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A square pianoforte with the inscription ‘Johannes Zumpe et Gabriel Buntebart Londini Fecerunt 1769/Princes Street, Hanover Square’, in a mahogany case inlaid with ebony stringing upon a trestle stand of beech. The compass is of five octaves, GG-f’’’, and strung bichord throughout. The instrument is with the English single action and over-dampers. Handstops are provided for split bass/treble damper sustain and a buff stop.

We were tasked with returning this instrument to full playing condition for the Finchcocks Musical Museum in Kent. Prior knowledge includes that the instrument shall be regularly played upon for the purposes of demonstration and concert.

The overall condition of the instrument was such that extensive work was required in order to accomplish its return to a playing state. Consideration was given to the possibility of disassembling the entire instrument to facilitate the complete reconstruction and re-gluing of the entire structure. However, it was felt if the instrument were stabilised, tuned lower in pitch and kept in appropriate climatic conditions, major disruption could be averted for a considerable period.

The left side plinth moulding comprised of two component parts: a mahogany base capped with a softwood top, into which the contour could be easily scratched and then ebonised. The remaining worm eaten fragments of this moulding were unfortunately beyond repair and were removed, and a scratch stock was cut to create the profile of the new moulding. This replacement moulding was prepared and fitted.

The right side case moulding had also suffered from woodworm infestation and had to be removed to gain access to the fissures between the case corner and the baseboard. The moulding was extensively repaired and returned to the instrument. The left hand side baseboards had parted from the case, and so were re-glued.

The brass escutcheon plate designed to protect the wood surrounding the fall-board lock was missing. A replacement was sourced from David Law www.traditional-brassware.co.uk who had made a copy from a similar dated Zumpe. A fall-board lock striking plate has also been manufactured to replace the missing original.

The lid hooks still have what may be the original leather washers. One new eyelet keep was fitted to correspond with the front hook to replace the missing original.

The original lid hinge screws were missing. Four of the six lid hinge screw holes in the spine required plugging. The plugs were drilled to receive appropriate new wood screws.

The casework finish is in good condition with an excellent patina. A small amount of cleaning was undertaken without penetrating the original surface finish. A crack in the lid was re-glued and dents to the lid made in recent times were teased flush with the surface again.

It appeared that the soundboard had not been removed prior to this intervention.

The joint in the soundboard timbers had become mis-aligned due to water damage. This joint was separated and realigned accordingly.

The soundboard is cut from relatively dense, coarse grained wood, and consists of two boards containing one joint. The outer surface of the soundboard was concave as the result of the down-bearing from the bridge. This was exacerbated by the presence of woodworm in the affected area, which had further weakened the board and is particularly evident at the treble end of the bridge. The soundboard was subjected to compression not only from downward string tension in the bass but there had also been an extra load imposed on the soundboard as a result of the wrest plank breaking free from the case wall and compressing the board longitudinally.

The weakened treble area of the soundboard carries a deep impression of the bridge, caused by the three screws and the down bearing of the strings. The underside of the soundboard carries two full length bars, plus three ‘propeller’ shaped braces, and is pierced by three countersunk screws entering the bridge from the underside. The three propeller braces were somewhat distorted and, due to the breakdown of the bridge glue, the three screws had been carrying the string load. All bars and braces were removed and where necessary, repaired and/or straightened, before being re-glued. The warped soundboard was carefully flattened using appropriate conservation techniques, and following these repairs, was reinstated before re-applying the soundboard mouldings.

The forward portion of the soundboard shows signs of having been cleaned with abrasive paper at some point in the past. The abrasions run parallel with the direction of the bridge.

The extant bridge was carved from beech with grain running in the usual longitudinal direction, resulting in the curved end of the bridge comprising mainly of end grain. This inherently vulnerable point was further weakened by worm attack, which had affected the whole bridge and which was concentrated in the curve. This had resulted in the bridge breaking in two at this point. In addition, the bridge was no longer attached to the soundboard by glue, but by the three screws, which had become the main load bearing components. The heads of these screws had been partially pulled through their housings, thus allowing the bridge to skew severely and for a long enough period of time to assume a permanently distorted shape. The resulting gap between the soundboard and the underside of the bridge was loosely filled with a ‘paste’ of wood fillings and glue from an earlier intervention.

