Anton Walter

Austrian piano maker

Gabriel Anton Walter (5 February 1752 – 11 April 1826) was a Viennese piano builder. [1]

Fortepiano by Walter

Born in Neuhausen auf den Fildern in Germany, Walter moved to Vienna in 1780.[2] In 1790 he obtained the status of Imperial Royal Chamber Organ Builder and Instrument Maker. His firm was employing about 20 craftsmen and was labeled "Anton Walter und Sohn" ("and son").[3] Walter improved the Viennese piano mechanic design that was created by Johann Andreas Stein in Augsburg.[3] The most famous composers of those times had pianos from Walter, among them were Ludwig van Beethoven,[4][5] Joseph Haydn[6] and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Last bought Walter's piano in 1782 and was using it in an important phase of his career.[7] Mozart's own piano that was built by Walter survived till the XXI century and now is kept in Salzburg.

References

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  1. Latcham, Michael (2001). "Walter, (Gabriel) Anton". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.29863. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  2. Latcham, Michael (1997) "Mozart and the pianos of Gabriel Anton Walter." Early Music 25(3):383–400.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Latcham, Michael (2009) "Anton Walter". Article in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, online edition. Oxford University Press.
  4. Carl Czerny, Über den richtigen Vertrag der sämtlichen Beethovenschen Klavierwerke (Vienna 1963), ed. Paul Badura-Skoda p.10
  5. Ludwig van Beethoven, Brief an Nikolaus Zmeskall, Wien, November 1802, Autograph
  6. Mozart and the Pianos of Gabriel Anton Walter. Author(s): Michael Latcham. Source: Early Music , Aug., 1997, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Aug., 1997), pp. 382-400 Published by: Oxford University Press
  7. Translated from the original German in Mozart: Briefe und Aufzeichnungen, ed. Wilhelm A. Bauer and Otto Erich Deutsch (Kassel, 1963), Vol. III.

Other websites

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