Square Piano - CD

Square Piano - Sounds of the Piano in Colonial Australia
performed by Diana Weston

We know the sound of the modern piano so well that that of the pianoforte in its infancy will seem almost as strange as it must have to the Aboriginal people whose lands had so recently become occupied. The pianofortes that came to Australia were English-made (as would be expected from the exclusive mix of English, Irish and Scottish immigrant), and were known as ‘square’ pianos. They were destined for a domestic market.  Thousands were imported into Australia in the first fifty years of the colony. Most have now disappeared or remain only as shells of their former selves – croaky-voiced and unplayable.
Wirr 120  Digital Only                 

Digital downloads of complete tracks from your preferred streaming sites available here

Download liner notes here

[1-2]  John Christian Bach (1735- d. London 1782).
Sonata in B flat Op. 5 No. 1 from ‘Six Sonatas for the Piano Forte or Harpsichord’, 

Allegretto
Tempo di Minuetto

[3]  Joseph Haydn (1732- d. Vienna 1809).
Twelve Variations in E flat major Hoboken XVII: 3

Sample variations

[4-6]  Ignace Pleyel (1757- d. Paris 1831). 
A Favourite Sonata for the Piano Forte Op. 92, No. 2, London

Adagio/Allegro Molto
Adagio non troppo
Allegretto

[7-9]  Johann Baptist Cramer (1771- d. London 1858).
Sonata in C major (c. 1800) from Trois Sonates pour Le Piano-Forte composées et dédiées à Joseph Haydn Oev. 23 No. 2

Largo assai
Allegro agitato
Allegretto