There was no possibility of returning the bridge to its original shape without undertaking irreversible changes. It was also necessary to take into account that, even if the break could have been repaired, other parts of the bridge had been weakened by worm attack which had also affected the soundboard in general, particularly the treble area. Taking these factors into consideration it was concluded that as both bridge and soundboard were mechanically weak, a new bridge was necessary. The extant bridge (returned to the customer) was used as a template for a replacement, which was made of solid beech.

Despite the repairs to the bridge and soundboard, there may be inherent weakness due to the age and overall condition of the instrument.

For this reason it is strongly recommended that the pitch standard should not exceed one and a half tones below A = 440hz.

The stand shows considerable worm attack and surface breakdown. This is most evident in the lower extremities of the legs, which have, in addition to general wear, been weakened by the numerous worm flight holes, resulting in surface crumbling. It was necessary to repair the feet that bore the most extreme damage, in order to restore the function and stability of the stand. The feet were carefully trimmed back to more solid wood, capped with new beech, and then finished to match the existing surfaces. The profile of the moulding was cut into the corners of the new areas.

The extant nut and bolt stand screws, possibly not original, were not of adequate length and number of threads. As a result of this, they had been over-tightened and stripped, rendering them ineffective. To remedy this in a previous renovation the stand had been nailed together permanently, and at a later date two diagonal braces had been fitted in an attempt to stabilise what must have been a very wobbly stand. During our present work the whole stand was disassembled and re-glued.

The two wooden plugs covering the nuts were removed and the nuts extracted. Two new nuts were designed to fill the cavities completely, requiring some extra threads to be cut. New bolts with soldered washers were also manufactured. Finally, the top of the nut recesses were fitted with beech plugs and colour matched with the existing finish.

Originally, the top two cross braces had small metal pins protruding from each corner in order to locate into the underside of the instrument to prevent it from moving on the stand. The witness marks from these pins are evident on the underside of the instrument. However, at some stage they were hammered further into the stand are now flush with its surface.

To compensate for the twist in the case (resulting in a considerable gap between case and stand) a removable spacer has been provided.

All the woodworm flight holes have been filled with soft wax so that any signs of fresh woodworm can be monitored easily. At the time of repairs a fumigation service previously available was no longer possible so the treatment used was a conservation grade liquid woodworm killer.

There was evidence of serious woodworm infestation to the action frame and keyboard. The front touch baton was on the point of disintegration and numerous flight holes in the action frame and keyboard suggested extensive infestation.

The action frame and all individual key levers were treated with a conservation grade woodworm fluid, including areas without flight holes to increase the chances of bringing the infestation under control. It is recommended that the instrument is carefully and regularly monitored for signs of new infestation and that immediate action is taken to treat any areas of concern.

The hammer hinges comprise of a single strip of leather that appears to be a sheep leather. The use of sheep skin is consistent with other instruments by Zumpe and it is probable that this leather is the original material. Some hammers appear to have two layers; but it is in fact one thickness with a layered structure. The hammers utilised a technique of securing the hinge leather which may also be seen on two other instruments by Zumpe dated 1773 and 1775 respectively. The method comprises of securing the hinges with small pine wedges against the hammer butt.

Unfortunately during a past intervention on this instrument, instead of steaming the hammer butts apart, many of these pine wedges had been damaged when a saw was evidently used to cut out perished hinge leather in order to create a slot into which new later replacement leathers could be inserted. These leathers and remaining pine fragments have now been removed and new leather matching the single remaining original fragment were fitted and secured in position with wedges based on the original design.

The hammers were found to have been more recently numbered with ball point pen on the reverse alongside the original ink numbers. It was not possible to remove this numbering appropriately.

The hammer hinge rail, beneath the baton, was damaged on the front edge in a previous restoration, making it difficult to align the hammers accurately. The damaged edge of the mahogany was trimmed back and a new mahogany edge grafted and cut to match the original profile.

Two replacement hammers had been fitted during a previous intervention but one of the missing original hammers was found when the soundboard was removed. Because all the leather hammer hinges had been replaced during previous interventions, it was decided that the original hammer with fragments of the original hinge and the method of securing the hinge with wedges of pine should be kept intact and not steamed apart and re-fitted to the hammer rail, for future historical interest. This hammer may be found in the box accompanying the instrument.

The hammer coverings appear very old, and there is a possibility that they are original. They function well so they have been left intact.

