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THE PERIOD PIANO CENTER A California Non-Profit Corporation Period Piano Center email contact Bill Shull, RPT, M.Mus. Founder and Director 25041 Redlands Blvd, Loma Linda, CA 92354 909 796-4226 |
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Piano Database .Conservation of 19th Century Pianos The Period Piano Center Collection The Early Steinway Grand Research Project The Early Steinway Grand Classes Donations |
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DOCUMENTATION OF EARLY STEINWAY GRANDS DATA COLLECTION EXAMPLES DATA COLLECTION PROTOCOL |
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“DOCUMENTATION OF EARLY STEINWAY GRANDS” OUR FIRST PRIORITY IS TO DOCUMENT ANY ORIGINAL CONDITION STEINWAY WING GRAND built from 1856-1886. While we cannot know with absolute certainty what is “original,” our experience in piano technology along with a constantly increasing experience in the study of early Steinways increases the probability of an accurate observation. Even then, it is difficult to find original examples because Steinway grand pianos were not merely furniture, but fine instruments which were practiced on and performed on. This resulted in the need for string replacement, hammer replacement, etc. Most examples we find do not have many original components; our first priority is to document original instruments.
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COLLECTION OF EARLY STEINWAY GRANDS AND THEIR COMPONENTS Collecting original parts and components: We ask for your help in locating original Steinway grand parts and components. These will be useful in museum display as well as for teaching and lecturing. We encourage the collection of both Steinway pianos and piano parts for the primary purpose of demonstrating early Steinway design and technology; this is essential to understanding Steinway’s early designs and influence. Further, many of these components are discarded in rebuilding. This includes parts for damper and early belly-mounted, sheathed-wire type sostenuto systems; iron resonators; original wire, hammers, keys, also original legs and lyres; original agraffes, and especially the patent actions of Henry Jr. and Theodore. Parts for historical action models: Many rebuilders discard action and damper action parts. Some even replace keysticks. While I encourage the archiving of at least sample original parts with the piano owner, I would like to use any available parts which are not archived with the piano for the building of action models, for museum archiving and documentation. We need parts for each of Henry Steinway Jr’s patent actions (beginning 1856) as well as the 1871 patent action of C.F. Theodore Steinway which was used in the 6’8” grand beginning in 1872. Gathering string scale and wire material data: We also seek original stringing scales and sample original piano wire, segments of which can be sampled for metallurgical content: The time of the principal changes in cast steel wire parallels the time of our Early Steinway Grand study; we seek documentable examples of original wire for study of carbon content and other elements, to help ascertain qualities of early wire such as tensile strength and ductility. See http://www.mozartpiano.com/wiretest.html |
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DATA COLLECTION PROTOCOL A downloadable checklist is in progress, and will soon be published here. . |
