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BROADWOOD
1851
1. A grand pianoforte in the Nave, ebony case richly carved and gilt; the
top, ebony inlaid with satin-wood; above each of the three legs is a
medallion, carved and gilt, having busts of Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven.
The design by E. M. Barry, Esq.
2. A grand pianoforte in Amboyna-wood case,
with carving.
3. A grand pianoforte in plain Amboyna-wood.
4. A grand
pianoforte in Italian walnut-wood case.
Of these four seven-octaves, C to G, grand pianofortes, two have each three
straight tension-bars parallel to and over the strings. Of the other two,
one has one parallel bar and one long oblique bar the other has one
parallel bar and two oblique bars. The scale of this latter instrument may
be considered as a triangle of unequal sides, divided by these three bars
into four triangles. This instrument is the most sonorous of the four.
In
all the four pianofortes any bending of the wrest-planks is obviated by the
application of a metal transverse suspension bar, placed over and nearly in
a line with the studs. The peculiar application of this suspension-bar is
considered as an essential improvement.
The tension-bars are also new, and
entirely peculiar to these instruments, being constructed with flanges on
each side to prevent twisting. A section of these bars transversely would
present the figure of a cross -f.
The strain of the strings on these
instruments is immense, notwithstanding which they stand in tune far better
than those constructed with the ordinary bracing. In the four pianofortes
exhibited, the following improvements are illustrated, and are claimed by
Messrs. Broadwood as bting entirely their own : —
1st. A newly-revised harmonic scale of strings.
The whole of the above-named six novelties of invention are dated by Messrs.
Broadwood in the year 1847. It is by the combination of most of the
improvements just mentioned that this firm has attained, in their
pianofortes, not only more sonorous tones, but a greater perfection of the
quality of tone.
Again, there can be no doubt but that simplification of
bracing, in the construction of
pianofortes, will eventually enable the public to obtain first-rate
instruments at a comparatively moderate price.
And it is proper to record
that, up to this time, the aim of most makers has been to introduce as much
iron or other metal bracing as safety to the quality of tone would bear, and
that Messrs. Broadwood are now the first to retrace such steps, learning
from experience that tension-bars are but make-shifts, and that it is
probable that the best mode of constructing a pianoforte would be to
strengthen the case by other means, superseding the tension-bars altogether.
It should also be noticed that the action used by Messrs. Broadwood in their
pianofortes is of the most simple and effective kind, and that its very
simplicity is a guarantee for its durability."
Reports by the Juries on the Subjects in the Thirty
Classes Into which the ..., 1851, p. 329
Messrs. Broadwood's three grands are beautiful specimens of amboyna and walnut, and of that quiet an elegant style of cabinet-work wich is generally consonant to our English taste; and our manufacturers seem more desirous of availing themselves of the beauties of nature in the rich and varied figure of the diffrent rare woods, than employing the designs of art. This may perhaps account for the comparative absence of buhl and marqueterie in our pianofortes." The Crystal Palace, and its contents : being an illustrated cyclopaedia of the great exhibition of the industry of all nations, 1851, p. 200-201 (archive.org)
The manufacturers seem as desirous of pleasing the eye as delighting the ear, and, accordingly, we notice some very beautiful instruments, in which the art of the carver, inlayer, ,and gilder is lavishly employed ; but we miss any attempt to give a more elegant and uniform shape to the grand pianoforte, which is so much to be desired.
Messrs. Broadwood exhibit four grand pianofortes (one in a
magnificent case designed by Barry), in which the beauty of the wood and the
excellence of tlie workmanship are conspicuous."
The Crystal Palace, and its contents : being an
illustrated cyclopaedia of the great exhibition of the industry of all
nations, 1851, p. 42 (archive.org)
Two of them
have three bars parallel with the strings; one has one parallel bar and one
placed diagonally; the other has one parallel and two diagonal bars, — the
latter lying at different angles.
They have all the long transverse bar
over the wrest-plank. They are excellent specimens of the grand piano-forte,
in its most perfect modern state."
Newton's London Journal of Arts and Sciences, 1851,
p. 30
"May it please your royal highness, my lords, and gentlemen,—The
jury, class 10 A, consisting of the following members, — Sir H. R.
Bishop, chairman and reporter, Sir George Smart, M. Thalberg, Mr.
