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Conrad Graf (17 November 1782 in Riedlingen, Württemberg – 18 March 1851 in Vienna) was an Austrian-German piano maker. His pianos were used by Beethoven, Chopin, and Clara Schumann, among others. ==Life and career== Graf began his career as a cabinet maker, studying the craft in his native Riedlingen in south Germany. He reached the status of journeyman in 1796 and migrated to Vienna in either 1798 or 1799. In 1800 he served briefly in an all-volunteer military unit, the Jäger Freikorps, then became apprenticed to a piano maker named Jakob Schelkle, who worked in Währing, then a suburb of Vienna. When Schelkle died in 1804, Graf married his widow Katharina and took over the shop.〔Source for this paragraph: Wythe (1984, 447)〕 The Graf family had two children listed in census records: Karalina Schelklin (born 1802), from Katherina's previous marriage, and Juliana Graf (born 1806). Katherina died in 1814, and Graf did not remarry.〔 It is not known how Graf developed his style or methods for building pianos. None of the pianos of his teacher Schelkle survive, and the surviving early Graf instruments are not much different from his fully mature ones. As Wythe says, "Graf's style appears to have emerged fully developed out of an apprenticeship with an obscure provincial maker."〔Wythe (1984, 450)〕 The early 19th century was a period of ferment in piano building; Wythe describes the work of contemporary builders as "a volatile blend of traditional craftsmanship and new technology, carried out in an atmosphere of intense competition."〔Quoted from Wythe (1984, 447)〕 Graf was successful in this milieu. By 1809, he was employing ten workers.〔Wythe (1984, 447)〕 In 1811, he relocated from the original suburban location to new quarters in the (more expensive) central city.〔Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians, article "Conrad Graf"〕 In 1824 he was appointed as Royal Piano and Keyboard Maker to the Imperial court in Vienna.〔Kottick and Lucktenberg (1997, 89–90)〕 By 1826, the increasing demand for his pianos had led Graf to adopt methods of mass production, an area in which he was a pioneer. (Earlier, the building of pianos took place in small workshops.) He purchased the "Mondscheinhaus,"〔German: "moonlight house"〕 a formerly fashionable dance hall at 102 auf der Wieden, and converted it into a piano factory, removing the chandeliers and other accoutrements.〔Wythe (1984, 448)〕 A report from 1835 indicates that the factory had 40 employees, who were "organized in eight divisions, each specializing in a particular job" (Wythe).〔Wythe (1984, 449)〕 Many of the workers lived in the same building, which included ten apartments.〔 Between 1827 and 1831 Graf built two additions to his factory, adding a total of over 1000 square meters.〔 Graf's firm eventually produced over 3000 instruments during his lifetime.〔Kottick and Lucktenberg (1997, 50)〕 As the Grove Dictionary notes, the instruments "show a remarkable degree of consistency and may be categorized as a series of models," presumably as a consequence of Graf's mass production methods.〔Grove, "Conrad Graf"〕 The lower cost of factory-produced instruments led in the 19th century to widespread ownership of pianos by the middle class; see ''Social history of the piano''. In 1835, Graf won a gold medal for his pianos in 1835 at the first Viennese industrial products exhibition. His pianos were often owned and played by celebrated musicians (see below). In 1840 Graf retired and sold the firm to Carl Stein, who was the grandson of the famous piano builder Johann Andreas Stein.〔 Graf's business was successful enough for him to become an art collector, and he amassed an extensive collection.〔Wythe (1984, 448–449)〕 From Josef Danhauser he commissioned in 1840 the famous painting ''Franz Liszt Fantasizing at the Piano'' (shown below), which shows Franz Liszt playing to an imagined gathering of his friends.〔Schott (1977). For discussion of the painting's characters and iconography, see Leppert (2002, 203–204).〕 The instrument portrayed is a Graf.〔 During his retirement Graf served as a volunteer for a businessman's association, the Niederosterreichische Gewerb-Verein ("Lower Austrian Industrial Association"), which he had helped to found in 1839.〔 He died 18 March 1851 at the age of 69. His will left sizable bequests to charitable causes.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Conrad Graf」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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