Modern felt was removed from the upper faces of the damper slides, which are operated by the hand levers, and cloth of the correct colour and weave was fitted. New elk damper pads appropriate to the period were fitted throughout.

One key ivory had suffered a chip to the corner. This was carefully repaired with ivory to match. During a previous unsympathetic intervention all the keyboard ivories had been bleached and the upper surfaces of the lime wood keyboard had been severely cleaned with an abrasive paper.

Sixteen new whalebone damper springs were cut and inserted into the damper spring baton in order to replace those that were missing. In addition, a large number of existing whalebone springs have been pulled through their housings in order to bring fresher material into use which makes a more functional spring. Some whalebone damper springs had been damaged by moth. One new whalebone damper lifter has been fitted to damper number eleven (please note that the dampers are numbered from the treble end). Two new whalebone guides were fitted to the distal ends of two keys to replace those that were missing.

Except for small traces of an earlier green front touch cloth found when the later red felt was removed, nothing remains of the original front touch cloth. These original fragments were left beneath the new replacement green cloth that was fitted during this intervention.

Considerable deliberation was given over to the initial setting up of the action and as to the probable intentions of the original designer. There is some evidence that Zumpe manufactured instruments with four layers of cloth on the front touch rail. This was tried but found to be uncomfortably spongy. Alternatively, regulating the depth of touch by allowing the damper lifting pads to touch the underside of the hitch plank imparted excessive lift to the delicate damper lifting rods, which in turn impacted the dampers onto the damper rail, with enough force to bend the rail. A simple remedy would have been to trim the push rods; but observation of the rods suggests their being original and therefore the correct length. The most satisfactory solution was found in attaching a strip of leather to the underside of the hitch rail, which regulated both the depth of touch and the amount of lift available to the damper push rods: reminiscent of Zumpe’s first action, illustrated in the Handbook of Keyboard Instruments of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (There was no evidence of leather in the position mentioned.)

The original damper hinges had been removed during a previous restoration using a saw (in a similar way to the hammer hinges). Removal showed that the dampers had been attached in a similar manner to the hammers, although it seems vellum had been the original hinge material as fragments were found during disassembly. The top layer of several later damper lifter pads have been replaced with more appropriate material.

The instrument was re-strung in its entirety with strings wound in the workshop using the correct alloys and gauges calculated specifically for the instrument.

An ideal string tension graph was created with reference to the fragile state of the instrument, and a new set of strings with appropriate alloys and gauges were wound in the workshop and fitted.

Twenty-five new wrest pins were hand made and fitted. The holes drilled into the extant pins are not original and were probably made during a previous intervention to facilitate ease of stringing.

On Saturday, 14th May this eagerly-awaited event was enjoyed by about 25 Friends from several countries. Our special thanks go to Richard and Katrina Burnett, for making us so welcome at Finchcocks, and to Alastair Laurence and his staff at The Broadwood Workshops, who were our hosts for the day.

We had the rare privilege of being able to examine and play the entire Finchcocks Collection, possibly the finest collection of playable early keyboard instruments in the world. For all of us, this alone would have been enough to fill the day, but there was more...

The morning presentation was by Alastair himself, about the Broadwood workshops in the early nineteenth century. He told us how the firm expanded to enable such a substantial production rate, without mechanisation of any kind. So little is known about how these early makers actually operated: this was an opportunity to feel closer to the remarkable John Broadwood, his sons, and the men who worked for them.

Amongst the pianos, we all had our favourites - but the focus of the day was the lovely little 1769 Zumpe square, seen here with the lid removed to enable us to gather round. The piano was recently restored for Finchcocks by Lucy Coad.

After our lunch break, for picnics in the lovely gardens, we were treated to an impromptu recital by the larger-than-life Olaf van Hees, who had already delighted us with performances on the harpsichord. His spirited playing showed off the charming sound that had introduced the pianoforte to the London musical scene. We could not quite place the composer, though: Haydn? The young Mozart? We were amazed to learn that the piece was by Olaf himself, and made up as he went along...

We then gathered round for Lucy herself to take us through the work involved in the challenging and substantial restoration project, and she led us through the delicate balances between 'intervention' and 'conservation'. This was a fascinating presentation, and her report (with pictures) is presented above.

