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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
DEATH OF WILLIAM STEIN WAY
EDWARD LYMAN BILL
Editor and Proprietor.
PUBLISHED
EVERY
SATURDAY
The Great Piano Manufacturer Passes from Earth
Early this Morning.
A RESUME OF HIS LIFE'S WORK.
3 East 14th St.. New York
Tributes Paid Him by the Old World and the New.
SUBSCRIPTION (Ineluding postage) United States and
Canada, $3-00 per year; Foreign Countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.00 per inch, single column, per
Insertion. On quarterly or yearly contracts a special dis-
count is allowed.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should
to made payable to Edward Lyman BilL
FUNERAL SERVICES WEDNESDAY.
piano maker and a theorist of marked abil-
ity in acoustics as they relate to the piano-
forte, he joined with his father and his
Entered at th» New York Post Office as Second-Class Mmtter.
brothers Charles and Henry, Jr., in estab-
lishing
the house of Steinway & Sons.
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 30, 1896.
When the business had developed so that
the work of the factory demanded the en-
TELEPHONE NUMBER 1745. — EIGHTEENTH STREET.
tire attention of three-fourths of the firm,
William was installed as manager of the
ILLIAM STEINWAY
is dead: mercantile and financial department. In
America's greatest piano manufac- the discharge of his new duties he displayed
turer is no more.
rare talent, generalship, and conscientious-
At half-past three this morning at his late ness, and under his most able direction the
residence, 26 Gramercy Park, William house has advanced to its present illustrious
Steinway passed from earth. Mr. Stein- standing.
way had been ill for some time with typhoid
His Strong Personality.
fever, but his condition had materially im-
His strong personality pervaded every
proved, and last Saturday morning the re-
ports given out concerning his health were department of the great house of which
most encouraging. Early Sunday morning he was the head, and was felt in every
he began to show signs of a relapse and his branch which the firm have estab-
family physician, Dr. Scharlau, was hastily lished in this country and in Europe. The
summoned and remained with his patient music trade with other lines are familiar,
all day and most of the night. His strength to a certain extent, with the history of this
had been greatly weakened by reason of his man; but one thing should be borne in
long illness and he was unable to recuper- mind, which has not been emphasized
either in the trade or secular press, and
ate, and death claimed him at 3.30.
that
is, aside from having his ambitions
As a citizen, philanthropist and manu-
gratified
in his chosen field, Mr. Steinway
facturer, William Steinway had achieved a
had
been
greatly occupied in devoting his
reputation such as is seldom gained by a
advanced
ideas toward practically effecting
man subject to the exacting demands of a
the
social
and moral elevation of his fellow
business like that over which he presided
men.
We
have seen the practical evidence
for so many years.
of
this
in
the
town of Steinway, Long Is-
William Steinway was the fourth son of
land,
where
he
built a model town for his
the late Henry Engelhard Steinway, the
employees,
provided
with all the necessary
founder of the house of Steinway & Sons.
appliances
to
health
and
ventilation. Also
He was born on March 5th, 1836, at Seesen,
in
the
munificent
endowment
which he has
in the Duchy of Brunswick, Germany. In
given
to
literary
enterprises
in
his native
early boyhood he manifested the possession
town
in
Germany,
appreciated
by
the pres-
of those gifts which had for so many years
ent
Emperor
to
the
extent
that
he
conferred
been devoted to the cause of art and to the
welfare of his fellow-citizens. At fourteen upon the generous donor the order of
he had mastered the French and English knighthood. In fact the whole of his latter
languages, was a brilliant pianist, could life had been a repudiation of the theory that
tune a piano with perfect accuracy, and ex- simply because a man is rich he has no am-
celled in the exercises of the gymnasium bitions above or beyond money. Having
and generally as an athlete. Further, at won wealth and honors, he devoted himself
this early age he had given abundant proof assiduously toward the better and the ennob-
of his possession of that strength of will ling ambitions of life, which with him as-
and generosity of disposition which have sumed a philanthropic form. He repeated-
been so grandly characteristic of his man- ly refused high political offices which were
hood. The mens sana in corpore sauo was proffered him. He preferred rather that
already brilliantly apparent in him. In his whole life should be as a worker with
1850 he accompanied his family to this men, of men, for men.
country, where he decided to become a
The life of William Steinway reads like
piano maker, although he had developed so a romance almost. To have worked up
fine a tenor voice that his friends earnestly from humble beginnings, to have achieved
hoped he would turn his attention to the a notoriety and fame which is world-wide,
lyric stage. He was apprenticed to William to have won the highest honors in the art
Nunns & Co., of Walker street, New York. industry with which he bad been associated,
In 1853, having become an expert practical to have had degrees and knightly honors
W
conferred upon him by the crowned heads
of Europe, to have occupied high positions
in the social and business worlds, to have
declined great political honors, seems al-
most enough for one man to have won in
the brief span of a life time, but yet William
Steinway won all this, and worthily, too.
Always alert and earnest in the discharge
of his civic duties, Mr. Steinway was re-
peatedly urged to accept a nomination for
Congress or for the Mayoralty of New
York, when a nomination would have
meant assured election; but, while he
never shirked arduous labor, he felt that he
could not afford to give all his time to pub-
lic service in any office. He has been at
the front in every battle for good govern-
ment, has served on the Democratic
National Committee, and worked like
a Trojan to solve the problem of rapid
transit on Manhattan Island. His salary
as Chairman of the Rapid Transit Com-
mission has been regularly distributed to
worthy charities, and that is only a drop in
the bucket of his benefactions.
It would fill a good-sized volume to enu-
merate all the honors and distinctions
which have been showered upon William
Steinway. We may, however, enumerate
a few.
Honors Conferred.
In 1867, after the close of the Paris Ex-
position, William Steinway and his brother,
C. F. Theodore Steinway, were unanimous-
ly elected Members of the Royal Prussian
Academy of Fine Arts at Berlin, Germany.
In the same year the. Grand Gold Medal
was bestowed upon them by his Majesty
King Charles of Sweden, accompanied by
an autograph letter of Prince Oscar of
Sweden, now King. They were also elected
Members of the Royal Academy of Arts at
Stockholm.
June 12th, 1892, Emperor William II., of
Germany, appointed William Steinway
pianoforte manufacturer for the imperial
court of Germany. During a pleasure trip
abroad, an audience was granted to him on
invitation by the Emperor and Empress of
Germany, in the marble palace in Potsdam,
September nth, 1892. The Emperor pre-
sented Mr. Steinway with his portrait and
the imperial autograph, "Wilhelm, German
Emperor and King of Prussia, Marble
Palais, n-ix, 1892," written in the presence
of his guest. The Empress also wrote him
an autograph letter, thanking him for his
gifts to the Emperor William I. Memorial
Church building at Berlin. This honor
was followed, June 12th, 1893, by the he-