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The degree of uniformity, and similarity of stringing and actions in Wornum's instruments suggests practices quite different from workshop procedures suggested for Viennese and German makers.1, 2
Keyboard and action were observed in place, but Harding's and Hipkins' illustrations of grand actions closely resemble the action in 4650; adjusting their scale to approximate key dip and blow distance, and to fit the required space finds reasonable leverage ratios. Its close similarity to Wornum's other actions * suggests a practical choice even though the particular arrangement is inefficient.3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Translation of bridge and nut are aligned with traced and photogrammetric outlines of the bent side,8 weighted in order of precision for a geometric description. Curve fits diverge similarly from samples, crossing about 450mm up but the best pair of coincident arcs is 61cm and 243cm intercepting a little below and have a 4:1 ratio. This curve closely follows the first portion of the bentside of the Imperial Grand Pianoforte (plate I, Harding).
Two soundboard panels are reproduced from salvage 6mm vertical grain picea abies, and a similar panel is made of 7mm thick old coarse picea glauca. Deflection under 100g weight is measured with a dial indicator at midpoint of sample planks suspended between blocks spaced 500mm, and EL correlated against published figures.9
Each string is approximately placing 5N (770N total) pressure on the soundboard at equilibrium by means of angular offset.10 A 12.4mm x 40mm x 470 beam represents average strength in rib and panel subassembly, which subjected to a 50N load deflects 1.6mm simply suspended, 0.4mm clamped and 1.1mm feathered and clamped (picea glauca: 1.8mm, 0.5mm, 1.2mm).11 Uniformly thick convex ribs with 1mm rise per 150mm can be used to control distortion and initial condition.12
Wood species identified by gross macroscopic features during initial examination and later offsite convenient examples identified more rigorously. Where adequate supply of appropriate materials were unavailable (species, age, growth type), substitutions made using closest available match of characteristics required in specific application.
| component | species identified | possible substitute |
|---|---|---|
| keys | tilia cordata (lime wood) 14, 16 | picea abies (spruce) 17 |
| populus tremula (aspen) 13, 15 | ||
| back posts | abies alba 13, 16, 17 | fir |
| picea abies | ||
| back | quercus robur | oak |
| ulmus alata (elm) | ||
| veneer | dalbergia nigra 16, 17 | brazilian rosewood |
| bridge | diospyros virginiana 18 (persimmon) | |
| legs | juglans regia (walnut) | juglans nigra (walnut) |
| wrest plank | fagus sylvatica 13, 16, 17 | beech |
| action frame, rails | quercus robur | oak |
| juglans regia | ||
| swietenia mahoganii (mahogany) | ||
| hammer shanks | pyrus communis (pear) 13 | |
Robert Wornum (Oct. 1, 1870 - Sept. 29, 1852) developed and manufactured practical upright pianos influencing the design of modern instruments.19 He was son of music publisher and music instrument maker Robert Wornum, his earliest invention was in 1811 and the company he founded endured more than sixty years.20
In 1810 Wornum entered a partnership with George Wilkinson for whom he had worked as foreman. Wilkinson was former partner of music seller and publisher Francis Broderip at 13 Haymarket and later 3 Great Windmill Street, 21, 22 and who in 1808 began selling cabinet uprights built by Astor & Leukenfeld under license from William Southwell's 1807 patent. 23 Possibly motivated by warrantee comittments, Wilkinson sold his publishing stock 1810 and borrowed £12,000 from his father in order to concentrate on manufacturing his own pianos. The new company, Wilkinson & Wornum, was established at 315 Oxford Street and 11 Princes Street, making use of the yard between the houses. 24 The warehouse, factory and stables were destroyed by fire in 1812, putting out as many as 70 workmen, leaving debts over £16,500 with little relief from insurance. 25, 26 In 1813 the company was assigned to Wilkinson's father Charles, who excused the debts of the partners. Wilkinson resumed at Oxford Street, and with a factory behind 32 Howland Street and showrooms at New Bond Street by 1816, building pianos though 1830. 27
