Bosendorfer
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Bösendorfer is in a unique position amongst all the piano manufacturers in the world. No one else can claim Bösendorfer’s central position in European culture. Vienna was the major centre of Europe for more than 500 years. This is the reason for such fantastic architecture in Vienna, representing the Gothic style, the Romantic style, the Baroque and Rococo style. But most important; many famous musicians and composers – such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Bruckner,Mahler, Liszt, Strauss, and Schönberg, to name just a few of them – have lived and worked in Vienna.
The Bösendorfer sound is usually described as darker or richer than the purer but less full-bodied sound of other pianos, such as Steinway & Sons or Yamaha. On the Imperial Grand, this characteristic tonal quality in part derives from the inclusion of 9 additional bass notes below bottom A. These extra 9 keys were originally added so that pianists could play Busoni's transcriptions of J.S. Bach's organ works, which required the 32' bass pipes (usually played on the pedal organ). As very little other music makes direct use of the extra strings, they usually contribute to the piano's sonic character not through being played directly but by resonating, when other strings in the piano are struck, contributing additional body to the tone. Moreover, the bass notes of the Bösendorfer, including the extra bass keys, are very powerful, adding volume in demanding literature.
Music written to include rich harmonic colorations, such as bebop, often calls for the player to sound the upper parts of a musical chord's harmonic series (3rds, 6ths, 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths, for example) without playing the fundamental pitch. In these cases, it is up to the listener's ear to "replace" the missing fundamental. When such music is played on a large Bösendorfer, however, the additional strings generate, albeit at low volume, the fundamental by vibrating sympathetically with the played notes, thereby further contributing to the fullness of the sound. The extra strings' contribution to classical music is typically more subtle, as compositions in that literature typically do not omit the fundamental throughout the duration of extended passages.
The rim of a Bösendorfer grand piano is built quite differently from that of all other grands. Instead of veneers bent around a form, the rim is made in solid sections of spruce and jointed together. Spruce is better at transmitting sound than reflecting it. This is perhaps why Bösendorfers tend to have a more delicate treble and a bass that features the fundamental tone more than the higher harmonics.[3] There are also two other features of Bösendorfers, that are shared with only a few other piano brands. One is a removable capo d'astro bar in the treble, which facilitates rebuilding of the instrument and, Bösendorfer says, provides greater acoustic separation from the plate, decreasing tonal absorption. The other is single-stringing, providing each string its own individual hitch pin on the plate instead of connecting it to a neighboring string. This design may slightly improve tuning stability and is an advantage in case of string breakage.
Our aim is to inspire pianists, music educational institutions, concert halls and music lovers the world over with our legendary sound.
website: http://www.bosendorfer.com