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The specialist in early keyboard instruments Kerstin Schwartz had been restoring the Zumpe & Buntebart square piano (MDMB 645) for over a year to make it playable. The restoration involved a thorough research with strict historical and scientific criteria, in order to preserve the original parts of the instrument, a historic item in its own right, and recover its sound with every guarantee.

Made in London in 1776, it was intended as a modern instrument: small, light and inexpensive, this kind of piano met the growing demand for domestic instruments to be enjoyed in bourgeois households. The Museu de la Música purchased it from an antiques dealer in Barcelona in 1954, and from that year on we have enjoyed its fascinating sound.

(Translated by Andrew Langdon-Davies and Stephen B. Clayton)