Wornum moved to nearby Wigmore Street, introducing a second small design with vertical stringing in 1813. 28 The elder Wornum died in 1815 but his son remained at Wigmore Street. He patented a stringing scheme in 1820, and improvements in upright piano actions in 1826 and 1828. By 1832 he moved to Store Street, and in 1838 offered upright and grand pianofortes priced between thirty and ninety guineas. 29, 30, 31 He patented improvements in grand piano actions 1942. He had nine children with Catherine Nicholson, and is buried at Kensel Green Cemetery 32
| Year | Patent nr. | Claims |
|---|---|---|
| 1811 (03.26?) | EN3419 | hammer head arrangement, buff stop, small upright, oblique or diagonal stringing (the strings are placed diagonally from the left hand top to the bottom of the right) |
| 1813 | (not pat'd) | small upright called "Harmonic" and afterwards "Cottage". |
| 1820.05.13 | EN4460 | equal tension stringing. one size steel wire to be used thoughout but with covering wire of the right length to bring its note to the required pitch |
| 1826.07.04 | EN5384 (5348?) | "Professional", upright actions, escapement, pizzicato "…a third pedal introduced between the two common pedals…moves a block or artificial slide at the bass end of the damper rail, by which the dampers are cleared from the wires, and in play a most pleasing effect of pizzicato results" Official abridgement |
| 1828.07.24 | EN5678 | upright actions, check |
| 1842.02.13 | EN9262 | downstriking actions, dampers, arrangement of hammers |
| 1856.07.11 | Repetition Grand action. (A. N. Wornum ) | |
| 1862.04.19 | Improved damper.(A. N. Wornum) | |
| 1867.04.17 | Improvements in pianofortes. (A. N. Wornum) | |
| 1875.06.16 | A short Iron Grand Pianoforte (length under 6 feet). Method of construction invented and patented by A.N. Wornum in 1875. It has the advantage over the usual German method of "cross-stringing" in that, whilst the strings are arranged parallel, and their lengths are not reduced, and it allows the iron-work in particular and the construction in general to be simpler, and of less weight. It also does away with the necessity of widening the front of the case. The action is withdrawn from the bass side, leaving the keys and "damper action" in position. (Robert Wornum & Sons) |
| collection | cat.nr. | art. name | ser. nr. | year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pianosound, Misano Adriatico IT | cabinet upright | |||
| Museum of London, London EN | upright piano | |||
| Helmcken Collection, Victoria CA | HH1988.1.210A-B | piano, cottage | 10399 | |
| Christopher Lincoln Piano Services, Kent EN | "pocket grand" | 24800 | ||
| Beurmann Sammlung, DE | square | 35 or 36 | ||
| Victoria & Albert Museum, London EN | Apollo Lyre | ca. 1813 | ||
| Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg US | upright piano | 1813-1820 | ||
| Cantos Music Collection, Calgary CA | 3 | grand - downstriker | 1819 | |
| Warwickshire Museum, Warwick EN | upright (2) | 1820 | ||
| Cantos Music Collection, Calgary CA | 228 | vertical | 1825 | |
| Stanhope Collection, EN | Warnum cottage piano | 1757 | 1827 | |
| EUCHMI, Edinburgh SCT | 3251 (ex.Mobbs U4.1978) | "Professional Pianoforte" (cabinet) | 12(8?)66 | ca. 1828 |
| Yale University, New Haven US | 4977.1900 | Piano Upright | ca. 1830 | |
| Pianomuseum, Ruiselede BE | Engelse types fortepiano | 1830 | ||
| Guidini collection, Stowe US | piccolo | 3070 | ||
| Cantos Music Collection, Calgary CA | 6 | pocket grand | 1830 | |
| Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg DE | MINe 508 | "Pocket Grand" | 3770 | 1832 und 1838 |
| Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester EN | K14 | "'piccolo' piano" | 4462 | 1836? |
| Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester EN | K16 | "pocket grand" | 4650 | 1836 |
| Palazzo del Turismo, Riccione IT | 51 | Pianoforte Verticale | ca. 1840 | |
| Palazzo del Turismo, Riccione IT | 52 | Pianoforte Verticale | ca. 1840 | |