The final presentation was by Malcolm Rose, who is an outstanding harpsichord maker, but who is best know to many of us as the leading supplier of wire for the strings of all early keyboard instruments. We all learnt a lot more about this vitally important subject (where would a piano be without its strings?) and began to appreciate the differences in scaling and stress between harpsichords and pianos.

As well as the more formal sessions, we all spent a good deal of time getting to know each other, chatting generally, and doing deals for various spare-parts in the car-park.
There was more to do than we possibly had time for, and none of us did all we wished. For my own part, I was sorry that I couldn't spend more time with everybody. As it was, I spent so much time gossiping (as usual) that I completely failed to take anything like a complete photographic record, either of the day, or of the instruments I wanted to see. And I didn't get to go into the Broadwood workshops...

Finally, we'd like to thank Graham Gadd, who sadly could not be with us, for sponsoring the souvenir gift of mugs with the special logo:

I think we'd all like to do this again, and as the day drew to a close, I overheard several people saying "see you next year". As reported above, we can now confirm that this will take place on the 11th and 12th of May.

Perhaps it's not too soon for you to drop me a line, so that we can gauge interest. Please email David at friends.sp@btinternet.com

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The Colt Collection

On the Friday preceding 'Finchcocks', and the Monday following, smaller parties of Friends were privileged to visit the amazing Colt Collection. Whereas Finchcocks was perhaps just a little bit hectic, the atmosphere at nearby Bethersden was perfectly tranquil. The expression 'Sleeping Beauty' comes to mind. It is not easy to find, but well worth the effort.

There are about an incredible 180 pianos there (including a few harpsichords) displayed in four rooms. This is half of one of them...

...and the other half.

Sadly, only a few of the pianos are in good working order and tuned, but all are available for leisurely personal study. Nobody will disturb you. Where else can you play and compare one of the finest early English grands (the 1787 Broadwood in the bottom right corner above) and the Heilmann 'Viennese' grand from the same era? (Just behind the fence on the right, visible in the picture above.) These are two of my favourite pianos in all the world, and an inspiration to us all. (Yes, I know they aren't square pianos, but....)

The Collection manager, Mr W Spiers, is a remarkable and entertaining man, and a veteran paratrooper from the Second World War. He worked with the late Cecil Colt for many years, and once you get to know him, has many tales to tell. I'm happy to say that he's also fond of cats!

Making contact with the Colt Collection is not easy, so if you'd like to plan a visit, perhaps you'd like to let me know. David, on friends.sp@btinternet.com

The trip was organized around the quarterly auction at Piano Auctions headed by Richard Reason, and regularly attended by the Friends of Square Pianos, an ad-hoc group that meets to share enthusiasm and trade information. This group meets on the showing day before the auction, generally on a Wednesday. First however, was a stop on Tuesday to the Royal College of Music and a meeting with the curator, Jenny Nex. Jenny has been researching the business dealings and nature of the piano trade in London in the 18th century for at least 10 years, and was of such material help as I was recently assembling information for a biography on John Geib that I invited her to co-author, which she graciously accepted. I wanted to meet here face to face and thank her for the help, but also to see the collection at RCM, which is impressive all by itself.

Although the museum was officially closed for maintenance, Jenny graciously agreed to see us and show us around. I found her to be the exact reverse of the nervous and uptight curator type so well represented in America. She was an absolute delight to talk with and I was quickly put at ease in the room, though preparations were obviously in full swing preparing for an official 40th anniversary of the collection’s improved building that was to happen on Thursday. Although the instruments were bunched out of the way for the maintenance, the scaffolding had been removed so we could at least get at things. I was invited to open and play any instrument I wanted, so long as it still worked of course, which most do. As will be repeated too many times to mention, it would be the work of many days to get any kind of real understanding of the instruments from personal observation. But some impressions remain from the ‘butterfly’ approach to examining each one that was required by necessity of too little time available.

Most of the instruments that were deemed musically sound have been lightly to moderately-heavily restored over the years, with much of the better work done during the time Derek Adlam was involved, along with Richard Burnett. This work included much documentation and a number of drawings of instruments emerged as well. In terms of conservation with an eye towards playability, I found nothing here that was particularly alarming. As with all restoration work, reversibility is largely a myth. Once you take out the tool bag, things are going to be altered irreversibly. That said, I learned more from the instruments speaking than I would have by examining original but worn out hammer coverings for instance.

