Johann Schmidt
upright piano maker
Biography
Johann Schmidt of Salzburg, Austria, is identified by Dolge as the apparent builder of the first upright piano, about 1780 -- not counting the earlier vertical grands of makers such as Fabrici and Stein. Twenty years after Schmidt's instrument, John Isaac Hawkins of Philadelphia patented his own upright piano. No further detail about Schmidt's life or career is given in this section beyond his location and this priority claim.
Highlights
- Built, apparently, the first upright piano about 1780, in Salzburg, Austria.
Source
Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 53.
Public domain.