Erard: A Passion for the Piano Robert Adelson New York: Oxford University Press, 2021 pp. xii + 238, ISBN 978 0 197 56531 5

Abstract

The Erard firm occupies a unique position in the tale of the development of the piano and the harp. The firm ’ s various ground-breaking technical innovations paved the way for the modern actions of these instruments. Along the way, Erard pianos came to be associated with numerous famous pianists and composers. Yet there has not to date been an overarching account of the history of the firm, especially not one that was correct in all its details. The present book fills this gap with aplomb. It is based in part on materials from the substantial 2015 edition of documents from the Erard archives (Robert Adelson, Alain Roudier, Jenny Nex, Laure Barthel and Michel Foussard, eds, The History of the Erard Piano and Harp in Letters and Documents, 1785 – 1959 , two volumes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)), and in part on the Erard family archives, which author Robert Adelson discovered in 2016. The text is organized chronologically and consists of fifteen topic-driven chapters, beginning with the apprentice years of Sébastien Erard (1752