A euphonicon is a variety of upright
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
.
The distinguishing feature of the euphonicon is that the iron harp frame projects from the body on the left, such that the bass strings are open to view. It also has unusual stringing and tuning arrangements, and an early example of drop-action.
Rather than a single soundboard, it has three soundbases which imitate the appearance of the
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
(behind the bass strings),
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
(behind the tenor strings) and
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
(behind the treble strings).
Although the euphonicon resembles a
harp piano (
claviharp
The claviharp, also known as the harp piano, or xenorphica, is a 19th-century musical instrument that combined a harp with a keyboard. Johann Christian Dietz invented the instrument in 1813 CE. His grandfather was one of the first upright piano ...
) in appearance, the action strikes strings with hammers rather than plucking them.
The euphonicon was invented by John Steward, Wolverhampton, in 1841 (patent no. 9023, granted in 1841) and manufactured by Frederick Beale and Company. It was never popular, but a number of examples exist in good condition in museum collections.
An instrument advertised in Sydney as " Royal Patent Grand Pianoforte Euphonicon" with a
compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
of seven octaves, C to C, was described as
:"the instrument which attracted the universal attention of the musical world at the Great Exhibition . . . (having) the full length string of the horizontal grand without occupying more space than a semi-cottage . . . the richest quality of tone and elasticity of touch, (and) scarcely ever going out of tune, the atmosphere having no effect upon it."
See also
*
Giraffe piano
The giraffe piano is a type of an upright piano that has a "long-necked" appearance due to a narrow, but tall, upright case, essentially a grand piano set up vertically. The design had been invented in Austria around 1805 and was manufactured throu ...
References
[Kenneth Mobbs, "Euphonicon". Robert Palmieri, ed. ''The Piano: An encyclopedia (Encyclopedia of Keyboard Instruments)'', 2nd edition. Routledge, August 11, 2003. .]
["Euphonicon". David Crombie. ''Piano: A photographic history of the world's most celebrated instrument''. Backbeat Books, September 1995. .]
External links
Digital PianoEuphonicon Piano
(Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
)
Euphonicon
(University of Edinburgh Collection of Historic Musical Instruments)
5a Piano collection, Euphonicon, 825F
(photograph of a euphonicon in the Deutsches Museum, Munich)
Piano
Keyboard instruments
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