Gavioli & Cie piano 5413: Prestissimo Galop, Op. 152 – Emile Waldteufel c.1877.

Photographs from the Amersham Fair Organ Museum collection.

A contemporary of the Museum’s 60-key barrel organ (No. 6778), this 76-key barrel piano was manufactured c.1877 and provides a rare and unique insight into the development of mechanical music technology throughout the 19th & 20th centuries. Built for a private residence it has two features that aren’t to be found on the more common street piano. First, a fully chromatic five-octave range (excepting the lowest F# bass); and second, an automatic sustain system for the bass and tenor registers.

The piano represents a unique survival of a bygone age. Supplied through the Gavioli agency in Farringdon Road and still boasting its original barrel: an exciting repertoire of music capturing musical tastes of the era.

The instrument is generously on loan to the collection by a member of our Friends’ Group, whose family have owned the piano for many years.