INDUSTRIES 



harpsichord and gained nothing in sweetness.' 32 

 He was, however, the inventor of what be- 

 came known as the ' English action.' 



In 1759 John Sebastian Bach came to 

 London, and after his arrival ' all the harpsi- 

 chord makers in this country tried their me- 

 chanical powers on pianofortes, but the first 

 attempts were always on the large size.' 33 



In 1767 the pianoforte was introduced on 

 the stage of Covent Garden Theatre as a new 

 instrument. In a play bill for a performance 

 of 'The Beggar's Opera,' on Saturday 16 May 

 1 767, it is announced that at the ' end of Act i, 

 Miss Brickler will sing a favourite song from 

 Judith, accompanied by Mr. Dibdin on a new 

 instrument called piano-forte.' 



It is time now to trace the further fortunes 

 of the famous house of John Broadwood & 

 Sons, founded as we have already seen by 

 Burkat Shudi. John Broadwood, the first of 

 that name connected with the firm, was born 

 at Cockburn's Path in Scotland in 1732. He 

 was a carpenter by trade and was employed by 

 Shudi in his harpsichord manufactory in 1761. 

 He was a partner of his father-in-law, the elder 

 Shudi, and also of Shudi's son. From 1782 to 

 1 795 he was sole partner in the firm of Shudi 

 and Broadwood ; at the latter date, by the ad- 

 mission of his son James Shudi Broadwood as 

 a partner, the firm became John Broadwood & 

 Son, and lastly by taking into partnership 

 another son,Thomas, in 1807, the style of the 

 firm was John Broadwood & Sons. The firm 

 began to make pianos in 1773, the construc- 

 tion followed being that of Zumpe, but in 

 1780 John Broadwood produced a square 

 piano of his own design for which he was 

 granted a patent in I783. 34 By this invention 

 he remodelled the case, placing the wrest-plank 

 which carried the tuning-pins along the back, 

 besides effecting other improvements, all of 

 which became generally adopted. John Broad- 

 wood died in 1812 at the age of eighty-one 

 years ; there exists a mezzotint portrait of him 

 by Harrison and Say. The firm was con- 

 tinued by his son James Shudi Broadwood, 

 who lived from 1772 to 1851 ; he was the 

 first to use bracing or tension bars of iron or 

 steel placed above the strings. This was to 

 strengthen the wrest-plank, which had been so 

 seriously weakened by the extension of the 

 compass of his pianos, introduced in 1804, that 

 the treble sank in pitch more rapidly than the 

 rest of the instrument. The experiment, 

 which was noted in the firm's work-books of 

 that date, was repeated in 1818, and the 



method is now universally adopted. Henry 

 Fowler Broadwood, grandson of the founder, 

 was a member of the firm from 181 1 to 1893. 

 Henry John Tschudi Broadwood, great-grand- 

 son of John Broadwood, patentee of the ' Bar- 

 less ' grand piano, is a director of John Broad- 

 wood & Sons, Ltd., a private company estab- 

 lished in October 1901. In 1904 the business 

 was removed from its original quarters in 

 Pulteney Street to larger premises at the corner 

 of Conduit Street and Hanover Square. The 

 earliest account book of this firm is lost, but 

 later accounts show that between 1771 and 

 1851 no fewer than 103,750 pianos were pro- 

 duced from their workshops. 



Robert Stodart of Wardour Street, Soho, 

 who founded another well-known firm, is 

 variously described as pupil and fellow-work- 

 man of John Broadwood. Stodart succeeded 

 Backers in business, and jointly with Broad- 

 wood developed to a high degree the ' English 

 action ' of Backers. Stodart himself took out 

 a patent in 1777 for ' a grand forte piano with 

 an octave swell, and to produce various fine 

 tones, together or separate, at the option of 

 the performer." 36 This firm became subse- 

 quently known as John,William,and Matthew 

 Stodart, and on 29 January 1795 William 

 took out a patent 36 for his ' upright grand 

 pianoforte of the form of a bookcase.' They 

 exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 as 

 'Stodart & Son.' 



The early history of thegreat firm of Kirkman 

 has been treated of above. Jacob the founder 

 was succeeded by his nephew Abraham, in whose 

 time the manufacture of pianos was first begun 

 by the firm. Following Abraham Kirkman 

 were two Josephs, his son and grandson ; the 

 latter died in 1877 at the advanced age of 

 eighty-seven years. His second son, Henry, 

 who pre-deceased him, greatly extended the 

 business, which in 1896 was amalgamated with 

 that of the Collards. The firm is described in 

 1794 as Kirkman & Son, harpsichord makers, 

 19, Broad Street, Carnaby Market. Later on, 

 and for many years, their show rooms were in 

 Soho Square. 



An interesting list of harpsichord and piano- 

 forte makers in London at the end of the 

 1 8th century is given by Rimbault; 37 it is 

 taken from the Musical Directory for the year 

 1794. The thirteen makers mentioned in- 

 clude Shudi & Broadwood, Kirkman & Son, 

 Stodart, and Buntlebart & Sievers (successors 

 of Zumpe). Three other firms, those of Beck, 

 Corrie, and Ganer, were in business in Broad 



" Burney in Reet'i Cyc hpaedl a, art. 'Harpsichord.' 



" Ibid. 



" 15 Nov. 1783, no. 1,379. 



2 185 



* 21 Nov. 1777, no. 1,172. 



" No. 2,028. 



" Rimbault, op cit. 147. 



