French firm of piano and harpsichord makers. Joseph Gaveau (b Romorantin, 1824; d Paris, 1893) founded the firm in 1847, working with his employees in a small shop at the rue des Vinaigriers in Paris; the workshop and the offices were later transferred to the rue Servan. The firm established an excellent reputation for its small upright pianos, and by the 1880s the business was producing about 1000 pianos a year, achieving a degree of success due to commercial acumen rather than intrinsic quality. Joseph was succeeded by his son Etienne Gaveau (b Paris, 7 Oct 1872; d Paris, 26 May 1943), who organized the construction of a larger new factory at Fontenay-sous-Bois and, following the example of other well-known piano makers, in 1907 opened a new concert hall, the Salle Gaveau, in the rue la Boëtie, Paris. This street also housed the offices of the firm from 1908. Arnold Dolmetsch joined the firm in 1911, and under his direction it produced spinets and small unfretted clavichords along historical principles; this continued after his departure in 1914. The firm undoubtedly hoped to capture part of the new market for plucked keyboard instruments and clavichords from its great rivals, Pleyel. Etienne’s sons Marcel and André Gaveau succeeded their father in running the firm. In December 1959 Gaveau joined Erard to form Gaveau-Erard S.A. In 1971 the production of Gaveau pianos was taken over by the German firm Schimmel, but since 1994 the instruments have been made by the French manufacturer Rameau.
A. Chenaud: Les facteurs de pianos et leurs recherches (Paris, 1970)
C. Ehrlich: The Piano: a History (London, 1976, 2/1990)
O. Barli: La facture française du piano de 1849 à nos jours (Paris, 1983)
MARGARET CRANMER