Cipriani Potter, Mons Berlioz, Le Chevalier Neukomm, Dr. Schafhautl,
Mr. W. Sterndale Bennett, Dr. Black, Dr. Henry Wylde; of whom all
were present except Dr. Black and Dr. Henry Wylde, decided
unanimously to award the great medal to the house of Broadwood, for
its successful improvements in piano-fortes and piano-forte making.
Dr. Black subsequently declared in the jury room his agreement with
the award of his colleagues. This decision of the jury was confirmed
in the meeting of the group. The council of chairmen, however (as it
has been generally reported), rejected tho award thus doubly
confirmed, and in seeking for the grounds of this rejection, the
jurors of Class 10 A, who transmit these papers, are compelled to
state it as their opinion that undue weight must have been
attributed to mis-statements made at the meeting of the group, in
the presence of many of the chairmen, affecting Messrs. Broadwood's
claim as improvers of the piano-forte.
The mis-statements were, upon remonstrance withdrawn; but 4 is a
lamentable fact that the injurious effects of such statements,
positively put forth, can seldom be completely effaced by a
retractation.
Should such a decision of the council of chairmen respecting Messrs.
Broadwood be reported to the royal commissioners, the jurors who
transmit this memorial beg most respectfully to be allowed to point
out to his royal highness and the royal commissioners that, in this
case, a decision which was arrived at after due deliberation by the
jury, class 10 A, specially qualified and selected in consequence of
technical knowledge of the objects to be submitted to its judgment,
and which received subsequent information from the group of
associated jurors, has been set aside by a body of gentlemen, who,
distinguished as they are for their general attainments, may have no
special and technical knowledge of piano-fortes and piano-forte
making, nor have they in their capacity of chairmen — except the
chairman of class 10 A, whose opinions and statements ought to have
had due weight —even inspected or been called upon to become
acquainted with the instruments upon which the award which they
rejected was made.
In spite of this fact, the responsibility of the award will still
probably, in tho eyes of the public, rest with the primary jury; and
the memorialising jurors, feeling that their professional and
scientific reputation would bo compromised by a decision so
contrary, in their opinion, to the merits of the case, and which
will, they are sure, astonish the whole European musical world,
earnestly entreat his royal highness and the royal commissioners to
take the case into their consideration, and to apply to it such
remedy as may I seem best fitted in their judgment.
With this statement is transmitted an extract from an official
document, setting forth the special mechanical improvements on which
Messrs. Broadwood's claims are founded.
And the memorialising jurors conclude by expressing their conviction
that the house of Messrs. Broad wood has eminently fulfilled every
single condition contained in the 'instructions to the juries',
combining in their instruments 'novelty of invention (of
considerable importance and usefulness), perfection of workmanship,
beauty of design, and superior quality of tone.
Dr. Black subsequently declared in the Juryroom his agreement with
the award of his colleagues. This decision of the Jury was confirmed
in the meeting of the group. The Council of Chairmen, however (as it
has been generally reported), rejected the award thus doubly
confirmed, and in seeking for the grounds of this rejection the
Jurors of Class Xa, who transmit these papers, are compelled to
state it as their opinion that undue weight must have been
attributed to mis-statements made at the meeting of the group, in
the presence of many of the Chairmen, affecting Messrs. Broadwood's
claim as improvers of the pianoforte.
The mis-statements were upon remonstrance withdrawn; but it is a
lamentable fact that the injurious effect of such statements
positively put forth can seldom be completely effaced by a
retractation."
The Musical World, 18/10/1851, p.
