Company of Pianos

This beautifully written history of the piano is at once remarkably informative and uniquely engaging. Performer and historian Richard Burnett traces the development of the piano from its origins to the present day, drawing on keyboard instruments from his internationally known collection, at the Finchcocks Museum in Kent, England. Sixty-one of these instruments, including organs, harpsichords, clavichords, and a wide range of pianos, feature in what amounts to a ground-breaking social history of the piano. Richard Burnett is an international concert pianist who acquired Finchcocks, the beautiful Georgian mansion in 1971 as a home for his collection. His fascinating book ingeniously interweaves the biographies of the pianos with the history of the various manufacturing firms and the remarkable lives of some of the builders and the musicians associated with them, all set against the vividly depicted social backdrop of the periods under review. In the second part of his book, the author looks particularly at how the development of the instruments has influenced the output of the classical composers - Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Weber, Schubert and others. The fast-flowing anecdotal style of the writing means that this will be of interest and entertainment to the general reader, as well as those who already have some knowledge of the subject. The book also includes a comlimentary CD, in which the music of 33 of the Finchcocks period instruments can be heard being played by Richard Burnett and Steven Devine. "This is a handsome book and it makes a fine coffee-table present for any music and piano lover." John Amis - broadcaster, music presenter, performer and the 'symphony man' in the long-running radio show, 'My Music'. "This book is a landmark in music."Alan Hacker, OBE - one of the world's top clarinettist's. "This is the best book I have read (or heard) on the subject and recommend it highly." Rick Ohlendorf, Piano Tuners Association News "After reading Company of Pianos, I found myself playing Beethoven with a heightened awareness ... and for that alone I am grateful." Angela Hewitt, Times Literary Supplement "Anecdotal, wryly humorous and authoritative ...the text of the Company of Pianos by itself would be an essential purchase for pianophiles. But the standard to which the book has been produced is something else." Jeremy Nicholas, Piano International ''Company of Pianos might have been entitled 'In the Company of Richard Burnett'.... For those who do not know him and for us all, this is a work that reveals the delightful and impassioned character of one who has done so much for the historical piano, not only as a player and a collector but also as its advocate and true restorer''. Early Music Magazine "The author takes us on a social and historical journey that is entertaining, witty, lucid and informed, but never dull or pedantic. A delight to the mind, the ears and the eyes. The Company of Pianos is good company indeed." Southern California Early Music Society "Every music school, serious pianist, library and early-music enthusiast should have this wonderful volume." Paul James Dwyer, Opus Magazine "... No music lovers, be they pianists, listeners or historians can afford to be without this fascinating and enlightening book." Charlotte Ellis, Newsletter of the Dolmetch Foundation Written by Richard Burnett