Although they do not have a broad selection of square pianos, the few they do have deserve mention, and particularly the Collard and Collard square.

It is an example of mid 19th century piano making at its best, and is in remarkably good playing condition. A sweet treble with dynamic tenor and solid bass, it holds up well to much of the literature of the 1830s – 1850s, particularly popular music and light classical. A joy to play. Continuing with pianos, their Jacob Bertsche of 1821 is a significant example of the first quarter century Viennese type, suitable for most of Beethoven and Schubert among many others.

The Broadwood grand of 1799 is particularly fine, with no sign of cheek warp or other defects, though this may have been corrected with the replacement of the wrest plank. So many Broadwood grands would still be encountered that this one loses a little luster in perspective, but it shouldn’t, for on its own it is a resonant and well balanced instrument. At the time I was playing it, I had heard none finer! Playing the bass, you can feel the piano sing in the keys as a tactile vibration, entirely absent in modern instruments but very compelling to experience.

Of the harpsichords, the Kirckman stands out above all others on this trip. It is deep and sonorous with an organ-like quality I have not heard before. There is an immediate reaction to this one that alerts the player to the fact that all harpsichords do not sound alike. The anonymous Italian 17th century fellow is the exact opposite. Brash, bold and brittle, it would need a few hours of playing time just to understand the vagaries of making music on it. We were not able to find time to play them all, but mention must be made of the clavicytherium. The c1480 original is behind glass of course and should be, but the replica made by Adlam and Burnett is out and available for playing. A clear and distinctly light sound with full sustain, it is easy to play and easy to enjoy. I have the drawings for this and now am committed to making it. The Stephen Keene was not played, but is available when things are not pushed together as they were for this visit.

Most of the collection is maintained and tuned, and often used for performance. Contact Ms. Nex in advance and I think anyone with an intent towards learning more would be welcome to try their hand at one or more of these instruments.

On Wednesday it was and off to Red lion Square, home of Conway Hall and Piano Auctions. This day we had two Broadwood squares, a Broadwood grand from the early 1830s, and a selection of harpsichords worthy of viewing. Having recently acquired a Beck square piano I was not eager to bid on anything, but I had come for the company, which turned out in good number. Also there or arriving were (my host for the trip) David Hackett, David Hunt, Graham Walker, Graham Gadd, Tim Harding, and Adrian Lenthall. Following and morning viewing we adjourned to the local pub for fish and chips and a pint, all the while jabbering happily away at mysteries encountered and advice needed for various projects. If school had been that much fun I would have made valedictorian! One more round through the offerings and we were off to Chelveston, home of David Hackett, to look over his collection and work.

David has specialized in square pianos, but has built a spinet, a Viennese grand after Lengerer, and is midway through a double manual harpsichord.

His woodworking skills are of first order, and the results show this care and attention. A Broadwood square of 1787 is just completed and a Ganer is following behind, with a Clementi in the wings. I was expecting the ‘twelve apostles’ to show at any minute and demand entrance! A thoroughly pleasant evening talking techniques and observations, then off to the Sunburrow (local friendly Bed & Breakfast).

Thursday we were off to see the Colt Collection in Bethersden, where we would find over 200 pianos from the last quarter of the 18th century to the last quarter of the 19th century. The collection is private but overseen by a trust, and a caretaker on the property William E Spiers. Arrangements need to be made ahead of time but they are happy to receive visitors. Finding the place is a little bit of a challenge, and we had to ask around a little to get on the right path, but there is a sign over the road if you look closely. Bill is a charming fellow and though somewhat hard of hearing, a pleasant conversationalist.

The instruments are amazing of course. ‘The Early Piano’ written by Cecil Colt and Tony Miall in the early 80s features some of the best instruments, and they are there to this day, exactly as they were. Bill had the cleaners come in and wax all the instruments ahead of us, and tune the Heilmann Grand, the 1787 Broadwood grand, and the Stein. Many of the other pianos were still in good enough regulation to allow a person to get a handle on what they were like to play, and the Shudi-Broadwood harpsichord with Venetian swell was revealing, though I suspect they flapping of the swell would be something to carefully control during a concert, and could get out of hand.