659
1862
The best class of instruments, in the hands of the first-rate makers, have improVed both in quality of tone and in perfection of make; while the manufacture of instruments of a more humble description has been more widely extended, and the possession of them brought within more general reach of the public, by the reduction of price, which always follows production on an increased scale. Thus, to illustrate both these changes, we may state that the first-rate concert grands of Messrs. Broadwood, which in 1851 sold for 175 guineas, are now, by reason of improvements in their construction, increased in value ts 250 guineas,~while small upright instruments may now be obtained in many quarters, of full compass, for loss than twenty pounds each. The compass of pianofortes generally has increased. In 1851, the usual compass of the grand was a little over six and a half octaves — C to G, or A, more than this being exceptional; while six octaves-F to F, or C—was considered a reasonable compass for smaller instruments. Now, first-class grands are made universally seven octaves -A to A ; and scarcely a single instrument is constructed in which the bass does not extend down to C. The stringing has somewhat increased in thickness, which, combined with the increase of compass, and the continued unreasonable rise in pitch of the opera and concert bands (which concert pianofortes have been obliged to follow), has much increased the tension on the framing. In 1851, the aggregate tension on a full-sized gland was about eleven or twelve tons, now it is above sixteen tons. Of course extra strength in the framing has become no— cessary to meet this increased strain. The action remains pretty much as it was. The rage for “repetition" mechanism, a contrivance originally introduced only to meet an almost exceptional refinemnt of first-class playing, has now calmed down, or at least has been transferred to a lower grade in the manufacturing scale. The chief houses have reduced the mechanism for this purpose to the simplest possible addition to the ordinary action; it is on the inferior makers who now rack their brains to produce complicated and costly contrivanees for this purpose, to be a lied in cases where they can never be of the slightest utility. In making the awards for pianofortes, the Jury have feltn difficulty arise from the Medals being all of the same value, which compels them to award apparently the same degree of honour to any merit shown by a small maker that they would to the most successful performance of the first manufacturers in Europe. The rules established by the Commissioners do not warrant any special awards being given ; but the Jury consider they will not be exceeding their powers in placing certain makers at the head of their list, with notices more full and special than those which follow. [...] Messrs. Broadwood and Sons (United Kingdom, 3372) stand, without controversy, at the head of the pianoforte-makers who exhibit on the present occasion. The Jury award them a Medal for excellence in every kind of piano, power and quality of tone, precision of mechanism, and solidity. They exhibit four grand concert instruments, exemplifying their latest improvements, and constituting the most perfect specimens of their manufacture. The most important improvement refers to the arrangement and construction of the metallic braces used to strengthen the general framing of the instrument, and to enable it to resist the enormous tension of the strings; for it will be recollected by those conversant with the history of the pianoforte, that, as the demands for increased power led to the adoption gradually of thicker wire, the increased tension rendered some additional sustaining power necessary to aid the wood work of the frame, and this was supplied by a system of iron bracing, placed above the strings. Down to about the year 1851 this bracing consisted of several bars placed parallel with the strings, abutting at the front end upon the wrest plank, and at the back end on the metallic string plate. The number of these bars, however, required for large and powerful instruments, introduced considerable evils into the rnanufacture, to remedy which Messrs. Broadwood introduced a new system, much more simple, and free from the objections to the multiple bars. The iron string plate at the back, and an iron swcep bar attached to the wrest plank in front, are connected together by a bar at the extreme right and another at the extreme left of the instrument, so as to form a complete iron framing; the number of intermediate bars reduced to one placed parallel to the strings in the middle of the instrument, and one extending obliquely from the bass end of the wrest plank to the junction of the string-plate and intermediate bar. The wrest plank is strengthened with iron plates, and the whole forms a highly stable, mecha'niml, and effective system of resistance, which has enabled strings to be used of great thickness and powerful tone, without any undue strain to the framing. A pianoforto on this principle was exhibited in 1851 ; but the plan was new, and required further trial; the result of the eleven years‘ experience gained since that time has justified its advantages, as the makers state that ; two grands, finished by them in 1852, are still, after much hard wear, among the most approved. concert instruments of the present saison. Messrs. Broadwood have also patented, in the present year, an iron cover plate to the wrest plank, into which the tuning pins are accurately screwed. This iron plate forms an integral of the general framing, and contributes much to the stability, as it eliminates any inconvenience which might arise lirom the crushing of the wooden fibres of the wrest plank under the heavy strain. The Jury cannot speak too highly of Messrs. Broadwood’s instruments, either in quality of tone or in perfection of manufacture. The iron work especially deserves commendation, not only for the mechanical excellence of its design, but the accuracy and finish of its workmanship. The instruments are altogether such as well sustain the mecmmioal pro-eminence of our own country. In addition to their finished pianos, Messrs. Broadwood exhibit a great number of separate parts of pianos, with copious descriptions and elaborato diagrams, calculated to explain, to an one interested in such matters, the entire construction 0 their instruments in the fullest detail; an instance of liberality for which the Jury think they are deserving of special commendation." Reports by the Juries on the subjects in the thirty-six classes into which ..., 1862, p. 146-147 - and - Dwight's Journal of Music: A Paper of Art and Literature, 27/12/1862, p. 309-310
1867 LES PIANOS ANGLAIS.
C'est une gloire industrielle et artistique par ses tendances, qui date de loin en Angleterre, ou plutôt dans les deux mondes. Les chefs de cette grande fabrique instrumentale auraient bien pu se ranger parmi les facteurs émérites de l'époque, parmi ceux qu'on est convenu de mettre hors de concours, bien qu'ils soient tous, mieux que jamais, en état de concourir et de se disputer pied à pied les palmes de l'Exposition.
