Margaret Hood Fortepianos recreate the colorful ringing tone and responsive lightness of touch of their famous prototypes, the fortepianos of 1803 and 1816 by the Viennese pianomaker Nannette Streicher. Instruments from our workshop are fully guaranteed against defects of workmanship and materials. They have given rewarding and reliable service in concerts and on tours with amateurs and professional musicians here and abroad. They have been a source of hours of delight in the homes of their owners. Your satisfaction is our greatest pleasure.
We have been making and servicing Viennese reproduction fortepianos since 1976. Our instruments are owned by colleges, universities and professional musicians in Canada and the United States, and have been rented by symphony orchestras, opera companies, university and community orchestras, and music festivals. We regularly have one or two instruments to see and play at the Boston Early Music Festival and other regional music festivals. Please contact us to arrange to see and try one at one of these events or at our shop in Wisconsin.
Nannette Streicher was the daughter of J. A. Stein of Augsburg, whose pianos delighted Mozart. She assisted her father in his workshop from childhood on and inherited the business at his death. She and her composer husband J. Andreas Streicher moved the business to Vienna; Beethoven's letters from 1796 on reflect his involvement with the Streichers and their pianos. He had the loan of Streicher pianos regularly throughout his keyboard composing years; he frequented their showroom and Sunday concerts, as did all the other notable Viennese composers such as Hummel, Cramer, Moscheles and VonWeber. The firm continued as one of Vienna's most prestigious until the 1890's.
Used Instruments Available - Harpsichords and Fortepianos The Fortepiano Maintenance Handbook and The Harpsichord Repair Guide Helpful Links to Related Sites "Coloristic Effects of Viennese Fortepianos", a talk given at a MHKS meeting at Duke, 2004
Margaret Hood Fortepianos
Further questions? e-mail me at HOOD@UWPLATT.EDU,
580 West Cedar Street, Platteville, WI 53818 USA
(608)348-6410
Last updated, January 6, 2008