Napoleon’s Piano

Kate Kennedy, General Manager of the Museum of Music History, explores forgotten objects from the Museum’s treasure trove of musical artefacts and instruments, that each hold a key to a crucial piece of our musical past. What can a musical artefact unlock about the lives lived with and around it, and how it might provide a key to recreating the sounds of the past? In this episode, a symbolic gift of a piano from Emperor Napoleon to his wife.
Napoleon’s wedding gift of an elaborate square piano to his young second wife Marie Louise in 1810, tells us about the sheer hard work of having to be a musician at a very high level to serve as wife to the emperor. When we see this instrument, we can understand something of the behind-the-scenes at the Tuileries Palace, the practice, performances and the work in order to have her seen in her best light.
The ornate and painted piano speaks of the intimacy of their marriage. But Marie Louise had been catapulted into a potentially awkward situation as Napoleon kept a musical mistress and still had close ties to his first wife Josephine. How much can we read into their relationship through this exquisite musical gift? Kate Kennedy hears from historian Ruth Scurr and early keyboard specialist Steven Devine to shed light on the piano’s secrets.

Presented by Dr Kate Kennedy
Produced by Adrian Washbourne
Mixed by Julian Mayers
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A YadaYada Production for BBC Radio 3

The Museum of Music History is a unique collection of musical material encompassing sheet music, portraits, photographs, concert, opera and ballet programmes, ephemera and illustrated title pages, books, periodicals, sculpture, instruments and personal archives. Exhibitions are regularly curated online https://momh.org.uk/