This is the story of three musical legends and a moment in New York in January 1928, when they were forever joined in history. The participants included the two greatest pianists of an era: the towering Sergei Rachmaninoff, whose romantic … Read
Category for Steinway History
Just About Perfect: the Dichotomy of Steinway Piano Design
Most of the day Walter libero crouches down and peers into darkness. in his left hand he holds a mirror aimed into a piano’s dimly lit underside. His right hand splays over the keys, plunking one in a questioning way. … Read
Conception of the Steinway Model D Concert Grand
In 1880, Steinway began producing their small Model A with a laminated maple cabinet, creating the modern “rim” case: Very long, thin (3.5 mm) planks of maple were slathered with hide glue, bent around a form, clamped together and allowed … Read
Steinway’s Custom Work
Steinway’s manufacturing methods are careful and traditional, but they are not primitive. In the rim-bending room, where a century ago the use of hot animal glue required that grand- piano rims remain locked in their presses for the better part … Read
Making a Steinway Model D Concert Grand
The Steinway & Sons piano company, founded in a Manhattan loft in 1853 by a German immigrant named Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg and his sons, is based today on a ten-acre factory site in the northwestern corner of Queens, New York, … Read
Steinway Model D – Made of Wood, Glue and Metal
The wood that is transformed into a Steinway model D is of several different kinds, each with its own characteristics and purposes. Yellow poplar, which is soft and relatively cheap, is used as the “core wood” of such fiat, tablelike … Read
Steinway Pianos
Steinway is the priciest of the U.S.-made pianos, and the best-known, and considered by many to be the highest quality, despite miscellaneous and sundry quality control problems in recent years. Steinway is still considered by most pianists, musicians, and the … Read
The History of Steinway Pianos
During a period of more than a century and a half, Steinway & Sons, along with its patents and meticulously developed techniques, created the world’s finest piano that is now used by musicians from all over the world. Each Steinway … Read