WORK IN PROGRESS
Restoration in pictures, click successive pictures below to enlarge
The instrument is extremely warped and needs to be taken apart.
ERARD, 1818, PARIS
The Erard of 1818 that we working on now has been in the Colt-Collection in England for at least 4 decades.
It is an extremely rare instrument with the beautiful ‘méchanique a étrier’, a mix between the Viennese and English actions (which means that the key doesn’t have to come up all the way before you can hit it again).
This Erard invention is the first repetition action and predecessor of the modern repetition action, also invented by Erard.
This Erard invention is the first repetition action and predecessor of the modern repetition action, also invented by Erard.
Only a very few Erard instruments of the 1810’s have survived until the present day.
Not only does this piano have an interesting action, but also five (!) pedals and a knee lever, operating the bassoon stop, lute stop, damper lifting, una-corda, moderator, drum and bells.
By comparison to other instruments the restoration turns out to be more complicated. The piano was extremely warped, and to remedy this it needed to be taken apart, – by no means a simple task. Especially removing the hitchpin liners took some doing.
Also the soundboard had to be removed in order to be able to straighten the construction of the piano. A bit of luck: many glue joints of the inner construction had come loose by themselves!
Also the soundboard had to be removed in order to be able to straighten the construction of the piano. A bit of luck: many glue joints of the inner construction had come loose by themselves!