expressly for the tangent piano. Miklos Spanyi recently released a recording of them on the tangent piano (Recording with MP3 samples featuring the Tangent Piano). There are currently approximately twenty intact tangent pianos in existence. In 2006 a tangent piano was discovered on the estate of Johann Esaias von Seidel in Sulzbach-Rosenberg in its original condition. After extensive restoration it was presented to the public during a concert by Christoph Hammer and Sylvia Ackermann in 2012. Mechanism In the action of a tangent piano, the tangent is a small slip of wood similar in shape to a harpsichord jack or similar to an unleathered fortepiano hammer which strikes the string to produce sound. It is similar to the tangent of a clavichord only in the sense that they both are driven ultimately by the player's finger to strike the string to initiate sound. In the clavichord, the tangent remains in contact with the string to keep the note sounding, while in the tangent piano, the tangent immediately rebounds from the string so that the string is allowed to vibrate freely (that is, it has an escapement). The instrument can have numerous stops to soften and sweeten the sound: una corda, moderator, harp. Also, it has a device which allows the performer to raise all the dampers (like the modern damper pedal), and another that will only raise the treble dampers (a typical feature on many early pianos). See Piano pedals. Tonal quality The tangent piano has an unusual sound that combines the qualities of the harpsichord and piano. The treble resembles the bright sound from a light action piano, and the bass resembles the bass from a harpsichord. The sound varies from instrument to instrument, as do personal descriptions of the tangent piano's sound. References Piano