derickthe Great, who was thrilled with this new instrument. It hasbeen rumored that the king acquired 15 of Silbermann’s pianos,but if this is true, only three have made it into the twentiethcentury. The acceptance of the piano by King Frederick began whatis known as the Twilight Era, a time of transition between therejection of the harpsichord and the acceptance of the piano(56). In the late seventeenth century, the piano had begun to shedthe reputation of an improved harpsichord, and was starting to berecognized as an entirely new instrument. The piano’s popularitysteadily increased partially due to the standard of living atthat time. Helen Rice Hollis exemplified this by writing:...economic and social factors influenced the increaseduse of the piano. Clavichords were inexpensive but theiruses were limited. Harpsichords cost more than early pianosand, requiring frequent requilling, were more difficult tomaintain. The material resources of the rising middle classencouraged musical amateurs and created a climate favorableto the new keyboard instrument.(57)Even Wolfgang Mozart, future virtuoso, who was a primary advocateof the harpsichord, had taken to the piano and practicallydiscarded his old instrument. The piano’s popularity spreadthrough Europe at a surprising rate. Piano makers experimentedand made improvements on current pianos; the piano industry wasbecoming rivalrous with everyone trying to outdo each other (57). Eventually, this competitive nature spread to England.Still using the harpsichord as the chief string instrument,England was the destination for twelve German piano-makers with amindset similar to those of trendsetters. Johannes Zumpe, one ofthe twelve Germans who came to England, was a student ofGottfried Silbermann and was employed in his workshop. “Zumpedeveloped the first piano to mechanically resemble modern pianos”(Welton). Zumpe created a piano that omitted the use of theme...
