Vienna, 1900: The Italian composer, conductor and pianist Ferruccio Busoni, meticulously transcribes the famous organ works of J.S. Bach for piano. He soon realises that he requires additional bass notes in order to do Bach’s masterpieces and the immersive sound of 16 ft to 32 ft bass pipes found in an organ justice.
Ludwig Bösendorfer takes on the challenge and builds the first prototype piano with a full 8 octaves in tonal range. It wasn't only Busoni who took to the exceptional qualities of this piano (later coined the Imperial Concert Grand); Bartók, Debussy and Ravel would go on to compose works specifically written to take advantage of the tremendous resonance of this piano.
These oeuvres can only played and interpreted as they were meant to on this Concert Grand. Evoking an extraordinary sound – sonorous and rich in expression and resonance – the timbre of the Imperial Grand almost seems to be orchestral. The additional deeper bass notes resonate with every key you strike and the vast soundboard supports the projection of any frequency. Ludwig Bösendorfer’s Imperial still to this day represents the precious heritage of the Bösendorfer piano making.
Price includes free ground floor delivery within the UK mainland and a complimentary tuning after the piano has settled in its new home.
