Érard, Sébastien (EN)

Érard Sébastien, *5 April 1752 Strasbourg, †5 August 1831 Passy near Paris, A French musical instrument maker. The son of a carpenter, he acquired skills in his father’s workshop and attended a technical school. In 1768, he moved to Paris, where he worked successively for two harpsichord makers. After constructing a harpsichord with an improved mechanism (clavecin mécanique) in 1776, which garnered acclaim and brought him fame, Érard established a workshop at the château of his patron, the Duchesse de Villeroy. It was here, in 1777, that he built his first square piano. The growing success of Érard’s instruments enabled him to set up his own workshop with his brother Jean-Baptiste in 1780, where he built, among other things, an organised pianoforte (piano organisé) for Marie Antoinette, i.e. a combination of a piano and a small two-manual positive organ. In 1783, he introduced a damper pedal [forte] and a “keyboard-shifting” pedal [una corda]. In 1786, he travelled to England to establish a branch of his Parisian firm. In 1792, he obtained a patent in London for improvements to harps and pianos. He built his first piano in Paris in 1796. Érard made a number of improvements to the piano’s mechanics, including agraffes (1808), a metal frame construction, and a double escapement action mechanism (1808–21). He also worked on improving the pedal harp, introducing a [double-action] pedal in 1810, which allowed for retuning the strings to be retuned in two positions at once. His final works were a three-manual organ with a pedal and a shade, intended for the chapel at the Tuileries, and a harmonium (orgue expressif). In recognition of his achievements, he was awarded gold medals, and in 1827 he was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur.

Literature: J. Gardien Les Érards, Paris 1962.