Proceedings 18 th International Symposium CIPA 2001 
Potsdam (Germany), September 18 - 21, 2001 
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC RECORDING OF A HISTORICAL PIANOFORTE 
Mike Wybraniec, Iliana Theodoropoulou 
Technical University Berlin 
Photogrammetry and Cartography 
Email: wybraniec@gmx.de, iliana@fpk.tu-berlin.de 
KEY WORDS: Piano Documentation, Bundle Adjustment, CAD Model 
ABSTRACT 
Close Range Photogrammetry has already been applied successfully for recording in Architecture, Archaeology or Industry. This 
paper reports on the recording of a historical pianoforte dating from round about 1747. This particular instrument possibly originates 
from the Silberman workshop. It currently belongs to the „Stiftung Preussischer Schlösser und Gärten“ in Potsdam. The State 
Institute for Music Research Prussian Cultural Heritage in Berlin wished to document the pianoforte in order to study its construction 
and to eventually enable the creation of an accurate copy. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Gottfried Silbermann (born 1683) was an esteemed organ maker. However apart from organs he constructed clavichords and 
pianofortes. He began in 1720 and he presented the first pianoforte in 1732 in Dresden. He called this instrument pianoforte, an 
abbreviation for „cembalo col piano e forte“. There are three instruments assigned to Gottfried Silbermann, one is in the 
Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nürnberg and the other two are in Potsdam in Schloss Sanssouci and in Neues Palais. This 
particular instrument (Figure 1) was owned by Friedrich II and belongs to the Stiftung Preussischer Schlösser und Gärten. In contrast 
to the other two it does not bear the makers signature. Still, investigations and comparisons with the other two instruments as well as 
additional information (Hoffmann, 2001) allow one to claim that this pianoforte originates from Silbermanns workshop. 
Figure 1: Silbermanns Pianoforte (copyright Hellwig 1977) 
Notwithstanding the contribution of photogrammetry to musicological research is not of yesterday. A traditional example where 
photogrammetric techniques were applied to document a historical pianoforte dates from 1982. G. Eitel (Eitel, 1982) used the 
Stereoplanigraph C8 for the photogrammetric restitution of the Carl Maria von Weber pianoforte of the Museum of Musical 
Instruments in Berlin. The Zeiss TMK 6 metric camera was used to capture imagery and a theodolite for measuring control points. 
The final accuracy of the coordinates of the pianoforte was less than 1mm. 
Ten years later an important interdisciplinary research project between photogrammetrists and musicologists (Kerschner and 
Schoner, 1998, Kerschner et al., 1999,) led to the recording of 14 pianofortes exhibited in different museums. A common 
methodology was developed and the final accuracy (0.1 to 0.2 mm) was increased due to carbon fiber scale bars. Finally a CAD 
model was created in AutoCAD. In 1994 Kotowsky and Peipe (Kotowsky and Peipe, 1994) used the bundle adjustment software 
CAP optimised with simulation tools and automatic error detection in order to perform investigations at the pianoforte of the 
Mozarthaus in Salzburg. 
A deformation analysis with geodetical means was performed on the Conrad Graf pianoforte by A.Haufe (Haufe, 1996). The data 
were captured with a leveling instrument.