square piano caspar katholnick
Vienna After 1802

One of many Viennese square pianos from around 1800

Caspar Katholnig (1763 Villach - 1829 Vienna) began producing pianos around 1802, but over the years he increasingly focused on making square pianos. Some few grand pianos from his earlier years are documented, such as a grand piano commissioned for Johann Nepomuk Hummel as Haydn's successor as Kapellmeister at Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy. Nevertheless, the apparently steadily increasing demand for square pianos in all likeliness provided sufficient incentive for him to  concentrate on their production. They thus represent an essential element in the flourishing of piano music during the Beethoven-Schubert era in Vienna and beyond.