The instruments of Anton Walter (1752–1826) represent one of the pinnacles in the development of the piano. Walter lived and worked in Vienna during the final quarter of the eighteenth and first quarter of the nineteenth centuries, a period during which Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert also resided there.

In 1784, Mozart purchased a Walter piano, and his patronage would no doubt have made Walter’sreputation. Mozart’s own Walter piano survives in the Mozart Geburthaus Museum, Salzburg, but as it has been greatly altered since he owned it we will never know exactly how it sounded or felt.

This copy of a Walter fortepiano c1796 has an FF–g´´´ compass with a triple-strung treble. There are two knee levers under the keyboard: the right raises the dampers; the left engages the moderator. The latter interposes a set of cloth tabs between the hammers and the strings so that the hammers strike the strings through the cloth to produce a muted tone.

The action of Walter’s pianos from this date includes a backcheck which, compared to Stein’s, enables them to be played somewhat forcefully without fear that the hammers, once they have struck the strings and fallen back, will bounce up again and restrike.

This fortepiano is a copy of the type of mid-1790s Walter instrument that Haydn (late in his life), Beethoven (during his time in Vienna, up to and including his piano sonatas opus 31) and Schubert (who had access to a Walter square piano during his later years) used. The French-polished veneer, ormolu, brass feet and enamel nameplate represent characteristic decorative features found on Walter’s more expensive pianos.

Paul McNulty is regarded as one of the finest living fortepiano makers. A Texan by birth and graduate of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, he maintains his workshop in Divišov, Czech Republic. His pianos are represented in keyboard collections around the world and have featured on many significant recordings.

This instrument was commissioned by the ANU, and entered collection of the ANU Keyboard Institute in 2008.

Pitch: A430