Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-09-14
THE PIANO IN
THE MAKING
VYTASHINGTON, D. c., Sept. s.
w The whole story of the piano
from the primitive mono
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN
chord of long ago WI

down to the modern player-pia1o
with it's SO notes and it's 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 in
stalled in the National Museum
here.
This collection Of 145 instruments
is of interest to everyone who lis
tens to music with pleasure, for it
shows how much we owe to the
generations that have gone before
US. The piano, which is common
place fact il the life of almost every
modern, is one of the most intricate
and artificial of all mans achieve
ments. 1t is not an invention, but an
evolution and took as long to grow as
modern civilization itself. First, no
doubt, men sang and WhiStled. And
| then they learned to multiply and
enrich the vibrations 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 p1-
| ano is a harp, marVelously com
pick, and mechanically manipulated.
| The exhibit is so arranged as to
| give a comprehensive idea OF now
| The modern piano came into beng.
Starting with the more remote
mem bers of the family, such as the
clavichord, hammer clavier, spinet
and harpsichord, the collection
ranges in almost unbroken sequence
up through the various stages OF
evolution until the modern piano
Mr.. Hugo Worch, piano , mer-
Of the collection. For over 80 years
he has been searching the civilized
world for links in this evolutionary
| chain, and the quest still goes on
| The Old-Ti1ne Makers
The older instruments were large
| ly experimental in character, each
individual maker working more or
of his own personality into his Gre
atoms The keys of the earlier in.
struments were of wood, instead OF
| ivory, as in the present day., and
keys with white sharps. One Of the
instruments bears the name of the
maker and the date of manufacture
on a large brass plate.
In these times, the purchase OF a
piano was something Of 4fo an - event en- :
often a proud and temperamenta.,
person. The would,be purchaser of
his wares sought him out and beg.
ged to be a15owed to own one r be
|
maker would take his time consld-
ering the matter and if he was
agreeable, a contract was signed IN
which the prospective buyer agreed
and date of delivery. 1t was slow
business, for every part of the work
was done by hand. Finally when the
task was completed and the ,Instru-
ment safe in his possession, the new
owner would make a great feast to
which all the notables were invited
| to view this eighth wonder of the
| local world.
These ancestors of the piano were
made in many different Styles
immense. some of the models on
exhibition look almost like chic s
toy, while others are great unWleldy
| affairs which would almost I'LL the
floor of modern sitting. room. -
In the first stages of their de,
velopment both harpsichords and
pianos were made with side levers
instead of pedals. Both instruments
were profusely ornamented: One OF
the harpsichords in the oWorch Col
paintings depicting pastoral scenes.
| But one should have a deal OF rev
erence for these old instruments. II
was on and for the harps1chord tnat
the elder Bach composed nus matf en-
| less music. He had no respect tor
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 instruments, manufactured by
! Nanette Stein, of Vienna, VINO IN az
dition to being one of the first busl-
| ness women of her day ana genera
| ton, was q great friend ana aomlr-
| er of the composer and did much TO
make his last years happy ana COM
! Portable.
The piano was coming into it's own
late in the eishteen century, and the
Worch collection ras number OF
specimens of the instrument dating
from about 1775 The oldest upright
in. the collection is one made by
Stein, of Vienna, in 1888. There are
| also a number oil carly English
| pianos, among them a BroadWood
from the factory of Stoddard &
| Southwell which bears the date OF
1900.
The history of these early instru-
ments is somewhat uncertain. Mr.
| Worch picked them up wherever 1t
was his good fortune to find them,
and he has been unable for the most
| part to trace out anything with ref
erence to their former owners.
The oldest American piano in the
made in Philadelphia in 1775. 1t was
not until after the revolution that
American manufacturers began TO
take, up this work and apply them
| selves to it seriously. The first in
struments produced in this country
the German and English models For
America is inventive along mechant-
cal rather than along esthetic lines,
and the American improvements to
| the piano have been for the most
part in the mechanical direction.
Even to this day, European 1nstru-
| ments have a much greater degree
| of individuality than our own. Amer
| lea aims at quantity, and our inven-
tive genius has been exercised rather
| along this line than that of 1mprov-
| ing the individual units of produc-
| ton. For where the European fac
| tories have turned out one piano,
ours have made a dozen or maybe
| mark of distinction in America to
| own a piano. it is thought that a
home is not properly furnished with
| out one.
First Uprights Century Old
The Worch collection does not in
clude any of the more modern limo
vations such as the pianola or player
piano, which are of distinctly Amer
| lean origin. 1t is confined to the
| aristocrats of the family.
Shortly after the revolution, there
! grew up keen rivalry between the
manufacturers in various cities, and
from this time on we have instru-
ments from New York, Boston, Bal
| timore and Philadelphia. For the
period from 1915 to 1910 there is an
almost complete collection of Amcri-
can instruments. The first upright to
| make it's appearance in this country
was from the shop Of Hawkins, of
Philadelphia, and bears the date OF
! 1901. This instrument forms one
of the most interesting parts of the
| collection.
| is the "harp-piano," which was made
somewhere around 1850. Nothing is
known of the maker, not even his
| name being remembered. 1t is a
square piano surmounted by a full
| size harp, and serves to link the
modern instrument with its remote
| IT. t.. -, ~.