A piano-forte owned by famous composer Johann Hummel was donated to the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra together with other musical antiquities such as a lock of Ludwig van Beethoven's hair and a quill. The piano-forte was built in England in 1790 and was used by the virtuoso pianist Hummel, who was a contemporary of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. A child prodigy, then a composer, and a court pianist all over Europe, Johann Hummel was trained by Mozart and was friends with Beethoven.
Hummel is under recognized as a composer in part because of being overshadowed by his more famous contemporary.
The piano was donated to the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra by Yvonne Hummel, a Winnipeg native. She married the last member of the Hummel family and has inherited the piece . Yvonne Hummel decided that it should stay in her hometown. She and her son Terry Lacosse hopes the gift will make people more aware of Johann Hummel and his work.
Beethoven's hair and quill will be on display when the piano-forte is finally played in a tribute concert of Hummel's music sometime next year.
