Square piano

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Square piano (though this example isn't exactly rectangular)
Square piano (though this example isn't exactly rectangular)
Swedish painting of woman playing a square piano.
Swedish painting of woman playing a square piano.

The square piano is a piano that has horizontal strings arranged diagonally across the rectangular case above the hammers and with the keyboard set in the long side. It is variously attributed to Silbermann and Frederici and was improved by Petzold and Babcock. Built in quantity through the 1890s (in the United States), Steinway's celebrated iron framed over strung squares were more than two and a half times the size of Zumpe's wood framed instruments that were successful a century before. Their overwhelming popularity was due to inexpensive construction and price, with performance and sonority frequently restricted by single actions and double stringing.

See also Finchcocks, a collection of early keyboard instruments in Kent which has many original square pianos.

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