Books › The M. Steinert collection of keyed and stringed instruments : with various treatises on the history of these instruments, the method of playing them, and their influence on musical art, 1893 › scan 92
Scan 92
The M. Steinert collection of keyed and stringed instruments : with various treatises on the history of these instruments, the method of playing them, and their influence on musical art, 1893
6 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. Printed page 90. See the scan on archive.org.
1action. He formed a co-partnership with Knabe under the name of Knabe and Gaehle in 1841. After their dissolution Knabe continued the manufacture of pianos, and built up such a demand for his instruments in the Southern states, so as to counterbalance the progress of the Chickering's in the East. Knabe deserved his success, for he zealously labored to improve his instruments.
3While Baltimore and Boston in a great measure monopolized the piano trade of the United States, New York, although it had such piano makers as Bacon and Raven, Stoddard and Dunham, Nunns and Clark, occupied a very subordinate position, which continued until the establishment in business of a family of pianoforte makers from Germany in 1853, namely the Steinway family.
5Since the invention of the pianoforte in 1709, it has undergone many changes and many improvements have been made in its construction. But notwithstanding all these facts, a careful examination of the modern pianoforte will develop many defects in its intrinsic musical properties. Unlike the violin, 'cello or the human voice, the piano does not possess the power of unlimited tone prolongation. It furthermore manifests a certain monotony in its tone nuances. In comparison with the voice or stringed instruments, its tone appears cold and unsympathetic. Its tone being produced by the stroke of a hammer, naturally dies away nearly as soon as it is created. It is not within the limits of the hammer to modulate each tone, and the performer, unless he is an artist, can hardly overcome this natural tendency of the hammer. In fact, the natural condition of the pianoforte is such, that its tones cannot be increased or decreased like the tones of the voice, and therefore does not respond to the requirements of true artistic musical nature and therein lies its greatest innate deficiency. With the deficiencies herein mentioned, the piano remains the predominant instrument of the age for the following reasons, unlike the violin and the human voice it serves to produce a complete harmony by reason of its unlimited tone-compass, comprising the lowest bass tone of the contra basso and the
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