| Palazzo del Turismo, Riccione IT | 53 | Pianoforte a Coda | ca. 1840 | |
| EUCHMI, Edinburgh SCT | 3252 (ex.Mobbs U7.1978) | "Piccolo piano" (cottage) | 23(3)0/5221 | ?1841 |
| Mobbs Keyboard Collection, Bristol EN | G15. 2004 | "Pocket Grand Piano-Forte" | 328/5815 | ca. 1842 |
| Powerhouse Museum, Sydney AU | H8989 | Piccolo Piano Forte | 1842 | |
| Kunitachi College of Music, Tokyo JP | 0929 5413332 | 'Albion' Square piano | ca. 1845 | |
| Powerhouse Museum, Sydey AU | H8148 | Pianoforte [downstriking square] | 1845-1847 | |
| Pianosound, Misano Adriatico IT | grand piano [downstriking] | 8335 | ||
| Schwichtenberg-Sammlung, DE | Robt. Wornum & Sons [downstriking grand] | 9729 | 1859 | |
| Horniman Museum, London EN | ca. 1870 | |||
| Victoria & Albert Museum, London EN | grand (decorated by John Gamble) | ca. 1870 | ||
| EUCHMI, Edinburgh SCT | 3250 (ex.Mobbs G5.1979) | Grand piano (downstriker) | 12867/1391 | 1872 (1862?) |
| Gertz Pianos, New Haven US | downstriking grand | 1873 |
Standardized and modular parts suggested in these early instruments offers possible solution to problems arising developing so called extended keyboard instruments suitable for modern music idioms. David Løberg Code's Groven Piano Project indicates one obvious direction - an electronic network of multiple Disklavier pianos that can synchronize very difficult individual parts and was developed for distributing microtones made available from a single keyboard.32 Wornum's simple and lightweight strung portion has potential to be considerably less expensive and more transportable than refitted Yamaha instruments or double pianos built in the past to furnish quarter- or microtones,33 while keyed or key-less actions can be made compact due lower inertia from light weight hammers.34 Tunings having relatively few notes might be implemented in a single unit using idiosyncratic or generalized key arrangements (possibly with keys similar to those seen in the microtonal organ seen elsewhere on this site) where a desired response can be made manipulating sounding board impedance compensating for changes in string distribution, either by redesign the panel or introducing active mechanism.35, 36 The inverted arrangement of the grand allows unlimited placement of smaller and lower powered single acting solenoids against the strings for controlling prepared piano or harmonic piano effects and the enclosed space can be lined with sound absorbent material to minimize noises from these mechanisms.37
Fig. 1: Actions
Shape
Sounding board
Table 1: Wood materials
Biography
Patents
Harding, R. The Piano-Forte. Appendix C
Heaton, Barrie. Inventions & Patents for Stringed Keyboard Instruments. http://www.uk-piano.org/history/patents.html
my list of piano patents, http://www.geocities.com/threesixesinarow/pati.htm
Collections
Cantos Music Foundation http://www.triumphent.com/index.html
Christopher Lincoln Piano Services http://members.aol.com/clpianosvc/
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation http://www.history.org/
Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments (EUCHMI) http://www.music.ed.ac.uk/euchmi/
Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nürnberg http://www.gnm.de/
Helmcken House Collection http://collections.ic.gc.ca/artifacts/collect/helmcken.htm
Horniman Museum http://www.horniman.ac.uk/
Kenneth Mobbs Early Keyboards http://www.mobbsearlykeyboard.co.uk/
Pianomuseum Maene, Industriestraat 5, Ruiselede BE
Powerhouse Museum http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/home.php
Royal Northern College of Music http://www.rncm.ac.uk/
Victoria and Albert Museum http://www.vam.ac.uk/
Warwickshire Museum http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/museum
Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments http://www.yale.edu/musicalinstruments/
New directions
* Robert Wornum is closely associated with the bridle tape, a feature which endures in modern upright actions enhancing their performance as well as aiding service (Ellis, Jim. Bridle Strap Function. Piano Technicians Journal, Dec. 1997). This little mechanism is sometimes misunderstood and helps misleading interpretation about the evolution of the upright piano.
