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Piano Making in Vienna

"Vienna is a piano town," the famous jazz pianist Oscar Peterson once said. And Vienna was indeed a major center of piano making in the second half of the 18th century and between 1850 and 1900. Fortepianos were important means of entertainment for the middle classes, and the piano has maintained its place in the concert halls until today.

	The manufacturing of pianos became an important economic factor for Vienna. The most famous piano makers were Anton Walter, Conrad Graf, the Streicher dynasty, and the still existing Bösendorfer company. Other well-known brands like Stelzhammer or Ehrbar, still made in the 20th century, could not prevail against competitive foreign products for economic reasons.		weiter  Piano making in Vienna  The 'modern' Grand Piano Printversion Print
	Lack of space resulted in the construction of upright pianos (forerunners of the pyramid pianos and today's miniature uprights), lack of money in the construction of small and light spinet-like structures called Tafelklaviere, which were produced in large numbers.