Erard’s run-of-the-mill production before 1800 was, however, more remarkable for its
refinement and build quality than for its novelty of design.
Erard’s genius really came to the fore during the thirty odd years he had left to live in the
nineteenth century with a series of brilliant inventions that were to mark the history of
piano and harp construction. He first of all concentrated on the harp, and created the
double movement in 1810 after researching it for several years. This invention, to quote
Pièrre Erard ‘gave indisputable proof of the mechanical genius of Sebastien Erard, as it is
difficult to imagine anything more complex than the mechanism of the harp double
movement’.
According to Pièrre, after successfully resolving this difficult problem, Sebastien moved
on to that of the rapid repetition of notes on the grand piano action. Sebastien had
actually been thinking about this problem since 1796 at least, as he wrote that year a
description of a grand action with an intermediary check allowing the pilot to go back
under the hammer butt without lifting the key right up. This research first came to
fruition in 1809, the date of the patent for the very ingenious ‘mécanique à étrier’ that can
be studied on several extant pianos in the Paris and Brussels instrument museums. This
was the first step towatds the definitive solution, the brilliant double escapement action
which was patented in 1821 and is still used today in a slightly modified form in modern
concert grand pianos. Another major patent, in 1808, was that of the metal agrafes that
prevent the string from rising up with the blow of the hammer.
The double escapement patent was taken out by Pièrre Erard in London and not by his
uncle. The London factory from then on built pianos as well as harps and probably
specialised in the new concert grand piano. Sebastien was by now an old man and didn’t
want to face the same difficulties and disappointments that had accompanied the
introduction of the double movement harp. Erard’s invention wasn’t accepted easily,
although Liszt adopted it from 1824 onwards, and for several years Erard carried on
making both old and new type actions.
In 1834, when Pièrre asked for a renewal of the patent, he claimed that the instruments
weren’t very well known to the general public and that rumours had been spread as to
their lack of solidity. It was only after Sebastian’s death in 1831 that his invention started
bringing in money for Pièrre. At his death in 1856 Erard had become the greatest maker
of pianos in the world, dominating the concert scene without rival.
Although Sebastien didn’t live to see the Erard heyday he didn’t really have any reason to
complain. After starting off as a poor workman he finished his life with the Legion
d’Honneur (1827), living in a beautiful château full of exceptional works of art. His
collection of paintings, sold after his death by Pièrre in Paris (1832) and London (1834)
brought in 750,000 francs which was used by his nephew to invest in the development of
the new double repetition concert grand.
Sebastien actually had several successive collections, buying or selling according to the
financial situation of his harp and piano business. In 1813 he sent a large consignment of