Erard

Erard, SÉBASTIEN, French musical instrument-maker, chiefly famous for his improvements and inventions in connection with the pianoforte and harp, was born at Strasburg on 5th April 1752. Proceeding to Paris when sixteen, he shortly afterwards started business as a pianoforte-maker in that city, constructing his first pianoforte, one of the earliest made in France, in 1776 or 1777. The outbreak of the Revolution drove him to London; but in 1796 he returned to Paris. From 1808 to 1812 he was again in London. He died near Passy on 5th August 1831. He was the inventor of the harp with double pedals, and he also improved the sound-body of the instrument. The pianoforte with double escapement was likewise invented by Erard.