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Blüthner, formally Julius Blüthner Pianofortefabrik GmbH, is a piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
-manufacturing company founded by Julius Blüthner
Julius Blüthner

Julius Ferdinand Bl?thner was a German piano maker and founder of the Bl?thner piano factory.In 1853 he founded a piano-manufacturing company in Leipzig Germany....
 in 1853 in Leipzig
Leipzig

Leipzig is, with a population of over 511,252, the largest city in the States of Germany of Saxony, Germany....
 Germany.

company's early success occurred at exhibitions, conservatories and the concert stage. Further invention and innovations lead Blüthner to patent a ‘repetition action', and, in 1873, the aliquot
Aliquot

In mathematics, an aliquot part of an integer is any of its integer proper divisors. For instance, 2 is an aliquot of 12 . The sum of all the aliquots of an integer n is the value s = s - n , where s is the divisor function....
 scaling patent for grand pianos.






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Blüthner, formally Julius Blüthner Pianofortefabrik GmbH, is a piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
-manufacturing company founded by Julius Blüthner
Julius Blüthner

Julius Ferdinand Bl?thner was a German piano maker and founder of the Bl?thner piano factory.In 1853 he founded a piano-manufacturing company in Leipzig Germany....
 in 1853 in Leipzig
Leipzig

Leipzig is, with a population of over 511,252, the largest city in the States of Germany of Saxony, Germany....
 Germany.

History

The company's early success occurred at exhibitions, conservatories and the concert stage. Further invention and innovations lead Blüthner to patent a ‘repetition action', and, in 1873, the aliquot
Aliquot

In mathematics, an aliquot part of an integer is any of its integer proper divisors. For instance, 2 is an aliquot of 12 . The sum of all the aliquots of an integer n is the value s = s - n , where s is the divisor function....
 scaling patent for grand pianos. This added a fourth, sympathetic (‘aliquot’) string to each trichord group in the treble.

By 1885, the company was the largest European piano manufacturer (Bechstein
Bechstein

Bechstein is a surname and may refer to:*Johann Matth?us Bechstein , a German naturalist and forester.*Ludwig Bechstein , a German writer.*Carl Bechstein, a German piano manufacturer who founded C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik....
 surpassed them in 1905). During World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 the factory was ruined by target bombing but was later rebuilt and opened at the same location. Unique to the great makers, the Blüthner family continues their 5th generation piano building tradition.

Models

The sympathetic (‘aliquot’) strings enrich the piano's weakest register by enhancing the overtone
Overtone

An overtone is a natural resonance of a system. Systems described by overtones are often sound systems, for example, blown pipes or plucked strings....
 spectrum of the instrument. The aliquot string runs parallel to the normal strings, but is elevated at the point where the hammer strikes so that it is not struck directly, but vibrates in sympathy with the other strings. The sympathetic (‘aliquot’) string remains free of damper and thus a string resonance always occurs when other harmonic
Harmonic

In acoustics and telecommunication, a harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the Signalling that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency....
 notes are played. This sympathetic resonance contributes to the sound of Bluthner pianos.

Designer models

The one-of-a-kind Blüthner piano of particular interest was the special lightweight instrument, made for use on the Zeppelin
Zeppelin

For the English rock group, please see Led Zeppelin. For other meanings please see Zeppelin .A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century, based on designs he had outlined in 1874, designs he had detailed in 1893, and that were reviewed by committee in 1894, which h...
 LZ 129 Hindenburg. The piano had its harp plate made of aluminum, that saved about 100 kg of weight vs a regular cast iron plate of the same size piano. This was the first piano used in flight and it was used in an "air-concert" radio broadcast. It was removed in 1937 to save weight so it survived the Hindenburg's infamous crash, only to be destroyed by bombing during the Second World War.

Notable Blüthner artists

Numerous royals, composers, conductors, artists, and performers have owned Blüthner pianos. They include Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms , composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic music. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene....
, Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler was a Bohemian-born Austrian composer and conducting. He was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day....
, Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók

B?la Viktor J?nos Bart?k was a Hungarian people composer and pianist, considered to be one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of ethnomusicology....
, Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy

Achille-Claude Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he is considered one of the most prominent figures working within the field of Impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions....
, Max Reger
Max Reger

Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, Conducting, pianist, organist, and teacher....
, Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, Conducting, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas . Unlike most other great opera composers, Wagner wrote both the scenario and libretto for his works....
, Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II was an Austrian composer famous for having written over 500 waltzes, polkas, March , and galops. He was the son of the composer Johann Strauss I, and brother of composers Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss....
, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – ) was a Russian composer of the Romantic music era. He wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his Piano Concerto No....
, Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a List of Russian composers of the Soviet Union period.After a period influenced by Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky , Shostakovich developed a hybrid of styles as exemplified in his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District ....
, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an England composer of musical theatre, the elder son of William Lloyd Webber and also the brother of the renowned cellist Julian Lloyd Webber....
, Wilhelm Kempff
Wilhelm Kempff

Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff was a world-renowned Germany virtuoso pianist and composer. Although his repertory included Bach, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms, Kempff was particularly well-known for his interpretations of the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, both of whose complete sonatas he recorded at least once....
, Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, Order of Merit, Order of the British Empire was a violinist and conducting who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom....
, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler

Wilhelm Furtw?ngler was a German Conducting and composer....
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich ; was a German-born American actress, singer and entertainer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself....
, Petronel Malan
Petronel Malan

Petronel Malan is a South African concert pianist.Grammy Awards-nominated South African pianist Malan is an exclusive recording artist for the internationally recognized label H?nssler Classic based in Holzgerlingen near Stuttgart in Germany....
, and Liberace
Liberace

Wladziu Valentino Liberace , better known by only his last name Liberace , was a famous United States entertainer and pianist of Poles and Italian people descent....
. Blüthners have been used in popular music. One Blüthner piano owned by the Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios, established in November 1931 by EMI in London, England, is a recording studio located at number 3 Abbey Road , in St John's Wood in the City of Westminster....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 was used on some tracks of The Beatles
The Beatles

The Beatles were a rock music and pop music band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ....
' Let It Be
Let It Be (album)

Let It Be is the twelfth U.K album, the nineteenth U.S. album, and the final original album released by The Beatles. It was released on 8 May 1970 by the band's Apple Records label shortly after the group's announced breakup....
 album, most notably, in the hits "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road
The Long and Winding Road

"The Long and Winding Road" is a ballad written by Paul McCartney that originally appeared on The Beatles' album Let It Be. It became The Beatles' last #1 song in the United States on 23 May 1970, and was their last real single....
". One was also used in the film "The Sting". Another (stunt piano) was destroyed in Iron Man
Iron Man

Iron Man is a Character , a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character First appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 , and was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby....
.

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