Walter anton setzer biography
Walter anton setzer biography book!
Walter anton setzer biography
Anton Walter
German piano builder (1752–1826)
Not to be confused with Anton Walter (cellist).
Gabriel Anton Walter (5 February 1752 – 11 April 1826) was a builder of pianos.
The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes him as "the most famous Viennese piano maker of his time".[1]Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert all owned and played on Walter's pianos.
Life
Walter was born in Neuhausen auf den Fildern, Germany.[1] The record of his marriage to a widow named Anna Elisabeth Schöffstoss in 1780 indicates that he had moved to Vienna by that time.[2] His earlier surviving pianos are dated to this year.[1]
His piano business was evidently successful.
In 1790 he was awarded the status of Imperial Royal Chamber Organ Builder and Instrument Maker.[1] By 1800 he was employing about 20 workmen.[1] In that year he was joined in the firm by his stepson Joseph Schöffstoss, and the pianos came to be labeled "