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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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UNDISCOVERED EARLY STEINWAYS These “lost” Steinways fall into different categories; some are important to the history of piano technology, some because of their unique use in history; others because of their rare cabinetry (limited production, etc.) 1. “Lost” Steinway grand pianos which are important to this study, and to the history of piano technology. It is possible that the company has correspondence on some of these pianos, but Steinway scholar Mr. Roy Kehl has personally told me that he does not know the whereabouts of these pianos. a. The most important of these include the seven prototype 6’8” “Monitor” or “Iron” grands built in 1869. I have located and documented the first, serial number 19434, in Belgium. These seven prototype Monitor grands are not to be confused with the 1872 Monitor 6’8” production model based on many of the 1869 design elements. These 1869 prototypes were the only Steinway wing grands to completely apply the soundboard perimeter-compressing “double iron” plate technology (“Patent Resonator”) from the 1866-1872 Steinway vertical. Some grands of the time used soundboard compression hardware only in the bass cutoff area and sometimes between the pinblock/plate flange and the belly rail. Also carried over was the innovative fastening of the pinblock to the plate (I have found no other piano before these “iron” Steinways to do this). This is the very first Steinway design with struts and plate webbing around the tuning pin field, and possibly the first grand piano anywhere in which the pinblock is no longer reliant on the cabinet, but solely on the plate. Only seven remain, according to the Steinway log; An eighth, s/n19606 was “found worthless and destroyed in the factory.” Monitor prototype #19434 has been located this year (2007). The remaining serial numbers are listed below: 19607 19611 19612 19941 19942 19943 Any of the above six could still exist. One was sold to the Dutch Reformed Church in Astoria, some remained unsold, “in stock” through 1878, at least. b. Centennial and Fancy Centennial grands, 8’9”. The earliest Centennials are of great importance. In 1875 the :”Centennial” was introduced as a new model, the first concert grand to incorporate features found in the “Monitor” grand of 1872, including a full plate. For a brief time the Centennial was given the model designation “Style 5.” Styles 3 and 4 were the older-style concert grands with traditional construction; the “Style 5” was the first modern-construction Steinway grand (it abandoned the traditional stretcher for a plate extending forward as in most modern instruments, and following the prototype and production Monitors) and the first Steinway with modern, capo-style front duplex. The very first Centennial, SN33449, built in 1875, was refinished with the newest style finish in 1878, ebony and gilt, and shipped to Theodore’s home country, Germany. The second, SN33610, is currently being “remanufactured” at Steinway NY (3/09). Others are listed below. Fancy Centennials began with the fourth Centennial built. According to Mr. Kehl twelve were manufactured. The “fancy” cabinet style had been used with previous designs, and was identified by the scalloping of the underside of the rim completely around the rim. None of these “Fancy” Centennials have been located. The Centennial was renamed the “D” in 1878 and continued through 1883; it retained the distinctive string scale (17 bass, 6 tenor wound trichord, three bridges with the tenor and long bridge one continuous bridge connected by a “ring”). In 1884 the Centennial was replaced with the modern “D.” Today we refer to 1878 and later 8’9” Steinways as the “Centennial D.” Kehl has identified 424 total Centennials built from 1876 to 1883, and of these, only 12 were “Fancy” Centennials. Below are the first 15 Centennials built, most are still not located: 1. 33449 First Centennial, not yet found. Shipped to Hamburg. 2. 33610 Owned by Fresno State University, currently being “remanufactured” at Steinway NY 3. 33669 Style 5 Not found, sold to 4. 33670 Style 5 The first “Fancy:” Centennial was exhibited at the “Centennial” Exposition in Philadelphia. James Barron confuses this with #33610 in his recent book. Not found 5, 6: Style 5 33679, 33580 The first two Centennials to be numbered after the traditional Steinway manner pairing models. 7, 8: Style 5 33709 Sold to Jamaica Long Island NY Style 5, 33710 Style 5 Sold to Buffalo NY 9. 33784 Fancy #2 Sold to Jersey City, New Jersey 10. 33802 “D” (not sold until 1885) Sold to Brooklyn NY 11. 33880 Style 5 Sold to Cartagena (not clear if Spain or Colombia) 12. 33932 Style 5 sold to San Francisco, CA. 13. 33966 Style 5 fancy sold to Buffalo, NY 14. 34002 Style 5 Exhibited at Philadelphia Exposition, not sold until at least 1896 15. 34258 Style 5 Sold to the state of Maine b. ”Monitor” 6’8” grands from 1872 or later (SN 25006 or later) which have the original CF Theodore Steinway Patent Action (see photo). This action is technologically extremely important, and should eventually become known as one of Theodore’s most innovative creations. The very first production Monitor grand seems to be s/n 25006, and was sold to Steinway’s dealer in Mexico. 2.. Any Centennial grands in original condition, or, if not original condition, retain all original components, including soundboard iron pulsator, cutoff bar area compression device, complete original sostenuto hardware, original action (including original hammers). 3. Pianos used by Anton Rubenstein while in America for his Steinway-sponsored tour. One 7’2” piano is identified as having been loaned to Mr. Rubenstein for his use (probably for practice): #24664. I have not yet identified serial numbers for any pianos used in his American tour, but if any effort were made to re-create the recitals of Mr. Rubenstein, a Style 3 or Style 4 Steinway grand from 1871 to 1873 should be used. 4. Pianos displayed in early Expositions. Steinway listed the pianos displayed in the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in their advertising catalog. As noted above, Centennials included 33710 and 34002. I am indebted to Mr. Roy Kehl of Evanston, Illinois, and to the Steinway Archives of the LaGuardia-Wagner Archives of La Guardia Community College, SUNY. Mr. Kehl’s ongoing work product has been archived at the Steinway Archives for researchers to study. The Steinway Archives is the repository of a large collection of Steinway documents, including microfilm copies of the Steinway factory log and the original Inventory Books. |
