The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-10-26

The WEBER PLANO AWARD C0STRASE
ED.-From q lengthy article in the n. Y
Tfaes Of Oct 81 we extract the. following
paragraphs:
"The awards OF the judges upon Music
al Instruments at the Centennial Exhi.
bition, are believed by the press and pub
lie to be made without discrimination,
either otiudgment or language. But this
Is an error. In SO far as the piano max
ers are concerned, the distinctions are
wisely and nicely made, and both Weber
and Steinway have reason to applaud the
Justice and exactness OF the yerdicts. In
order to make this plain, It Is necessary
to understand what has been aimed at by
the piano makers for the last fifty years,
and more particularly by the Steinway
and Weber during the last twenty years.
The development Of the instrument from
the original virginia. clavichord has been
in the direction otpower and expression.
Unfortunately for the ultimate piano.
forte, it was found after many years Of
experiment much easier 10 gain power
than to command expression. With the
great struggle Of ~ at the Paris Expo.
sition the enormous strides that had been
made in the direction Of powerful tones
were first apparent. But il was perceived
by experts that the material adyan.
tages were not secured without sac,
rifce. The official report Of the Inter.
national Jury mentions this fact, viz:
1T cannot be said that this formidable
tone received nothing but praise. The
European piano makers represented the
Americans with having sacrificed all
other necessities Of art, namely speetness
dE!ieate nuQnees, and cledInesa." While the
American pianos were thus reaping all
the honors due the prodigouS strength
the art. world lamenting the srcritire o!
the nobler qualities Of Sensibiity and er
preston, there came into the field the
Weber piano. The avowed purpose o.
this practical maker was, from the start, tC
correct the errors Of his illustrious pre-
decessors, and to combine the ttno requisites
of the IDEAL piano, namely, sensibility Of
sympathetic quality With tie creates! potrer
While Steinway Travelled one road, ar
honorable one, Weber was travelling an
other and ne,rer one. Steinways wert
everywhere Justly praised for largeness o
tone, volume and duration Of sound. Il
remained for. somebody to add the eym
pathetic quality, which the incessant strug
gle for power had left out Of sight, and tC
secure the prize Hrrer yet awarded fol
the combination Of the two excellencies
This Weber set himself to do. II you
turn to the awards Of the Jurors at Phil
adelphia, you will find they have with
remarkable exactness bestowed upon the
Messrs. steinway the special .commenda
ton to which the efforts OF that firm en-
titled them. The Steinway instrument il
again praised for "ldrgea poiume, pttTitIl
and duration Of tone, the old recognition
Of force. On the other hand, II you turn
to the Weber award, you will find Weber
alone, OF all the forty competitors, accord
ed the highest honor for "Synpalseie
pure and rich tone, CONFINED nth creates
porsr," the new recognition Of Sensi6ility
Messrs. Steinway accept their award as 1
just one. They have the lOudsa piano
Weber has the most sympathetic and p0'S
afGl, and accepts his award gladly, hay
ing worked SO many years for this rer!
recognition. During the reign Of the
Steinway instrument America worshipeC
force and magnitude, but there came :
time inevitably when culture and tast'
expanded and ripened; that force wa
NOT so desirable rs fineness; that in thu
domain Of art particularly, feeling
and sympathy were far more accoun
than vehemence, loudness and immensely
With this came q change in the fabrica
ton OF musical instruments, and must
cal taste must lend its spirit to iron ant
steel. According to the worlds judge
this has been done. The Weber piano il
the words Of the jury affects the alliance
Of sensibility or sympathy and power
# opens new era, the era Of feeling has
ed on strength, in word the era Of tn
Weber Piano" Now, every one whit
wants the noisiest piano, will buy some
thing else than Weber, but every on
Of true taste, will buy Weber because /
is the most musical and sympathetic, a
we'll as powerful, in this way receiving
all the good qualities, which according Il
the international Jury no other piano bu
the Weber possesses. .. d&w
!