Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-09-16
The PIANO IN THE MAKING
Story Told in Collection in Ma.
tional Museum at Washington
Merchant In the Capital Searching the
Civilized World for Links In m
Evolutionary Chain--Has
las Instruments

Aio NIluIt STORY OF Ine plano, from tht
primitive monoochord of long ago which
yielded music to cunning skill down e
the modern player-piano with its IS note,
and its records which put the music OF
the world at the disposal Of anyone who
has the price, is told in the Worch col
lection of pianos which has been installed
In the National Museum here
This collection of t45 instruments Is OF
interest to everyone who listens TO rnu-
eic with pleasure. for It shows how much
we owe to the generations that have
gone before us. The piano, which is a
commonplace fact In the life of almost
every modern. Is one Of the most intr-
cate and artificial of all mans achieve
nents. 1t is not an invention but an
evolution and took long to grow as
modern civilization itself. First no doubt,
men sang and whstlcd. And then they
learned to multiply and enrich the vi
brations of breath by blowing through
pipes. And then someone discovered that
there was music in a stretched string and
out of this grew the harp. The piano Is
harp narvelously complex, and me-
ohanically manipulated.
The exhibit is so arranged as to give
a comprehensive idea of how the modern
piano came into being Starting with the
more remote members of the family.
spinet and harpsichord. the collection
ranges In almost unbroken sequence I'D
through the various stages of evolution
until the modern piano is reached
Hugo Worch. piano merchant Of
Washington, Is the donor of the colec-
ton For over 30 years he has been
searching the civilized world for links
In this evolutionary chain, and the quest
still goes on.
THE OLD-TIME MAKERS
The older Instruments were largely ex-
rerimental in character, each individual
maker working more or less independent
~ and putting a deal of his own per-
sonalltv into his creations. The keys of
the earlier instruments were of wood
instead of ivory. as in the present day.
and several of the specimens have black
keys with white sharps. One of the in
strumants bears the name of the maker
and the date of manufacture on a large
brass plate. |
In these times. the purchase Of a plano
was something of an event. The early
master of the art was often a proud and !
tenn peramental person. The would be |
purchaser of his wares sought him out |
and begged n be allowed TO own one OF |
these matchless instruments. The maxi
er would take time considering the mat
ter and if he was agreeable, a contract |
was signed. in which the pros pective buy
er agreed 10 allow him to set the price,
style and date of delivery. 1t was a slow
business, for every part Of the work was
done by hand. Finally, when the task
was completed and the instrument safe
in his possession the new owner would
make a great feast to which all the
notables We're invited to view this eighth
wonder of the local world.
These ancestors of the piano we're mazda
in many different styles. ranging In size
from the tiny to the immense Some Of
the models on exhibition look almost like
chllds toy. while others are great I'M
wieldy affairs which would almost fill
the floor of modern sitting room.
In the first stages of their develop.
nent both harpsichords and pianos were
made with side levers instead of pedals
Both Instruments were profusely orna.
mented One of the harpsichords in the
Worch collection has its cover filled with
paintings depicting pastoral scenes But
one should have a deal of reverence for
these old Instruments. II was on and
for the harpsichord that the elder Bach
composed his matchless music. He had
no respect for pianos.
BEETHOVEN A PIANO PIONEER
Beethoven was the first of the famous ,
composers to take kindly to the piano.
He used one of the famous Stein instru- &
ments. manufactured by Nanette Stein
of Vienna, who in addition TO being one
OF the first business women Of her day
and generation, was great friend and
admirer of the composer and did much
to make his last years happy and COM
Portable. II
The piano nj n &c yato |
in the 18th century, and the Worch col !
lection has a number of specimens of the I
instrument dating from about 1915. The
Oldest upright in the collection Is one G
made by Stein of Vienna in 1885 There {
are also a number Of carly English pi- s
amos, among them Broadway Grand I
made in 1870, and an upright from the fac
tory of Stoddard & Southwell which r
bsars the Gate of 1900 e
The history of these early instruments
Is somewhat uncertain. Mr.. Worch pick a
ed them up wherever ii was his good T.
torture to find them and he has been r
unable for the most part to trace out a
anything with reference to their former /
owners. S
The Oldest American piano in the COL :
lection is five octave square, made in q
Philadelphia in IT'S II was not until :
AFTER the Revolution that American man q
ufacturers began 10 take up this work =
ana apply themselves to it seriously The o
hrst instruments produced in this coun- II
try were divided in principle between the II
German and English models For Amer 0
lea Is inventive along mechanical rather
than along esthetir lines, and the Amer
lean improvements to the piano have
been for the most part in the mechan- g
lcal direction !,
Even TO this day, European Instruments =
have much greater degree of indvid- v
uality than our own. America aims At
quantity and our inventive genius has o
been exercised rather along this line than /.
that Of improving the individual units 4
Of production For where the European n
factories have turned out one piano, ours r
have made dozen or maybe a hundred | n
and instead Of being mark of distnc- II
ton in America TO own a piano il is | /,
thought that home is not properly fur e
nished without one. f.
The Worch collection does not include o
any of the more modern innovations such v
as the pianoa or player piano. which In
are Of distinctly American origin. II is $
confined to the aristo0rats Of the family 8
Shortly after the Revolution, there grew
up keen rivalry between the manufac- d
turers in various cities, and from this S
time on we have instruments from New 4
York, Boston, Baltimore. and Philadel- | Is
phia. For the period from l775 70 ls4O o
There IL an almost complete collection Of 4
American instruments. The first upright 4
TO make IT'S appearance in this country, TO
was from the shop Of Hawkins OF Phil