Johann Andreas Stein

Johann Andreas Stein (6 May 1728, Heidelsheim — 29 February 1792, Augsburg), or "Jean André Stein," was a prolific German organ builder and maker of harpsichords, clavichords, and fortepianos, primarily known as the creator of the "Viennese" piano action (Prellmechanik with escapement). Stein's instruments were praised and revered by Mozart, among other notable composers and musicians. He became a patriarch of the Streicher family of piano makers after his daughter took over the family business under her husband's name and relocated to Vienna. Variations of his nameplates include: "Joh. Andr. Stein Orgel u. Claviermacher in Augsburg 176x" and "Jean André Stein, faiseur d'Orgues, des Clavicins et Organiste a l'Eglise des Minorittes a Augsbourg 178x." Stein began his professional career in 1748 as a journeyman for Johann Andreas Silbermann (1712—1783), Gottfried Silbermann's nephew, in Strasbourg, and Franz Jacob Späth (1714—1786) in Regensburg. In 1750, Johann Andreas established an independent workshop in Augsburg. In the formative decade of his career, Stein primarily worked on building and repairing organs, including two in local Augsburg churches, the Lutheran Barfüßerkirche (where he also served as an organist) and the Catholic Heilig Kreuz-Kirche. Circa mid-1760s, Stein focused on stringed key instruments: harpsichords, clavichords, and especially hammerflügels (fortepianos); by the late 1770s, Johann Andreas was exclusively making pianos. In 1777, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart visited Stein's workshop in Augsburg and befriended the master; Mozart was profoundly impressed by the instruments, as evident from the subsequent correspondence with his father, Leopold. Amadeus claimed that Stein's pianofortes were far superior to his prior favorite Späth's makes, excited about the proper escapement, which "only one maker in a hundred bothers about," and a lifetime guarantee on the soundboards (which Johann Stein subjected to numerous extreme stress tests vividly described in Mozart's letter). With only a handful of surviving Stein's instruments, contemporary musicologists have access to a complete list of his builds between 1750 and circa 1770 that Johann Andreas compiled in his diaries. As evident from the inventory, Stein offered a broad product range, with grand pianos in two sizes, compact and more affordable square pianos, single and double-manual harpsichords, flügels (claviers), and clavecins (a variety of harpsichord). Brief annotations showed his typical clientele, such as bankers, cotton merchants, government officials, and music teachers; besides local sales, Stein shipped to Switzerland and Austria. With multiple clavichords mentioned in Stein's notebook, there are only two extant builds: Mozart's former 1762 Clavichord at the Hungarian National Museum and the 1787 Fretless Clavichord at Kunstmuseum Den Haag. In later years, Johann Andreas Stein began experimenting with unique "hybrid" instruments to give musicians real-time access to drastically different tonal qualities. His best-known invention is Vis-à-vis, a two-manual harpsichord combined with a grand fortepiano in a stretched rectangular case — both actions available at the "front," plus a single piano keyboard on the opposite side. Two vis-à-vis survived, the 1777 model with a triple manual at Museo Civico di Castelvecchio in Verona and the later 1783 modification, which only had a double-manual for harpsichord — currently preserved at Conservatory Of San Pietro in Naples, Italy. Johann Andreas constructed other harpsichord-piano "crossovers," such as Poly-Tono-Clavichordium with three manuals or Saitenharmonika triple-stringed for precise diminuendo: the additional set of 8' strings was "plucked with an elastic material" (possibly, buffalo leather plectra), rather than struck by hammers. Stein also invented Melodica, a piano with a small pipe organ on top. Around 1790, when sixty-two-year-old Johann Andreas retired, his children, Anna-Maria Stein (1769—1833) and Matthäus Andreas Stein (1776—1842), took over the family business. Two years later, Anna-Maria married Johann Andreas Streicher (1761—1833), assuming a new name, Nannette Streicher; they soon relocated the workshop from Augsburg to Vienna in Austria, where it proliferated for a few generations. Stein had other notable apprentices, including Johann David Schiedmayer (1753—1805) and Johann Gottlob Horn (1748—1796), former journeymen at his workshop, and Johann Evangelist Schmidt (1758—1804), who carried on Stein's tradition in Salzburg.