Carl Stein 1830

Carl Stein

1830

Carl Stein belonged to a glorious family of piano makers, whose ancestor, Johan Andreas Stein, is considered the inventor of the prellmechanik (rebound mechanism) with escapement.
Before dedicating himself to piano building, Carl Stein gained notoriety as a pianist, composer, and teacher. A composition for piano and six-octave phisarmónica by him is preserved, particularly interesting for its instrumentation. He founded his first factory in 1828 in Vienna’s Landstrasse district, later moving to the house that had belonged to Conrad Graf, his most famous competitor.
In that house, Carl Stein had a concert hall set up, evidently to allow his instruments to be heard.
This specimen (among the few that have survived) is still built with the rounded shape of the right flank.
This shape was adopted, besides an aesthetic choice, to reinforce the overall structure of the instrument which, at the beginning of the 19th century, had to withstand the increasing tension of the strings.
Only three pedals are present: shifting, moderator, and damper lifting. Two pedals (probably Turkish band and bassoon) are lost