Molt's style of teaching nevertheless reflected the influence of these European composers, expounding the dynamic and chordal possibilities of the pianoforte. Molt claimed to have studied with both Czerny and Beethoven, although records to support these claims do not exist. He then returned to Europe for further study. Molt (1795-1856) began to teach in Quebec City in 1823, both privately and in educational institutions. Most were active in various other branches of the profession in addition to teaching. Most early piano teaching was done privately, though some teachers advertised their studios as "academies of music." Inevitably the first teachers were Europeans who had emigrated later their numbers included Canadians who had gone abroad for advanced studies. With more than 100 piano manufacturing companies and individual builders between 18, this Canadian industry was producing 30,000 pianos a year by the early part of the 20th century. In the early 20th century, Canada was a major producer of pianos with the upright piano being "a dominant symbol of Canada's Victorian era, a classic emblem of slower days, simpler times" ( Downright Upright, 1991:11). With the wealth of hardy woods from Canadian forests, the Canadian piano manufacturing industry quickly became an international success.
![saskatoon rag player piano saskatoon rag player piano](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IElCAs7tivM/maxresdefault.jpg)
Since imported pianos were expensive and unsuitable for the Canadian climate, Canadians began making their own. Until the third decade of the 19th century all pianos were imported.
![saskatoon rag player piano saskatoon rag player piano](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cYlDkVSVcdU/hqdefault.jpg)
Documents record almost heroic feats such as a strongman hired to carry a piano on his back over the Rocky Mountains, and an Inuk who carried a player piano on his sled across 300 km of treacherous ice and snow to the nearest trading post because he had discovered that the piano would not fit into his igloo ( CMJ, 1958, p.
![saskatoon rag player piano saskatoon rag player piano](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GgYXiMkTD4k/hqdefault.jpg)
The importance of this instrument made the obstacle of Canada's vast wilderness inconsequential. Like Europeans, Canadians of wealth and distinction insisted on a solid music education for the younger generation. When William John Macdonald landed at Victoria for the Hudson's Bay Company in 1850, he was invited to the Langford residence, where he found the eldest daughter "an excellent pianist." Pianos could be sent by sea to the west coast. In 1830 Governor Sir George Simpson, taking his bride to Fort Garry (Winnipeg), arranged for the forwarding of her piano. there is a very good music master here and I brought two Forte-Pianos from London." Advertisements in newspapers indicate that the instrument was well established by the mid 19th century in all the larger centres.ĭifficulties encountered in transporting pianos to the Prairies were considerable but not insurmountable, at least for a privileged minority. In 1791, the year of Mozart's death, the expenses of a local musical society included "£3 10s 6d for the use of a Piano Forte." (Indeed, a Mozart piano concerto was performed at a concert in Quebec City.) In 1802 James Dunlop, a Scottish merchant settled in Montreal, wrote to his sister that ". for a very reasonable price." As the popularity of the pianoforte increased, a greater number of these instruments were imported, either in the shape of the harpsichord (now known as the grand piano), or in the space-saving square shape (the square piano), which later developed into the upright piano. In 1784 Glackemeyer advertised "FOR SALE/FIVE elegant PIANOFORTES! arrived in the latest ships. He and a competitor, Francis Vogeler, did much to change this situation.
![saskatoon rag player piano saskatoon rag player piano](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1CLMEJB70UQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
According to Frederick Glackemeyer, there was only one piano in Quebec City in 1783. In Canada, as in Europe, there was a period in which both harpsichords and pianos were played. The cost of one of these square pianos was approximately one-third that of a harpsichord, making the new instrument a more popular status symbol among wealthier families. These pianofortes became known as square pianos. His invention spread to German-speaking countries where builders created rectangular pianofortes, based on the shape of another popular household keyboard instrument, the clavichord. Canadians have thrived on this instrument, and Canada has produced some of the best pianists, piano instructors, and piano methods in the latter part of the 20th century.Īt the end of the 17th century, the Italian Bartolomeo Cristofori began making harpsichords with hammers that hit the strings, in order to increase the range of dynamics. The piano has maintained a position of prominence in many Canadian homes since the late 18th century.