Marius

Biography

Marius of Paris was one of three inventors who, working independently, arrived at the idea of a hammer-driven keyboard action at roughly the same time as Christofori (1707) and Schröter (1717). In 1716 he submitted three models of harpsichord hammer actions to the Academy of Sciences. The text notes that no instruments are known to have actually been built using his action, likely because an effective hammer action required a different overall instrument construction than the harpsichord provided. Both an upward-striking and a downward-striking version of his hammer action design are illustrated in the book. From Spillane (1890): Marius, described by Spillane as the French rival of Cristofori, submitted three keyboard instruments -- his clavecins à maillets -- for examination by the Paris Académie des Sciences in February 1716. Two were horizontal in form, while the third, which Marius called the 'harpsichord à maillet,' was a vertical (upright) design in which the key impelled a hammer-tipped rod directly against the string, making it an early anticipation of the upright piano form. Engraved plans of the three instruments, with explanations, were published in the Académie's 1716 volume 'Recueil des Instruments Approuvés par l'Académie des Sciences.' Spillane notes that nothing practical came of Marius's invention. Marius, a French harpsichord-maker, is named by the historian Fétis as the first to exhibit a pianoforte, having submitted several hammer-harpsichords to the Academy in Paris in 1716. Spillane notes that this claim does not disprove Cristofori's earlier priority, since nothing beyond the 1716 submission is advanced to support it. Marius later made further improvements to his pianofortes, which gave rise to a French school of imitators, some of whom are said to have eclipsed their master in producing these instruments.

Highlights

• One of three inventors (with Christofori and Schröter) credited with independently conceiving a piano hammer action around the same period
• Submitted three models of harpsichord hammer actions to the Academy of Sciences in Paris in 1716
• Named by the historian Fétis as the first to exhibit a pianoforte
• Submitted several hammer-harpsichords to the Academy in Paris in 1716
• His later improvements led to a French school of imitators, some of whom eclipsed him
• French rival of Cristofori; submitted three keyboard instruments (clavecins à maillets) examined by the Paris Académie des Sciences in February 1716
• One of his three instruments was a vertical (upright) design he called the 'harpsichord à maillet,' in which the key impelled a hammer-tipped rod directly against the string
• Engraved plans of his instruments were published in the Académie's 1716 'Recueil des Instruments Approuvés,' but nothing practical came of the invention

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 43, 44.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 16, 17, 19, 32.

Public domain.