Bartolomeo Cristofori’s creation of the “gravecembalo col piano, e forte” in 1700 began a rich period of creativity and invention in the life of the piano. Cristofori’s initial design was published in a Venetian journal, and slowly spread throughout Europe as instrument makers were attracted to the possibilities this new instrument posed. Over the next 200 years the piano gradually transformed from the intimate 48 keys of Cristofori’s first creation to the 88 key 9 foot concert grands that exist today. During the course of that evolution instrument makers explored and experimented with new ideas as they sought to meet both the demands of the musicians who performed on and wrote for the instruments, and of a public willing to invest in an expensive handcrafted product.
The companies responsible for the development of the piano were often family owned, with the craftsmanship and business being passed down through a mostly male lineage. Johann Andreas Stein was a notable patriarch in the world of piano making, in that he passed down his knowledge and business to a daughter. In the 18th and 19th centuries it would not be unusual for a women’s contribution to business to go unrecognized or unrecorded. Yet, Maria Anna (Nannette) Streicher was able to build a strong business under her own name and cultivate respected relationships with prominent musicians of her era.
Streicher was playing the piano from an early age, demonstrating the capabilities of her father’s instruments when she was as young as five. In a letter from Mozart written in 1777, he relates his experience hearing Stein’s young daughter perform. While Mozart apparently appreciated her father’s piano (“but I must own that I give the preference to those of Stein, for they damp much better than those in Ratisbon”), he gave a less than stellar account of Stein’s then 8 year old daughter’s skill at the piano.
“She perches herself exactly opposite the treble, avoiding the centre, that she may have more room to throw herself about and make grimaces. She rolls her eyes and smirks; when a passage comes twice she always plays it slower the second time, and if three times, slower still...Herr Stein is quite infatuated about his daughter. She is eight years old, and learns everything by heart. She may one day be clever, for she has genius…”
Despite Mozart’s commentary on her mannerisms, Streicher became a talented pianist and was apparently admired by Haydn.
Streicher and her brother Matthäus Andreas Stein, two of Stein’s fifteen children, learned the piano trade in their father’s workshop, eventually taking over after his death in 1792. Streicher had been directly involved in the construction of the instruments, building parts, tuning, voicing, and regulating. She and her brother moved the company to Vienna in 1794 where they built pianos under the name of “Frère et Soeur Stein”. In 1802 she and her brother started separate businesses with Streicher now building instruments under the name of “Nannette Streicher née Stein”. Her husband, a music professor, left his job to work for the piano company, managing the office work, allowing Streicher to remain fully engaged in the construction of her instruments.
Living in Vienna, she developed a close friendship with Beethoven who had known and used her father’s pianos, and subsequently also played Streicher’s. In a letter to Streicher from 1817 he wrote:
“Perhaps you do not know, though I have not always had one of your pianos, that since 1809 I have invariably preferred yours.”
Beethoven provided feedback on the construction of her instruments but their frequent correspondence shows that he also relied on her support in helping manage his private affairs; he thanks her for some assistance her husband provided him and shares complaints about his servants and concerns regarding his nephew.
Streicher’s father had achieved prominence with his escapement mechanism that provided the basis for the Viennese action and she initially continued in his stead, but later expanded her production to include Anglo-German and English actions as well, in response to demand. Notably, her pianos were the earliest known versions of Viennese pianos with foot pedal mechanisms rather than knee levers.
Her business became one of the most respected in Vienna, developing associations with musicians such as Weber, Hummel, and later Brahms. The company continued to thrive under the stewardship of both her son and grandson before the business finally closed in 1896. Johann Andreas Stein started a legacy of piano making that lasted over 100 years, growing through the active participation of his daughter in his workshop and her ability to carry on the skill of piano making with the establishment of her own company. Streicher’s own legacy is preserved through restoration and reproduction of her instruments, some of which have been done by other women makers including Suzanne Wittmeyer and Margaret Hood. The preservation of Streicher’s instruments and efforts to document her life, including work by Margaret Hood, are critical to illuminating the value of her contributions in an era where women’s achievements were often overlooked.
Listen to a piano built by Nannette Streicher for King George IV here.