Wornum's earliest patent shows a kind of sticker action, but with the fly acting directly upon the hammer butt, and instead of the sticker the upright of the hopper acts upon the lower end of a bent wire attached to the overdamper. The 1826 patent describes two actions - the "single action" introduces a pinned and bushed fly acting upon the sticker, and operates the damper in a similar manner to the earlier action, but adding a lever carrying a back-check meant to operate upon the hammer head. The "double action" removed the hoppers to distinct levers hinged from the hammer rail, and operating a check similar to the single action (Harding, p.231), and while the illustration of "Mr. Wornum's double or Piccolo Action" in the Penny Encyclopedia clearly labels the tie and wire (and backcheck), it is quite dissimilar to the patent drawing (reproduced by Nalder, p.120) which has a metal "dog spring" extending from the hopper lever to act upon the upper surface of the hammer butt "to keep the hammer from dancing after the blow" as well as the overhead check, without a tape or tie. Hipkins asserts this patent describes "the original crank action... originally intended for the high cabinet piano", but due to many difficulties it was "not really introduced until three years later" when it was used in cabinet and cottage pianos. Hipkins later claims this was the action patented in 1828 ("Pianoforte", G. Grove, ed. A Dictionary of Music and Musicians. MacMillan & Co., London, 1880), however, Wornum's 1828 patent shows a check attached to the end of the key in order to act upon an extension of the lower lever of the sticker instead of his overhead check and this arrangement is not at all applicable to the double action (this patent also confused its reviewers writing for the London Journal of Arts and Sciences, though they describe it accurately enough).
The improved performance of the action (Dolge, Pianos and their Makers, p.54) is suggested compared the sticker action used in most English uprights, patented by William Southwell in 1807 and obviously familiar to Wornum. The sticker action adopted the square action grasshopper in which the fly moves with the key until escapement, and although the knuckle at the bottom of the sticker often is placed to reduce friction, motion between the parts is unavoidable. The sticker used allowing better stringing is always connected with the hammer and the damper levers, and sometimes weighted adds considerable inertia and affecting touch, sound and repetition. By raising the fly as to bear against the knuckle of the hammer as in grand actions, this friction and inertia is avoided, and by introducing a couple to the lower parts after escapement, even made into an advantage (Wornum instructs, "To regulate the ties, bend their wires back or forward, as may be requisite : observing always to leave the tie a little slack," a lot closer than is possible nowadays.). A further advantage is suggested by the closeness of the tapes and hoppers, as compared with modern practise (the hoppers in an 1843 Pleyel are padded where they would strike the tapes - 1971.1131: Koster, John. Keyboard Instruments. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1994), in which case the innovation is the attachment of the tape and its cooperation with the back check. Wornum's 1811 patent shows an unlabelled pad protruding from the hammer butt (Harding, p.230) which check the hopper in similar manner to tabs seen in direct lever actions ("Broadwood's Grand Piano Action, 1884" - Hipkins, A and K. Schlesinger. Pianoforte. Enc. Britannica, 11ed., fig. 24; Smith, Eric. Piano Care & Restoration. Tab Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 1981. fig. 40, plate 16). (the backcheck had already been described by Henry Smart in his patent inscribed July 24, 1823, "Near the extremity of the piece d, a wire is introduced with a pad f at top, for the purpose of catching the tail part of the block c as it falls back, thereby preventing the stem of the hammer from striking against its rest as usual, and from which it frequently rebounds, giving a second blow to the string, so as to produce a jarring sound.")
