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Vol. 86 July 18, 2026 No. 19

Foucaud

writer

Biography

Foucaud was a writer whose works, published in Paris in 1840, are cited by Spillane as a source on piano history. Foucaud recorded that the shifting transposition action was first tried on a piano made for Marie Antoinette, information he had learned directly from the Erard firm, and attributed the modern form of the string "agraffe" to Jean Henri Pape rather than to Erard. Spillane also quotes Foucaud's account of Pape's early career and his decision to travel to England to study piano-making.

Highlights

  • Author of works published in Paris in 1840 describing piano innovations, including the transposition action and the origins of the string agraffe, and quoted at length on Jean Henri Pape's career.

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 26.

Public domain.

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