Musicology Annotation << Back The Legendary Master Piano Builder Friedrich Diederichs Sergeev Maxim In the early 19th century, Saint-Petersburg saw the opening by Johann Friedrich Diederichs (1879–1846) of a piano-making workshop, which Russian and international musicologists traditionally refer to as Russia’s fi rst piano factory. This new material on life and work of Diederichs, his professional learning experience, St. Petersburg-based production and manufactured pianos adds to scholarship in this fi eld by revealing Friedrich Diederichs’s true standing in St. Petersburg’s piano-making community as well as his services to Russia’s piano industry and his role in its development. Friedrich Diederichs was not the fi rst and only piano manufacturer in Russia. For decades, his workshop had to compete with the factories of August Tischner, Heinrich Faveryear, Mareus Gerdau, Carl Wirth, Johann Schröder, Herman Lichtenthal, with Diederichs not becoming a factory owner before the 1830s. Trained in the traditions of the Viennese school of piano making, Diederichs successfully adapted to the changes that were taking place in various spheres of cultural and economic life. As the St. Petersburg musical public began to gravitate towards English pianos, Diederichs converted his production and abandoned the instruments of the Viennese school. The swift evolution of the piano also had its effect on Diederichs’s workshop where innovations were successfully integrated into the construction of instruments. Through his participation in all-Russian manufacturing trade shows and winning of an award the master gained some distinction and recognition from musicians. After Diederichs died, production of instruments with his name was not stopped and continued under his widow until the master’s sons opened their own piano factory in 1878. Keywords: Friedrich Diederichs, «Diederichs frères», Piano Making, Musical Instrument Makers, Organology Pp. 21-30.