Jörg Demus - Spielt auf dem Historischen Broadwood-Flügel Beethovens Klaviersontaten Nr. 11, 25, 26 und 27. Albumblatt,, Für Elise, Eroica-Variationen FLAC

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Broadwood produced his first square piano in 1771, after the model of Johannes Zumpe, and worked assiduously to develop and refine the instrument, moving the wrest plank of the earlier pianoforte, which had sat to the side of the case as in the clavichord, to the back of the case in 1781, straightening the keys, and replacing the hand stops with pedals. In 1785 Thomas Jefferson, later to be third President of the United States, visited Broadwood in Great Pulteney Street, Soho, to discuss musical instruments.

1788 five octave Broadwood & Sons piano from the Hans Adler collection.
In 1789, at Jan Ladislav Dussek's suggestion, he extended the range of his grand piano beyond five octaves to CC in the treble, and again to six full octaves in 1794. The improved instruments became popular with musicians such as Joseph Haydn, who used them on his first visit to London in 1791. Ludwig van Beethoven received a six octave Broadwood in 1818, a gift from the firm, which he kept for the rest of his life. He composed with its range in mind, although his impaired hearing may well have prevented him appreciating its tone. Frédéric Chopin played Broadwood instruments in Britain, including at the last concert of his life given at Guildhall, London, in 1848.