There is not much written on the subject of Swedish keyboard instrument history. Aside from certain essays and articles, an extensive research project has been devoted to the organ (GOArt, Gothenburg – now Gothenburg International Organ Academy). Larger works in the form of doctoral dissertations deal with the nyckelharp (Jan Ling, 1967) and the clavichord (Eva Helenius, 1986). Otherwise, mainly the violin has attracted more extensive research.
Swedish piano and harmonium history, on the other hand, are completely unwritten chapters. Building a collection, thereby creating sources for future research, therefore requires basic research on many levels – personal history, crafts. and industrial history, furniture and design history, economic history, social history and the liturgical life of the church. If we are to assert ourselves internationally, there is room here for many essays, articles and research projects.
At Klaverens Hus, we work in part to solve everyday problems with the collections, particularly with two major research projects:
1 Art for the eye and ear. Concerning Swedish grand pianos, architects, artists and style trends in furniture and design history (with support from the Beijerstiftelsen).
2 From craft to industry. Concerning workshops, factories and working methods in the various stages of industrialization, outside influences in general currents of ideas and the exciting question of “the Swedish tone”.