The Music Collection
INSTRUMENTS
Fortepiano after Nanette Streicher, 1814
Johannes Stein is considered the father of the fortepiano, for it was he who made the style of fortepiano that became so popular at the end of the 18th century. It was the piano that Mozart favoured. Making its debut in Vienna in the 1770s, this type of instrument became known as the Viennese piano, and changed the style of making forever. Nanette Streicher was Stein's daughter. She, with her husband, carried on the tradition of making and developing fortepianos well into the 19th century. The compass of the instrument is 6 octaves FF - f4, and as you can see, it has 4 pedals: the sustaining pedal, the moderator, the una corda and the bassoon stop.