Steinway through the years

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: Kristinn Leifsson <istuner@islandia.is>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: June 27, 2000 12:07 PM
Subject: Steinway through the years


> Hi list,
>
> since there has been a lot of discussion about Knabe through the years,
>
> why did the eyes of my teacher gleam in an certain way when he started
> talking about 20's Steinways?
> And what about the comparison between Hamburg and New York Steinways?
>
> Kristinn Leifsson,
> Reykjavík, Iceland
>
-----------------------------------------------------

Their sound, I should think.

I can't speak for the Hamburg pianos, but the New York pianos of the era
were nicely built and had a sound that was much more musical than is common
today.  The scaling was nicely matched to the soundboards.  The hammers
were -- by today's standards -- extremely soft and resilient.  These pianos
were actually capable of being played softly -- not just less loudly.  Their
warmth absorbed much of the string garbage so prevalent in today's pianos.
Yet the sound could bite when required.  They had a much broader dynamic
range than can be found in any production piano today.  Not just forte's,
they were still pianoforte's.

One of the most beautiful sounding pianos I have ever encountered was a
1920s Steinway B that was kept in the music room (seating about 200
comfortably) of a family mansion since new.  (I saw the piano for the first
time in the mid-1970's.)  It had been played only when the family
entertained and then only for rehearsals and for the performance.  In other
words, the hammers were practically new.  Also, since this was in a part of
the U.S. northwest where the moisture content of the wood varies from about
8% to 10% year round with no real extremes, the soundboard had escaped the
normal compression damage they are normally susceptible to.  This is
probably as close as I will ever come to hearing one of these instruments as
it sounded originally.  The sound was spectacular!  Warm and smooth across
the range.  It sounded almost like playing bells through the upper
tenor/treble.  Wonderful dynamics.  Sure the bass had the typical B thuddy
sounds and the break was some uneven and the low tenor really needed to be
wrapped and the killer octave was a bit short on sustain -- you only noticed
these things while tuning.  All of that got lost in the beauty of the
overall sound.

Nothing on the market in the 1970's or today comes close to this sound.
And, marketing and mass production needs being what they are, it is unlikely
that we will ever again see anything from any major manufacturer with this
kind of musicality.  Even if it got out of the factory sounding like that it
would never survive on the showroom floor.  It would not be perceived as
being 'powerful' enough to 'compete' with the hard, linear dynamics of the
more mass-produced instruments of today.  Which is not to say it would not
be purchased if the buyer were able to find it.  It's just that it would be
the rare salesperson who would be capable of appreciating it and selling it.
Selling on purely musical merit may also well be a thing of the past.  Sad.

Del