P I A N O   3 0 0
Celebrating Three Centuries of People and Pianos

 

Pianos and Objects in the Exhibition

Composers' Manuscripts and Early Editions

[Instruments]    [Miscellany]

Ludovico Guistini

Sonate da Cimbalo di piano, e forte detto volgarmente di martelletti, 1732. First Edition. The earliest known published music for the piano. Lent by Music Library, Yale University.

Johann Christian Bach

Sonatas for Harpsichord or Piano, Op. 5, 1770.
Lent by the Library of Congress

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Concerto in C major for Piano and Orchestra, K. 467, 1785. Composer's holograph manuscript.
Lent by the Morgan Library.

Alexander Reinagle

Sonatas for the Pianoforte, 1786-1794.
The leading pianist of 18th-century America, Reinagle wrote piano pieces considered the finest instrumental music of the United States his day.
Lent by the Library of Congress.

Eleanor (Nelly) Parke Custis

Music Book, 1790s
Nelly Custis, step-granddaughter of George Washington and a pupil of Alexander Reinagle, gathered and bound this collection of contemporary sheet music and manuscripts for her personal use.
Lent by the Library of Congress.

Franz Josef Haydn

Sonata in E-flat major, Hob. XVI/52, 1794.
Composer's holograph manuscript.
Lent by the Library of Congress.

Muzio Clementi

Sonata in C major, Op. 33, No. 3, 1794. Early German edition.
Lent by the Library of Congress.

James Hewitt

The Battle of Trenton, 1797. First Edition.
Lent by the Library of Congress.

Ludwig van Beethoven

Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier", 1817-1818 First Viennese edition.
Lent by the Library of Congress

Frédéric Chopin

Impromptu in G-flat major, Op. 51, 1842. Composer's holograph manuscript.
Lent by the Library of Congress.

Franz Liszt

Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major for Piano and Orchestra, c. 1853. Composer's holograph manuscript.
Lent by the Library of Congress.

Louis Moreau Gottschalk

The Banjo, Fantaisie Grotesque, An American Sketch, Op. 15, 1855.
Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

`Blind Tom' Bethune

Virginia Polka, 1860. First Edition.
Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Scott Joplin

Maple Leaf Rag, 1899 and The Entertainer, a Rag Time Two Step, 1902. Early editions.
Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Jelly Roll Morton

Big Fat Ham, 1923. Composer's holograph manuscript.
Lent by the Library of Congress.

George Gershwin

George Gershwin's Song Book. Composer's holograph manuscript.
Lent by the Library of Congress

Duke Ellington

Ad Lib on Nippon from The Far East Suite, 1965. Composer's holograph manuscript.
Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

 

[Introduction] [Performances, Tours and More] [Exhibition] [Timeline]
[Credits] [Donors and Collaborators ] [Play Some Music!] [Piano Resources]

Piano 300 		National Museum of American History Home
National Museum of American History 		Smithsonian Home
Smithsonian