Imperial Bosendorfer (piano)
Encyclopedia
The Imperial Bösendorfer is the largest model of pianos
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 that Bösendorfer
Bösendorfer
Bösendorfer is an Austrian piano manufacturer, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha. The brand is known for producing pianos with a uniquely rich, singing, and sustaining tone...

 manufactures at 290 centimeters long, or 9½ feet. For 90 years, the only concert grand piano in the world with 97 keys, in 1990 it was joined in this tradition by the instruments of Stuart & Sons, Australia. It has been described as the ne plus ultra of pianos.

Extra keys

Bösendorfer built the first Imperial in the year 1900, following a suggestion by composer Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...

 to build a model with an extended range. Busoni sought to extend the range to accommodate his transcription of the Chaconne from Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

's Partita in D minor for solo violin.

The Bösendorfer Imperial features 97 keys; a full eight octaves. This is in contrast to their other models which feature the standard 88 keys, or the Bösendorfer 225 model which has 92 keys, down to F0. The extra keys, which are all at the bass end of the keyboard (that is, to the left), are colored black so that the pianist can tell them apart from the normal keys of an 88-key piano. They were originally covered with a removable panel to prevent from accidentally playing the extra notes. Currently, however, the additional keys are only distinguished by having the natural keys (those that would normally be white) finished in matte black. A few compositions are specifically written to utilize the extra keys.

Pianist and University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 School of Music director Robin McCabe explains the challenge of adjusting to the extra keys: "One's 'southern sight-lines,' so to speak, can be seriously skewed because of the extra footage in the bass. Ending a piece such as Debussy's 'L'Isle Joyeuse', for example, with its nose-dive final gesture to the low A of the piano, becomes a bit more problematic when that A is not the lowest note on the piano!"

Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand pianos, handcrafted in Austria, typically sell for about $175,000 in the U.S. In 1977, the price was reported to be $35,000; $ in current value. Because of the relative scarcity of Bösendorfer Imperial models, performers will often have the piano shipped with them while on tour.

Notable composers and performers

  • The American composer La Monte Young
    La Monte Young
    La Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...

     had an Imperial custom built for his performances of The Well Tuned Piano.
  • Carol Rosenberger
    Carol Rosenberger
    Carol Rosenberger - is a classical pianist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Carol studied in the U.S. with Webster Aitken and Katja Andy; in Paris with Nadia Boulanger; and in Vienna with harpsichordist/ Baroque scholar Eta Harich-Schneider and Schenker theorist Franz Eibner...

  • Garrick Ohlsson
    Garrick Ohlsson
    Garrick Ohlsson is an American classical pianist.Ohlsson was the first American to win first prize in the International Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition, in 1970. He also won first prize at the Busoni Competition in Italy and the Montreal Piano Competition in Canada...

  • Charlemagne Palestine
    Charlemagne Palestine
    Charlemagne Palestine is an American minimalist composer, performer, and visual artist...

  • Keith Jarrett
    Keith Jarrett
    Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...

  • Valentina Lisitsa
    Valentina Lisitsa
    Valentina Lisitsa is a Ukrainian-born classical pianist. Lisitsa resides in North Carolina in the USA. Her husband, Alexei Kuznetsoff, is also a pianist and her partner in a number of piano duets.- Biography :Lisitsa was born in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1973...

  • Wibi Soerjadi
    Wibi Soerjadi
    Wibi Soerjadi is an internationally-recognized concert pianist who has performed with several veteran conductors, including Evgeny Svetlanov, Vassili Sinaisky and Sergiu Comissiona.-Collaborations:...


External links

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