Helmholtz

Biography

Helmholtz was the author of "Sensation of Tone," grouped by Dolge among the "strictly scientific works" offering "much food for thought to the student of acoustics," alongside John Tyndall's treatise on sound. Dolge notes, however, that Helmholtz's "originally much-lauded 'Tone Wave Theory,'" together with his so-called discovery of the "Ear Harp," were vigorously attacked by Henry A. Mott in "The Fallacy of the Present Theory of Sound" and by Siegfried Hansing in "Das Pianoforte in seinen akustischen Anlagen." Helmholtz is named by Dolge, alongside Chladny and Tyndall, as one of the developers of the science of acoustics that has illuminated the correct laying out of a piano scale and the laws governing sound production. The text specifically notes that Helmholtz assumed the existence of an 'ear harp' as part of the mechanism of hearing, a theory that Siegfried Hansing disclaims as an impossibility, arguing instead that the ear simply measures the intervals between sound shocks. Helmholtz is described as a 'great savant' whose epoch-making discoveries in acoustics drew Theodore Steinway back to Germany to be near him. Theodore became his intimate friend, and the text credits this relationship with benefiting the wider world, as Theodore applied Helmholtz's scientific findings on acoustics to piano construction, including the design of his Centennial concert-grand piano. From Spillane (1890): Helmholtz is referenced as a renowned authority who gave his approval to Steinway & Sons' cupola metal frame, patented under Patent No. 127,383, which the author describes as "another significant record in acoustics, approved of by no less a person than the famous Helmholtz." Following his apprenticeship under Julius Gercke in Hanover, Henry Behning entered the employ of Helmholtz in Germany, where he became thoroughly conversant with every detail of piano structure, including the primitive practice of sawing piano keys from cows' bones.

Highlights

• Credited, with Chladny and Tyndall, as a developer of the science of acoustics as applied to the piano
• Assumed the existence of an 'ear harp' in human hearing, a theory Hansing disclaims as an impossibility
• A 'great savant' whose epoch-making acoustics discoveries drew Theodore Steinway back to Germany to be near him
• Became an intimate friend of Theodore Steinway, a relationship the text says benefited piano design
• Author of "Sensation of Tone"
• His "Tone Wave Theory" and claimed discovery of the "Ear Harp" were vigorously attacked by Henry A. Mott and Siegfried Hansing
• Cited as having approved of Steinway & Sons' cupola metal frame, patented under Patent No. 127,383.
• Employed Henry Behning after his apprenticeship with Julius Gercke, teaching him piano structure in detail

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 106, 107, 304, 305.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 219.

Public domain.