought that the modern piano is the end product of a long development in which the 20th century piano is better than all its predecessors. Successful restoration, meticulous reconstruction of historic pianos, the many concerts and recordings on them have long since proved otherwise.

Over three centuries, piano music has evolved. This development undeniably went hand in hand with the development in piano construction. At different times, pianos were made that perfectly met the requirements of the time. More than any other composer, the piano underwent rapid development during Ludwig Van Beethoven's lifetime. If we want to perform Beethoven's piano music on the pianos he knew, we need a multitude of instruments.

And also this...

All modern grand pianos today have a cross-string system whereby the basses lie diagonally across the strings of the middle register. The slanting of the veins of the soundboard follows the bridge from treble to bass. All this ensures the homogeneous influence of the tone. A modern grand piano sounds beautiful and pure and all tones are balanced and in tune.

On Chris Maene's straight strung grand piano, the strings are logically placed next to each other. The veins of the soundboard lie in the same direction of the strings. As a result, the individual tones are amplified. This is very similar to the historic pianos that were characterised by register quality. This means that there is no unity of tone across the keyboard, but that the bass, the middle register and the treble have their own sound character. With the Chris Maene Concert Grand, this is an advantage over contemporary concert pianos because the tones of bass and medium are less woolly. This is a characteristic that Beethoven would certainly have appreciated!

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