Steinway & Sons Semi-concert Grand Piano.

The perfect piano design?

  Behold the splendor of this 19-th century museum piece handmade by the Steinway & Sons family who had a role in every step of the process! It is covered in premium South American Rosewood probably harvested in Brazil. Later on these piano finishes became part of their Crown Jewell Collection of luxury pianos. The standard Steinway & Sons piano is ebonized in black – either satin or polished. It was designed with an 85-key seven-octave compass, starting and ending on A-natural, not 88 keys like today. During this time, they were transitioning from the 7 to 7-1/3 octave keyboard compass. The two longer models in the line, C (7”-5”) and D (8’-10”) had already moved to the new keyboard making this one of the last 85-key pianos Steinway built.

“The Instrument of the Immortals“.

The best of both worlds – a common question is whether it is preferable to buy a new Steinway & Sons piano or a preowned one. Or, is a fully rebuilt instrument better than a new one? This 1879 Steinway model B grand piano was built during Steinway’s “Golden era” and is one of the finest musical instruments ever crafted in human history. It was originally built by the 2nd-generation Steinway family in their New York City factory. This was solidly in the Victorian Era in England that was known for its beautiful architecture, advancement of engineering and technology, and exotic furniture and fashion design. Some of these design elements made it “across the pond” and into American manufacturers who were building upscale and interesting pianos.

The piano was completely restored recently, including receiving a new soundboard which is beyond the normal scope of a restoration. A sizable number of musicians and piano technicians believe a fully rebuilt “vintage” Steinway sounds better than a new one. Also, owning a historical piece of Americana can certainly be romantic and alluring. It isn’t a secret that preowned Steinway & Sons pianos that have been professionally restored are the biggest competition to the sale of exorbitantly priced brand new models.

The early history of Steinway & Sons is fascinating, and is intimately connected to the history of New York City.

This model B features the classic “Steinway sound”, having a strong, singing treble, a resonant tenor mid-range and a powerful bass, rich in high harmonics. With richness, depth and power, it radiates plenty of tonal color. It is due to their combination of harmonics that distinguishes Steinways from other makers. The duration of tone (sustain time) is lengthy, which enables legato phrases to be performed musically. The dynamic range is wide, allowing the pianist to play expressively and emotively. It is neither overly mellow and dull or overly bright and tinny. The mid-treble, where most of the melody lines are played “sings” and doesn’t disappear under the background of an accompaniment. It has the power that most pianos aspire to but not the brash “loudness” that often results.

Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The royal warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the issuer of the royal warrant; thus lending prestige to the supplier. In 1890, Steinway received their first Royal Warrant. It was from Queen Victoria of England and later by the Prince of Wales. In subsequent years Steinway was granted royal and imperial warrants from the rulers of Italy, Norway, Persia, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey.

The Steinway & Sons infamous WW-1 soundboard decal

Manufacturers by Appointment to:

His Majesty William II – German Emperor & King of Prussia

His Majesty Edward VII – King of Great Britain & Emperor of India

His Majesty Nicholas II – Czar of Russia

His Majesty Umberto I – King of Italy

His Majesty Alfonzo XIII – King of Spain

His Majesty Albert – King of Saxony

His Majesty Franz Joseph I – Emperor of Austria & King of Hungary

Her Majesty Maud – Queen of Norway

His Majesty Oscar II – King of Sweden

His Majesty Abdul Hamid II – Sultan of Turkey

And other Distinguished Royalties.

The Steinway & Sons grand piano action, with its 12,116 individual parts is the vanguard of piano actions. Steinway held most of the patents issued to piano manufacturers for action improvements including the exclusive “Accelerated Action”, which increases the speed of repetition. The patented Tubular Metallic action frame maintains proper alignment of the thousands of action parts. A grand piano-action regulation requires 24 separate adjustments per key. Our talented 88 Keys piano-technicians who work in our restoration shop have been busy and the piano-action has been well-regulated and ready now for a concert performance.

Steinway & Sons is the piano that every other is judged by. They are handcrafted and took a full year to build. The Steinway company has held nearly all of the important patents in the industry and until the sale of the company in 1972, the family participated in all of the significant operations of the factory. Steinway is nearly exclusively responsible for improving and modernizing piano manufacturing throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries. In the world of musical instruments, there are pianos – and then there are Steinway & Sons. They enjoy a reputation second to none. Historically, the Steinway model B grand piano is the favorite model of serious classical pianists, recording or teaching studios and small recital halls.

The fallboard protects the precious keys, and the lid protects the internal workings when not in use.