Sébastien Érard

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Sébastien Érard (born Sébastien Erhard, 5 April 1752 - 5th August 1831) was a French instrument maker of German origin who specialised in the production of pianos and harps, developing the capacities of both instruments and pioneering the modern piano.

He built his first pianoforte in 1777 in his Paris factory, relocating fifteen years later to premises in London's Great Marlborough Street to escape the French Revolution - his increasing fame and several commissions for the likes of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette having placed him at risk. He later returned to Paris and produced instruments from both factories. Érard's pianos were also widely appreciated by the foremost musicians - Beethoven, Chopin, Fauré, Haydn, Herz, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Moscheles and Verdi are just a few of the famous composers who owned Erard Pianos.

In November 1794 Érard filed the first English patent for a harp (Improvements in Pianofortes and Harps, patent no. 2016), a greatly refined single-action instrument (tuned in E) that could be played in eight major and five minor keys thanks to its ingenious fork mechanism which allowed the strings to be shortened by a semitone.

Érard's "double movement" seven-pedal action for the harp (perfected and patented in the summer of 1810, Patent no 3332) allows each string to be shortened by one or two semitones, creating a whole tone. This mechanism, still used by modern pedal-harp makers, allows a harpist to perform in any key or chromatic setting. It was such a popular innovation that Érard sold £25,000-worth of harps in the first year of the release of the new instrument.

Érard's grand piano action (English patent no 4,631, 1821) is the predecessor to those used in modern grands, the repetition lever in these "double escapement" actions allows notes to be repeated more easily than in single actions. It is just one of many Érard innovations still found on modern pianos - for example, Érard was the first maker in Paris to fit pedals on the piano, and his instrument had several pedals. There was the usual sustaining pedal, an action shift, a celeste, and a bassoon pedal (which put leather against the strings to make them buzz). A knee lever moved the action further than the action-shift pedal, making the hammers strike only one string. Other Érard piano patents deal mainly with technicalities of the keyboard action, soundboard, and tuning mechanism; virtually all of these innovations are retained in modern piano design.

Franz Liszt is said to have played a six-octave Érard piano in Paris in 1824. Érard put him under contract from about this time until 1825, so when he toured England they sponsored him and he played their pianos.