A grand piano with two keyboards, invented in the 1920s by the Hungarian composer and pianist Emanuel Moór (1863–1931). The upper keyboard strikes the strings an octave above the lower by means of a ‘tracker’ to the higher strings. Coupling the two keyboards allows octaves to be played with only one key of the lower keyboard, but with added weight of touch. Some note combinations prevent the coupler’s proper working. About 64 pianos were made with the keyboard, including some by Steinway and Bösendorfer. The composer’s widow, the pianist Winifred Christie-Moór (1882–1965), was the instrument’s main proponent. The Emanuel Moór Double Keyboard Piano Trust in England supports an annual fellowship for a young pianist and has published a history of the invention.
‘Proceedings of the Society’, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, lxx (1921–2), 363–7 [incl. E. Moór: ‘The Duplex-Coupler Pianoforte’, 365 only]
H.A. Shead: The History of the Emanuel Moór Double Keyboard Piano (Woking, 1978)
E.M. Good: Giraffes, Black Dragons, and Other Pianos (Stanford, CA, 1982, 2/2000)
EDWIN M. GOOD