I would like to introduce an invention closely related to today (October 20). This time, I will introduce the “Emanuel Mohr Pianoforte,” a piano with a two-tiered keyboard that looks like a harpsichord.
Today, in 1931, is the date of the death of the Hungarian composer, pianist, and inventor of musical instruments, Emánuel Moór. Moór was a composer whose legacy includes five operas and eight symphonies, but he was also known for inventing musical instruments, most notably the two-stage keyboard piano.
The Mohr piano has two tiers of keys, one above the other, so that the player can grasp two octaves of pitch with one hand. I also took piano lessons when I was young, and it is true that if I could play chords two octaves wide with one hand, I would have a much wider range of expression. Moll actively used the Moll-style piano on his concert tours in Europe and the United States to promote its use.
Upon further research, I found an article about the two-stage keyboard piano. The article compactly describes how various variant pianos were developed and disappeared during the development of the piano as an instrument.
I think that I rarely think of musical instruments as inventions, but I felt that musical instruments are also a part of the history of inventions and technology. (blink)