Carl Czerny was one of the most prolific composers ever. Many piano students are familiar with his many books of finger exercises, but he also wrote volumes of more serious music. He published at least 304 pieces built on songs from 87 operas, as well as those from ballets. His output apparently reached Opus 1000! He wrote music from four different writing desks, and would work on one piece to the end of a page, and then move on to another while the ink dried. When he died, he left a large part of his fortune to an institution for deaf-mutes.

The term "recital" first appeared in print in the announcement for a concert by Franz Liszt on June 9, 1840. It was laughed at in the beginning ("how can one recite on the piano?"), but the term has lasted through the present day.

On the average recording of a well-prepared classical musician playing difficult music, there can be as many as 200 to 600 "edit points" (mistakes or flaws) in a sixty-minute program. A producer who has worked with some of the finest musicians in the world (Vladimir Horowitz, Itzak Perlman, etc.) says he has never produced a recording with fewer than 100 "edit points."

Jonas Chickering (1796-1853) was the founder of a Boston firm that would become the first major American piano manufacturing success story. Chickering's pianos earned international praise and fame, and they were the first to introduce a design change that made American pianos distinctly different from European instruments - the use of the one-piece cast-iron frame.

The Steinways began their careers in America working for other piano manufacturers while learning American manufacturing techniques. By 1853, they regrouped to form Steinway and Sons and began to make square pianos.

Many advertising campaigns have catchy slogans. For years, music publishers used "brilliant, but not difficult" to describe their sheet music selections - mostly to appeal to the female players who were never supposed to play really well (that was up to the men!!!). The phrase first appeared in a music newsletter in 1801.

At the London trade exhibition on 1851, there was a bed with a piano built into it that would play itself when someone laid on it.

Yamaha started making articles other than pianos out of leftover piano and organ parts. In 1932, Yamaha made 4000 pianos; 20,000 organs, almost 3 million harmonicas; and 369,000 square meters of veneer; as well as mantelpieces and airplane propellers.

Square pianos were the most popular style of pianos in American homes in the early 1800's. This was at least partly because their shape was the easiest to move by covered-wagon - the primary means of transporting goods for greater distances at that time.

Wurlitzer introduced its first electric piano in 1955.

When Napoleon III was married, Queen Victoria gave him a piano that was built in the shape of his hat. It is still in a museum in Tokyo.

The oldest piano still in existence was built in 1720 by Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) who is considered to be the "inventor" of the piano.

The first foot-operated damper (sustain) pedal was built by John Broadwood of London in 1783.

Clara Schumann was the first pianist to make a practice of playing from memory in public, in about 1840. Before her, it was considered an insult to the composer to play without the written music.

Torakusu Yamaha built his first piano in 1899 - the same year that Scott Joplin published "The Maple Leaf Rag."

Upright pianos come in four sizes. A full upright must be at least 48" tall; a studio upright is 44"; a console is 39"-42" tall; and a spinet is 36"-38". A few piano makers are putting bigger wheels on their pianos so they can say they are taller! The first upright piano was built in 1800 by Mathias Muller (who also took out patents on railroad tracks and propellers).

The original upright pianos were about 15% more expensive than the grands. They were also about 7 1/2’ tall, very top-heavy, and were inclined to tip over with a real crash! They were often referred to as "giraffes.”

The first damper pedal was a lever operated by the knee.






To the best of my knowledge, the "trivia" items are true, but I can't guarantee it.