What Is A Square Grand Piano?
The History and Evolution of the Square Grand Piano
Sometimes referred to by old-timers as a Box Grand, the Square Grand Piano is an earlier form of Piano that is built in a rectangular shaped cabinet, sitting on four legs, with its strings running left to right. During the 18th and 19th Centuries, more Square Grand Pianos were built and sold in America and Europe than any other type of pianos combined! Today, however, they are all but extinct.
The Evolution of the Piano:
Early Hammer Dulcimer
Before the Piano, there was the Harpsichord, Clavichord, and the Spinet. Rather than having hammers that strike the strings as they do in a Piano, these early instruments got their sound from the strings being plucked by quills (Harpsichords & Spinets) or by being struck by a small metal tangent (Clavichord). These early instruments had very little, if any, dynamic capability and they were not able to be played loudly or softly at will.
Harpsichord
In addition to these instruments, there was also the Hammered Dulcimer. The Hammered Dulcimer was an instrument frequently used in early music when dynamic capability was desired. Rather than having a keyboard, its strings were struck by hand held, leathered covered hammers which could produce both loud and soft tones at will. The harder the strings were struck, the louder the tone. The ability to add dynamic capability was very important in the evolution of music at that time.
The Grand Piano:
About 300 years ago, an Italian Harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo Cristofori came up with an idea of crossing a Hammered Dulcimer with a keyboard similar to a Harpsichord. This invention was called the Piano-Forte, meaning "soft and loud". These early Pianos looked very much like the then traditional Harpsichord in shape and size, with their strings stretching from the front to the back of the instrument. Even after 300 years of evolution, one can still see the same basic design in the modern Piano and its Harpsichord ancestor.
The Square Grand Piano:
Clavichord
In 18th Century Europe, the Piano-Forte was becoming more and more popular, quickly gaining favor over earlier traditional instruments. During the first part of the 18th Century, Piano-Fortes continued to be patterned after the shape and size of the Harpsichord. In about 1760, makers began building small rectangular shaped Piano-Fortes based on the shape and size of the Clavichord. The strings in these instruments ran from left to right rather than front to back as they did in grand piano-fortes. These early rectangular pianos quickly gained great popularity because they were smaller and more stylistically accepted in most European households. These early instruments were to be the first Square Grand Pianos, a design and style that would continue to evolve for almost 150 years.
The "Cocked Hat" Grand Piano:
Spinet
Today's traditional Grand Piano was patterned after the Harpsichord, and the Square Grand Piano was patterned after the Clavichord. The "Cocked Hat" Grand Piano is basically a Piano that was patterned after the shape and overall design of the Spinet.
Cocked Hat Pianos are exceedingly rare, and their scarcity today suggests that very few of them were actually built. What limited information we have about them suggests that they were marketed mostly in the mid-19th Century era prior to the Civil War. We have seen and restored at least one specimen that was built as late as 1890.
Cocked Hat Grand, Circa 1850
Mechanically they are designed and built the same as the 19th Century Square Grand Piano, but their shape and stringing pattern is very different. Rather than being strung from front to back (as in a Grand Piano) or from side to side (as in a Square Grand Piano), Cocked Hat Pianos have the strings fanned out in an unusual angle that could almost be described as diagonal. Although these Pianos are exceedingly rare, they deserve mentioning here, and we define them as being a part of the Square Grand Piano family.
The Square Grand Piano in America:
In the last part of the 18th Century, John Jacob Astor started importing Square Grand Pianos to America from Europe. By the turn of the 19th Century, a handful of makers are recorded as having made some of the first Square Grand Pianos in America. For the next 100 years, the Square Grand Piano would evolve into a larger, heavier, and more mechanically refined instrument. During the 19th Century, American Piano Makers built and sold more Square Grand Pianos than Grand Pianos or Upright Pianos! Our vintage ephemera collections show these Square Grand Pianos selling for as much as $800 in the mid 19th Century - the cost of a small house! Sadly, however, they are all but forgotten today.
Typical 19th Century American Square Grand Piano
By about 1880-1890, the American Upright Piano began to win favor as being more fashionable than the Square Grand Piano. Because they were smaller and took up less floor space, the Upright Piano caused the Square Grand Piano to become obsolete by 1900.
20th Century Extinction: Square Grand Pianos were very large and very heavy musical instruments. They were not easily moved. They were reminders of the gilded Victorian age, often very elaborate and ornate. As 20th Century America began to streamline in style and become a modern industrialized nation, these beautiful Pianos quickly became out-dated and served as garish reminders of another time. Sadly, for the past 100 years, Square Grand Pianos have consistently been chopped up, burned, or otherwise destroyed and lost forever.
21st Century Revival: Today, there is a huge renaissance for the Square Grand Piano in America. Once again, collectors and musicians alike are beginning to appreciate and preserve these amazing instruments, and they are becoming potentially quite valuable. With American values and sense of family heritage stronger today than ever, these heirloom instruments are once again finding their rightful place in our society, in our homes, and in our hearts.
___________________________________________________ Please click on these links for more information about Square Grand Pianos:
Page 1. Introduction - Square Grand Piano Main Page
Page 2. What Is A Square Grand Piano? - History and Evolution
Page 3. Facts Little Understood - Tuning Square Pianos, Understanding Their Sound Quality