Fortepiano or cabinet

"The piano that belongs to the music instruments ensemble of Can Llopis music hall, present Romantic museum of Sitges, is the unique cupboard piano known of master builder Johan Schantz (Kladrob c. 1726 – Viena, 1828).

It has the keyboard placed in a frontal position and covered with a cover. The vertical positioning of the strings allows save space and adapts typical ranges of a grand piano to a piece of furniture of a little depth achieving that its sound power is comparable to a grand piano of that time. Due to the box shape that lets close it with two doors, it was called cabinet or piano cupboard.

The repertoire of these instruments was the domestic music, from sonatas of great classical compositions to Romanticism various works, dances, waltz, mazurka, polonaises and so on. Plus the soloist repertoire, the fortepiano has a leading role in the chamber music and in the accompaniment of the romantic lied."