Although Wornum's upright actions bear printed "Directions for the new Piccolo, Harmonic and Cabinet Piano-fortes, with Patent Double Action, Invented and Manufactured by Robert Wornum...", a confusing series of references, and seeming nationalistic claims of his inspiring foreign makers (at best - Heaton, and at worst, pirated by them - Wilkinson) often accompany its mention. Harding asserts he "neither invented or patented" the tape (Harding, p.245) stating Herman Lichtenthal made the first explicit claim for one, in 1832 patenting a piccolo upright that shows an action with a tape and underdampers (BE538: "la bande de cuir étendu, qui empêche le marteau de trembler, et qui le rapporte à sa place primitive" - Harding, p.247). To make matters worse, some writers claim the arrangement became known as the "French action," (Hipkins) but others call the the single grand action both the "English" and "Pleyel action" (New American Cyclopaedia, Appleton & Co., New York. 1861. "now used by Messrs. Chickering and sons of Boston, in their square pianos"), or the square action the "French action" (as used by makers in New York - Chauncey M. Depew, One Hundred Years of Commerce. D. O. Haynes & Co. 1895. vol.ii, p510), while another group points to Wornum's 1842 patent (identified by Harding as being Wornum's kind of double action for downstriking grands; Belt, Philip. The Piano, W. W. Norton and Co., New York, 1988. p.44; Ehrlich, Cyril. The Piano. Oxford University Press, 1990. p.31; Grover, David S. A History of the Piano from 1709 to 1980 http://www.uk-piano.org/history/d_grover.html; Smith, Fanny Morris, A Noble Art. De Vinne Press, New York, 1892. p.30 - though it would be a neat trick to pass a new invention for old in the 1843 Penny Encyclopedia, apart from claiming priority this would provide little benefit to its inventor). The design seems not to have inspired domestic manufacturers, and although a successful prosecution of the patent would not have prevented foreign manufacturers from using or importing it, even depite endorsement by C. Knight & Co. while in force, the design was unfamiliar afterwards that Abraham Dimoline's "Compensation Pianoforte Mechanism" was noticed for incorporating the feaures already used by Wornum (The Mechanics' Magazine, No. 1428, Dec. 21, 1850). (Wornum's reference to ties rather than tapes detracts from a distinction of material used ceding precedence to Wornum (Belt, P. The Piano, p.165). The unmodified term tie so-called independently in 1840 ("Piano-forte" Penny Encyclopedia, Knight & Co., London, 1843), and as elastic tie in 1876 (Catalogue of the Special Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus at the South Kensington Museum), referring to "Mr. Wornum's new Grand Action," drawn nearly identical to the downstriking action above. These ties provide resilient fastening points for springs coupling motion of the different parts.)
Some of the foreign makers offer insightful clues to the controversy. Harding refers to the action by Schleip, Stuttgart ca. 1825 as an adaptation of the English grand action ('stehende' English action, p235) , and in 1836 Soufleto described inconveniences of two escapement in use - one of them, "dit anglais... est composé d'une bande...ajusté sure [une] piece de bois...qui traverse une vis qui rest à régler l'échappement en avanc,ant ou en reculant ladite pièce..." and the other, with the escapement screw and button carried on the fly, whose origin he doesn't identify (used in Wornum 3070), are both clearly related to the grand escapement. Harding writes Martin Seufeurt claimed the action he patented in Austria in 1836 "to be an improvement on the French instruments of the same kind" and makes no indication that the escapement is altered, consisting of a screw carried in the fly meant to communicate with the lower end of the hammer butt (a system employed in Lichtenthal's 1832 patent, and in Henri Pape's 1839 patent). Meanwhile, Pleyel's imitations of English uprights failed to impress the jury at the 1834 French Industrial Exposition (though they were as unimpressed with their laminated soundboards), and only the great scale of their manufacture earned the rappel du médaille d'or owed largely to the unicord square exhibited in 1827. Although no uprights of this type are mentioned, the only known example, an oblique upright with double strung treble, appears to have an action with tapes, backchecks and underdampers (no. 81, ca. 1827, Musée du Piano de Limoux http://perso.orange.fr/jocelyn.saviard/Musee/unicorde.htm; at this earlier expo - according to Hipkins at least a year before Wornum's success - Roller & Blanchet had furnished the king's apartments with one of their oblique uprights à pont)
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