Albrecht Square Piano

Albrecht Square Piano

This Square Piano is a curious mixture of German and English piano making. Albrecht was, himself, German so it is no surprise that we see attributes like a German action, knee levers, and a German style Harp Stop. However, there are many English influences. For instance, the “Peacock” under-dampers are a John Broadwood patented design and the Venetian Swell is borrowed from the English harpsichords of the time. Notable about the piano is the presence of three knee levers on the base. The left-most lever controls a rail of fringe that is brought down to slightly mute the strings, giving a harp-like quality (hence harp stop). The middle lever releases the dampers for a loud effect and the right lever opens a Venetian Swell over the right-hand side of the soundboard (called an “underdamper”). This last lever is especially interesting as the Venetian swell does nothing for a piano capable of dynamics. Even more perplexing is that the swell cannot be activated unless the lid of the piano is open, further undermining its purpose. The inclusion of the swell is likely a gimmick to evoke aesthetics of its contemporary keyboards and little more. There are 122 total strings and only one string from the set of brass has yet to be put on. 76 iron strings above and 46 brass strings below. Six of the brass strings are wound with iron rather than more brass. It is likely that this was the work of William Burr, who claimed to wind that exact number of brass strings himself during restoration.

1795-1798

10/29/19 17:45

Closson, Ernest. History of the Piano. https://vaslib.vassar.edu:443/record=b1302301~S1, Libin, Lawrence. American musical instruments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://vaslib.vassar.edu:443/record=b1011441~S1, Clinkscale, Martha N. Makers of the Piano. https://vaslib.vassar.edu:443/record=b1442025~S1

Gift of Ruth Lamb Atkinson (Vassar Class of 1918). Received in 1978 as a gift from Ruth Lamb Atkinson (Vassar Class of 1918), an important donor to the school who wrote in a letter that the music department might value such an early American instrument.

Possibly Vine St, Philadelphia

Charles Albrecht

Length 169 cm; Width 55.5 cm; Height 85 cm

Five octaves; FF-f3; 61 keys

Keyboard

Serial Number 20 written under keys. Albrecht’s signature on the back of name plate with ornamental swirls on either side (obscured by mounted stand). Flower decorations on name plate, inlay, “Chas, Albrecht - Maker - Philadelphia”, Stamps numbering each key lever, stamps labelling pitch of tuning pins (in English notation (no H)).

Piano remains in playable condition, most likely due to the immaculate care of the Atkinson family.

Another Albrecht piano was sold at auction on 1994 for $2,900.
The tuning hammer, tuning pins, and many of the strings may be the original set made with the instrument as per the Burr report.
The sides of the instrument feature "craquelure" in the finish, which is prized by collectors.

Charles Albrecht (1759 - 28 June 1848) came to the United States in the 1780s, where he made musical instruments based in Philadelphia until 1824.

MC, JW

Mahogany Case & venetian swell & stand, walnut/boxwood inlay in color, Ivory topped naturals, Ebony sharps, Iron and brass strings, fringe (harp stop), Chamois and deerskin (hammers).

Vassar Treasure Room

Information as per the report left by William Burr: Significant crack in soundboard, some replaced knee levers, 29 hammers repaired, 38 total strings were replaced. 2 broken strings have been looped around themselves so they can still function as a single string.