J. P. Milchmeyer, Die wahre Art das Pianoforte zu spielen. Chapter 5 (Dresden 1797)

Summary

In large towns, there are always many craftsmen who make pianos and you have a choice. Nevertheless, I now advise every amateur who wishes to purchase a piano that he shouldn't balk at the thought of paying 20 – 30 thaler. A good instrument is like a fine painting, and likewise is worth two or three times as much after the death of the master. If you are able to choose between various types of instruments, I would recommend that greater preference be given to the small, square piano. The grand piano takes up more space, is more expensive to take around on journeys, and has fewer mutations than the square, even though these mutations produce so many effects and gain ever-increasing approval. In the case of grand pianos, I have also found that the two highest octaves seldom have a proportionately beautiful, resonant and incisive tone; the bass notes are more often than not extraordinarily strong and the upper notes thin, so that an instrument of this kind resembles a gentleman in a poor suit accompanied by a magnificently clothed servant, or a large man, seven feet tall, whose voice resembles that of a child. If the tone and mutations of grand pianos were correspondingly more beautiful than those of the square, I would be the first to recommend them, but as yet I have very seldom found this to be the case, and I therefore find myself having to return to the little square, and when investigating its excellence, pointing out features that we have just observed.