Fortepiano with a down-striking action

Until its dissolution in 1896, Johann Baptist Streicher’s (1796-1871) firm, together with that of Bösendorfer, was the most important piano manufacturer in the Austrian regions. His success was largely due to his great technical expertise and his quest for perfection. He attempted to make numerous design improvements: some just involved details, but others effected more fundamental aspects of piano construction. He discovered, for example, that the impact of the hammer from above facilitated a more efficient transmission of energy from the string into the soundboard. He developed the so called oberschlägige Mechanik, which functions according to this principle. The tonal results proved him right, but the maintenance of a mechanism of this type and the tuning procedure turned out to be too complicated. (rh)

Lit.: Rudolf Hopfner: Masterpieces from the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments. A Short Guide through the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Vol. 1, Vienna 2019