First mention must be made regarding the Heilmann, one of the prizes of the collection. Playing this did not disappoint and it looks as good as it sounds. On taking the action out, one finds the finest of joinery and attention to detail. The key dip is typically shallow, and rarely exceeds 5 mm on any of the Viennese grands we examined. This allows the lightest of playing styles and it was a joy to perform on. The moderator softens the tone nicely but with it off, the Heilmann is never harsh, but remains clear and distinct. The hammer heads are nearly flat and contact the string over a face, quite different than the modern ideal of a pear shaped crown. The coverings appear to be largely original and in good condition.

The Broadwood from 1787 is special, with a hollow treble but warm tenor and rich bass, very characteristic of the period. It is also a joy to play and responds well, and perhaps with the greater key dip, requires less technique adjustment from the modern pianist. Recordings were made of all the instruments still in tune for reference, and many photos taken. The Schneider grand takes the prize for decoration though the sound is only average, but with such inlay work it is hard to describe a more intricate job, unless perhaps the brass inlay work on the Clementi square.

Cecil Colt did not concentrate on square pianos but there are a number available for examination from many builders. None were in particularly good working order, and some are without strings, but for documenting construction details they are in largely unadulterated condition. Examining a piano to any real degree is the work of at least an hour, and with 200 pianos and about 5 hours available to us we had to move quickly, skipping over much that would otherwise occupy an afternoon. I recommend the visitor pick a fine day outside, come early, and be prepared to select a few instruments he might be most interested in. We spent time with the second Heilmann to nearly equal delight, thundered out some Rachmaninoff on the Broadwood barless concert grand ( a monster of a piano with a sustain that carries on for nearly a full minute) and in general made a nuisance of ourselves the whole afternoon, which seemed to please Mr. Spiers enormously.

After dropping us in Ashford and bidding David goodbye and many thanks again, we were off to Rye for two nights. Ashford is more central to getting around to Colt, Finchcocks and the Cobbe collections, but for fun and a walking tour of historic towns Rye is hard to beat. Food is everywhere, and lots to see and look at.

The next morning was a cab ride to Goudhurst where you can find Finchcocks, which is well marked to the driveway entrance. The driveway to the house is a road itself, so keep driving till you come to the manor house.

Practically everything at Finchcocks is in good working order, and used regularly for concerts and events, so in tune as well. Again, the choices are overwhelming, but I had pre picked some favorites to play and photograph. The Walter square is all it is reported to be, and with a key dip of about 3 mm it seems to play without touching it. For so small an instrument it is surprisingly bold and clear. The Broadwood grands are everywhere and each has something to offer, One from 1801 and the other from 1823 are featured for good reason. Nearly free of any cheek warp and in immaculate condition, they offer as clear a picture into the early 19th century as you will find. I spent over an hour on these two alone. The Clementi grand of 1822 features the ‘harmonic swell’. I found the sound tinnier and less clear than the Broadwood, but the harmonic swell does increase overall sound wash, at the expense of even less clarity. Phil Specter would love it!

The Adam Beyer square of 1777 is worth attention, but the Stodart square of 1807 was perhaps the finest square in the house and among the best I ever played. It features a highly decorated case that may be closely contemporary to the instrument, and a pedal that operates solely on the dampers leaving the keys to work normally. It was yet another delight in a house filled with the finest instruments to found under one roof.

The Collard and Collard in the fancy cabriole leg case was useful to help me understand my own grand, a similar size and made within a few years of this one. The sound of a Collard seems somewhat intermediary to the early sound of turn of the 19th century Broadwood grands and a modern piano, having a stronger treble but resonant bass and where the case is still participating in the sound production. In the case of the Collard design, the soundboard is physically coupled to the case by a transverse bar.

Surely the high point though is the small but important collection of Viennese grands at Finchcocks. Among these are a Sebastian Lengerer, 1793, a Michael Rosenberger from about 1800, the little Walter square already mentioned, a Johan Fritz, two Grafs from the 1820s, and a Carl Henschker, 1840. This represents too large a treasure to describe in detail, but the Lengerer projects a slightly nasal and clear voice, while the Rosenberger sounds with the sweetest and most engaging tone of any piano I have encountered. The treble is perfectly balanced with the bass, all notes are pleasing from ppp to mF across the compass, and with the moderator on, you are drawn into this pool of sound from which no escape is desired. What mixture of science and art has come together in this one to produce such sounds? Of course this analysis is entirely subjective, but afterwards, Alastair Lawrence went out of his way to point this piano out to me as being exceptional, which I wholeheartedly agree with.