The story of the metronome is not an ordinary one. It’s an instrument used to mark time and to regulate rhythmic cadence. Composers wanted their music to be performed to the right rhythm. Until the Renaissance, composers gave no indication of speed (allegro, presto…).
The first attempt to create a metronome dates back to the end of the 17th century. Experimentation by Étienne Loulié proved inconclusive. His instrument was almost two meters high and made no sound!
More than a century later, in 1812, Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel, a Dutch organ builder, designed a mechanical instrument with a pendulum capable of reproducing regular beats. His invention attracted the attention of Johann Maëlzel, who lived in Vienna. Maëzel was a good friend of Beethoven, who wanted a measuring instrument. During a visit to Winkel, Johann Maëlzel explained his plan to rework Loulié’s chronometer. Little did Winkel know that Maëlzel’s explanation of how his instrument worked would inspire him to create the metronome we know today. But, as Winkel did not patent his invention, Maëlzel produced the metronome three years later and by August 1815, it had been distributed to 200 composers.
Maëtzel had the audacity to patent the invention, much to the dismay of Winkel, who never succeeded in recovering the title to his invention, even though Maëlzel admitted, after patenting the metronome, that he would never have produced the instrument without seeing Winkel’s prototype.