Dear List,
There are many fine writers in the PTG, and I'm not even a member ( but only because I can't afford it) so I'm not suggesting that this task fall to me. But I believe that it would be a wise investment for the PTG to take out a full page ad in the "TIMES", in response to that recent, depressing (IMHO) article about trashing pianos. And in this regard, I am suggesting something on the order of:
PLEASE DON'T DUMP THAT PIANO!
Dear Lovers of Music and Antiques,
A recent TIMES article described the current phenomenon of countless, older, American pianos being tossed into the trash, merely because inexpensive, imported new replacements are available. But before you, or anyone you know, send that heirloom to be crushed in some ignominious landfill, please consider the following:
America was once a "piano-centric" culture. After buying a home, the next major investment most families made was in the "heart" of it: their piano! Around which members and friends would gather for "sing alongs",
and individuals spend hours, alone, in reveries of pleasure. A great portion of Western musical development,
in fact, was built around this instrument and its unique capability to provide players with the opportunity to explore melody, harmony, rhythm and dynamics, all by themselves! It is for this reason that the piano was the chosen instrument of countless composers in the Sacred, Classical, and Popular veins; including those who gave us the "Great American Songbook", for which American culture remains, to this day, greatly admired!
Sadly, due to the advent of radio and television, many fine instruments sat neglected for decades as their owners and children found other diversions. And today, when those who enjoyed them in their glory have long passed on, these once-sonorous beauties are producing a mere fraction of the fine tone they are capable of,
and few people remain who are aware of this. But is that ample cause to simply discard them?
At the peak of the piano's popularity, literally hundreds of factories arose in the U.S. to fill demand; most of them staffed by the finest of workers, dedicated to their craft, in an era when "planned obsolescence" was unheard of! As competition was intense, so was the effort to build to the highest standards, to create the finest possible "touch and tone". (And the cases were also often magnificent!) The finest woods were used, often from "old growth trees" that no longer exist, and components even signed by workers in the instruments' deepest regions, where no one might see for decades, in a beautiful script! It is reasonable to state that many such instruments, if produced today, would be sold, new, in the $20,000 to $50,000 range.
It is sadly a fact that some, due to severe neglect ( such as years beside an open window or radiator, or due to invasion by rodents, etc.) are no longer the most viable candidates for restoration. But many others are,
and are often discarded merely due to some misconception ( such as that a crack in the soundboard "ruins" a piano) or lack of awareness regarding the highly developed art of piano restoration today, and the availability of competent personel ready to perform it.......
After this, the PTG could provide links to info on its website, including how to recognize a quailty instrument perhaps worth fixing, contact information for technicians, and etc..
I have to go do something now, so can't write more presently. But hope the above provides some ideas for how such might look. "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!" So that article in the "TIMES" could be seen as a "Golden Opportunity" to bring attention to the restoration trade, with a full-page ad that, at all other times, would seem awkward, desperate, and out-of-place.
Thumpe
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