The development of the piano as we know it today has a long history that is intertwined with processes of industrialization and the emergence of concert halls. As Western societies were transformed under the spell of capitalism and industrialization from the eighteenth century onwards, emerging middle-classes acquired resources that were to be spent on leisurely activities. Attending concerts, a phenomenon previously exclusive to a small elite, then became a reality for anybody who was willing and able to pay for it. This created a commercial incentive for concert hall owners to expand, as every extra attendee meant additional income (Blanning, 2008). Consequently, expanding concert halls required instruments that could fill these spaces with sound (Teerink Interview).
 

 

Piano innovations in the eighteenth and nineteenth century thus primarily aimed to increase loudness (Good, 1982). Yet, piano builders, who relied on wooden frames, faced a challenge they were unable to meet, as the “demand for ever-louder sound in pianos of all sorts led to ever-increasing tension on strings. Coupled with the inconvenience caused by the ease with which pianos of the day went out of tune, this made evident the need for stronger framing” (Good, 1999, p.56).


Two features of industrialization were key to overcome these challenges. First, iron offered some advantageous properties, such as its rigidity and a low susceptibility to humidity and temperature. The introduction of iron thus meant substantial improvements in the amount of tension the frame could bare and in its endurance for holding a tuning, (Good, 1982). Second, as Loesser puts it, it was since this period that “mankind speculated in the crazy custom of first making things on a vaguely huge scale and then trying to induce people to buy them” (Loesser, 1954, p.16). Processes of mass production reduced production costs, but meant that the supply side had to create a demand for their goods. American producers were most successful in adapting to these inverted dynamics. “The achievement of the American makers, especially of Steinway & Sons of New York, was, first, to combine the [existing] innovations and, second, to persuade masses of buyers to purchase the result” (Good, 1982, p.166). The piano that was effectively marketed,thus contained a cluster of innovations that supported one another, not a set of unrelated devices that served disparate purposes. Together they produced a grand-piano sound that filled larger concert halls than ever before and by the end of the nineteenth century was inspiring new kinds of musical expression from composers and performers. It also became the sound that the manufacturers of smaller pianos needed to emulate (Good, 1999, p.60).


The Steinway sound that would set the benchmark for other pianos was known for being ‘rich’ and ‘alive’, which was partly seen as the result of the use of multiple strings and cross-stringing, as, similar to the dynamics of a choir, interaction between strings that are never exactly tuned alike, makes the sound come alive (Teerink Interview).


References


  • Blanning, T. (2008). The Triumph of Music: The Rise of Composers, Musicians and their Art. Cambridge: Belknap Press.
  • Good, E. M. (1982). Giraffes, black dragons, and other pianos: a technological history from Cristofori to the modern concert grand. Stanford University Press.
  • Good, E.M. (1999). The iron frame. In J. Parakilas (Ed.), Piano roles: three hundred years of life with the piano (pp.56-60). Yale University Press.
  • Loesser, A. (1954). Men, Women, and Pianos: A Social History. Courier Corporation.  

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