(1817) (Grand Pianoforte Maker to Her Majesty and H.R.H. The Prince Regent)

(1818-1832) (Grand Pianoforte Maker to His Majesty) 19 Broad Street, Golden Square

(1822-1896) Kirkman, Joseph (Junior) 67 Frith Street, Soho

(1831) 3 Soho Square

(1846) 9 Dean Street

(1848) DuLour's Place, Golden Square

(1864) 21 Broad Street, Golden Square

(1894) 12A George Street, Hanover Square

They had associates with Collard who were based at 50 Bond Street, London, the same as Chappell. There is a fine example of a Kirkman harpsichord at the Colt Clavier private collection. In 1896 Georgiana Kirkman sold the business to Collard's at cost. Click here or more information on Kirkman.

1732

J.C.F. Bach was born in 1732.

1733

On April 11th, 1733, the Earl of Bristol paid Shudi £0.17.6 for the tuning of his harpsichord. This must have been for a year--if it was just for one tuning I was born in the wrong time.

1735

J.C. Bach was born in 1735. In the same year, according to Pierce, Schiedmayer made his first piano. Before that he was a clavichord maker. He was born in 1711 and died in Erlangen in 1781. He had three sons, two of whom made pianos from around 1790 on, under their own names, Adam Schiedmayer and David Schiedmayer. Later on, about 1853, they became a single company.

1739

This could be the date for the first upright piano, made by Domenico del Mela, which is more like a grand stood up than an upright as we know it today or the one made by Hawkins in 1800. The compass of the del Mela piano runs from C to E and the piano is in the collection of the Museo del Conservatorio in Florence.

1740

Broadwood's were granted the Royal Warrant for keyboard instruments.

1742

April 13th of this year saw the first public performance of George Frederic Handel's Messiah, which took place in Dublin, Ireland. The Messiah is in three parts representing Christ's birth, death, and resurrection.

1745

God Save the Queen was composed.

1745

Francisco Perez Mirabal was making pianos in Spain, two of which survive today. The style of the piano is that of Silberman, with a compass of G to G and a length of 239 cm. Although the Mirabal piano used the same type of case as Silberman's the action was of a Florentine design. The stringing is unusual in that there are three strings for each note in the treble. However, they are arranged in a pair and a single. The single string has a longer speaking length than the double strings. The paired strings go through two bridge pins on the first bridge, then through one bridge pin on the second bridge. The single string passes through a slot in the first bridge and then onto the second bridge where it passes through two bridge pins. This system must have made the piano interesting to tune as well as creating an unusual harmonic combination.

1748

Stein became a pupil of Silberman and he was with him until June, 1749. In 1760 he married and had fifteen children. One of his daughters, Nannette Stein, was his best pupil. David Schiedmayer also studied under him. Stein did a lot of research and took out some odd patents.

1750

Thomas Culliford, 112 Cheapside London, established his piano making business sometime in the latter half of the eighteenth century. He also worked for Longman & Broderip for a time.

1752

Clementi was born in Rome, the son of a silversmith. In 1766, when he was fourteen, he came to England and lived in Wiltshire under the watchful eye of Peter Beckford. He made his debut in London in 1801. Clementi published a highly respected piano method which even Beethoven endorsed, sending pupils along to Clementi. See also 1795.

1756

W. A. Mozart was born.

1760

Christian Ernst Friederici started on his own. C. P. E. Bach wrote a letter to Forkel on the 10th of November, 1773, stating that he liked Friederici's clavichord in preference to those made by Fritz. Friederici went on to make small square pianos, which became very popular.

1761

In September John Broadwood started to work for Burkat Shudi.