Playing the Square

Come and listen as we reveal the secrets of the ‘square’ piano. What is a ‘square’ piano, you ask. Lid closed, it looks like a rectangular table. Open the lid, and there is the usual piano keyboard, foreshortened a bit, but recognizable for what it is – an early piano forte. Our English-made Robertson square piano has been revealing some interesting stories about the music composed for it, and its place in Australian colonial history.

Its voice is mellow, reverberative and gorgeous. I wish you could hear the real deal, but our fragile old gentleman can’t be moved easily. You’ll have to wait for our recording for that.

In the meantime, these lovely pieces by Haydn, Pleyel and Cramer were written for just such an instrument, and sound (almost) as good on a modern grand that knows the secrets of the square.

With me, Diana Weston

St Jude’s Anglican Church, Bowral

Sunday March 20 at 3.30 pm