La maison
Broadwood n'a pas moins fait que ses rivales de Franco: Le même honneur
négatif lui revenait de droit.
Je dis
faveur, et c'en est une apparemment: puisque les facteurs français, rivaux
des Broadwood à toutes les expositions précédentes, ont été éloignés du
concours, il est évident que les Anglais ont eu une chance heureuse en étant
autorisés à exposer leurs produits, qui leur ont valu la première médaille
d'or. Il y aurait bien des raisons à donner pour prouver l'équité et l'utilité de cette mesure.
En effet,
il n'est pas sans exemple que des facteurs, après s'être placés au premier
rang, aient perdu leur haute position pour s'être endormis sur leurs succès,
pour avoir négligé leur fabrication, ou enfin pour toute autre cause,
indépendante ou non de leur volonté.
Ce serait,
il me semble, le moyeu de mettro ou lumière le travail persévérant et le
talent réel; du plus, le public, édifié sur la confiance qu'il devrait avoir
daus les réputations industrielles, serait en garde contre les déceptions
préjudiciables qu'il peut éprouver en s'adressaut à des établissements
déchus d'une valeur qui n'avait été que passagère, mais qui leur avait fait
un nom auquel on pourrait toujours se laisser tromper.
La facture
de Broadwood était basée sur un système qu'il avait inventé et que, pour
cela même, on appelait lo système anglais; Sébastien Erard l'adopta en le
perfectionnant, et l'employa à sa manière et selon ses idées personnelles
daus les premiers pianos à queue qu'il fabriqua à Paris en 1796.
Certes le
plus bel éloge qu'on puisse faire de son esprit inventif, c'est de dire
qu'il obtenait ces résultats dès l'origine du piano et lorsqu'on sortait à
peine de la trop longue routine du clavecin: il y avait tout à créer; grâce
à lui le piano, en naissant, apparut avec les principes indiqués et déjà mis
en œuvre, des éléments constitutifs de l'instrument qui devait s'emparer du
monde musical et y fonder pour toujours l'empire de l'harmonie. Ces qualités sont développées avec toute la perfection désirable dans les pianos à queue.
Dans les
autres formats on les retrouve fidèlement reproduites, mais avec les
restrictions imposées par la différence des modèles.
Ce qu'on
doit signaler dans leur exposition, ce n'est pas un progrès, c'est un
magnifique statu quo.
It is indubitable that there is no finer instrument in the Exhibition, and it is a question whether there be any one so fine. The price of this instrument is 200 guineas; its neighbours, however, cased in more costly woods, are valued at double that sum. Messrs. Broadwood have also sent oblique instruments which may be highly commended." Reports on the Paris Universal Exhibition, 1867, Volume 2, p. 199
Five Grand Pianofortes with Iron Frame, Patent Screw Pin Piece, and all recent improvements. Cinq Pianos à Queue, à Charpente en Fer, Plaque brevetée à Chevilles a vis, et munis de tout les Perfectionnements les plus recents. Fünf Flügel mit eisernem Rahmen, patentirter Schraubenstimmnagelplatte und alien neuesten Verbesserungen.
No. 20,009. -----
No. 20,004.
No. 20,009. ----
No. 19,957.
LOOK ALSO ...
1885
1900
Son Altesse Royale le Prince de Galles. Son Altesse Royale le Duc de Saxe Cobourg Gotha. Maison fondée en 1732. La grande Médaille d’or, Paris 1867." Catalogue général officiel. Tome troisième, Groupe III : instruments et procédés généraux des lettres, des sciences et des arts : classes 11 à 18, 1900, p. 542 (archive.org)
BROADWOOD
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Broadwood, Grand pianoforte
