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OCTOBER 12, 1918
THE MUSIC TRADE
15
REVIEW
OuTTECHNICAL DEEkKMENT
CONDUCTED BY WIL.L.IAM BRAID WHITE
THE PIANO OF T0=MORR0W
I. The New Era
The victory of the forces now fighting for
righteousness seems no longer quite so far away
as it seemed six months ago. To those, indeed,
who have possessed the requisite knowledge of
the underlying facts and have refused to be
driveji into a panic by the newspapers, it has
for a long time been certain that the great world
conspiracy is frustrated, and that its conclusion
will not be developed in accordance with the
enemy's hopes. It is now possible to see light
at the end of the long tunnel in Lloyd George's
phrase; and already we must ask ourselves what
the post-wartimes are likely to bring forth.
This question we ask in spite of the plain
fact that a long time must elapse before final
victory is won and the unconditional surrender
of the enemy takes place. On no other basis
than this will peace be granted by us. We must
therefore continue to work with all our energy
towards this one end. Nevertheless, a process
of post-war reconstruction will have to be un-
dertaken by all the nations involved—indeed by
all nations whatsoever—and is already become
the subject of intensive study in France and
Great Britain. Germany, too, is working hard
at the enormous task of preparing herself for
what she believes—or hopes—is to be her re-
entrance into the circle of friendly nations. In
this belief, indeed, Germany is destined to be
disagreeably surprised. She will find her re-
ception cold in the extreme, and it is quite cer-
tain that a long time will elapse before she is
taken back as a sister and equal. Meanwhile,
however, she continues to work, hoping for the
best.
Her work will be done carefully and
laboriously. She will make the strongest efforts
to get back into the game of international trade.
The Allied nations, however, will not stand by
quietly and see German commercial propaganda
once more begin its unholy work.
Already
France, the British Empire and Italy are study-
ing the post-war situation and endeavoring sys-
tematically to put themselves in position to hold
the superior economic and political positions
they will certainly occupy at the moment of
victory.
It will be for the American people not to
lag behind in the march but to put themselves
on an equality with their friends and Allies in
the general work of world-reconstruction.
That they will do so gladly in all matters po-
litical cannot be doubted; but what about the
commercial side of the question? What, to
bring the question immediately before my
readers, about the American piano?
Our Own Future
Surely no one will be disposed to doubt that
a new era of technical and economic excellence
will be upon us after we have gained the great
victory for democracy.
Those who imagine
that anything will be as it was before are more
sanguine than well-informed.
New ideals of
excellence, of workmanship and of public taste
will certainly come forward, for nothing can
be plainer than the fact that the present war
has been the greatest shower-up of shams and
frauds the world has ever known. It might be
too much to prophesy a complete cessation of
FAUST SCHOOL OF TUNING
Piano, Player-Piano, Pipe and Reed Organ Tuning and Re-
pairing, also Regulating, Voicing, Varnishing and Polishing
This formerly was the tuning department of the New
England Conservatory of Music, and Oliver C. Faust was
head of the department for 20 years previous to its dis-
continuance.
Courses in mathematical piano scale construction and
drafting of same have been added.
Pupils have daily practise in Chickering & Sons' factory.
Year Book sent free upon request.
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fraud, for human nature is not even yet thor-
oughly purified; but it is quite certain that the
coming generation will have new and exalted
standards of excellence and will have to turn
out—indeed will only be satisfied if it can turn
out—work much better in every way than has
been sufficient in the past.
The American piano has been, on the whole,
by far the best piano in the world; but for all
that it has been a makeshift and a compromise,
satisfying neither the artistic nor the commer-
cial, not to say the scientific requirements of
the time. If one thing more than another may
be put down as certain, it is that the future
piano, as well in America as in Europe and else-
where, will have to be a better instrument; bet-
ter from whatever aspect it may be viewed.
Rethinking Our Basis
I do not believe that any honest man can
doubt the truth of the assertions, nor that the
time is come for a very thorough rethinking of
the fundamental problems of piano design and
manufacture. I shall not trouble the reader with
stories about the German invasion of the world
witli cheap German-made goods, of which we
have heard too much already. It will be enough
to say that for some years at least the Hun cry
of "cheap" will not go down; and that if, mean-
while, the rest of us simply make up our minds
to beat the Boche at his own game, we shall
be able to do the trick nicely. However, this
will mean one thing above all; it will mean re-
vising our own methods so as to make whatever
we turn out so much better and so much more
attractive that no cheap competition can touch
it, even temporarily.
This we can do. The world is gaining new
standards for appreciation and taste. Better
methods, better designs, better and higher ideas
are everywhere coming to the" front. Our
American piano has not been holding its own
as it ought to, even at home. What explana-
tion can be made of this fact save that we have
been standing still whilst the world has been
going ahead? What can we do to remedy the
defects and to prepare ourselves for something
still better?
Let us try and set forth to ourselves the strong
and weak points of the piano as a musical instru-
ment, to the end that we may have before us a
fair and accurate statement of the case for and
against it.
Ancestral Influence
In its original form the keyed stringed instru-
ment was intended purely for domestic pur-
poses. Its weak tone and frail construction
would have forbidden public use even if public
music outside the church had been common five
hundred years ago. With the growth of mu-
sical science and art the harpsichord found its
way to the concert platform, and during the
period of Handel was an integral part of the
orchestra. The object of the harpsichord even
then, however, was not so much to afford mass
of tone as to fill in the continuo, or contrapuntal
basis of the piece and thus to help in bearing
up the tonal structure. The art of playing even
the violins and stringed basses in those days
T
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Manufacturers, dealers, tuners
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was very slightly developed relatively to mod-
ern standards, so that composers could only
write for these instruments in a very elementary
manner. Likewise the wind instruments were
deficient in power and capability and could be
used only for filling in. In consequence the
orchestra of Handel's times would have been
incapable of performing concerted music with-
out the use of an instrument like the harpsi-
chord, not dynamically powerful in itself, but
capable of handling simultaneously several
voices or parts in a score. The harmonic ca-
pacity of the piano's ancestor gave it a place in
the orchestra, while it also had a part in the
maintenance of time and rhythm. In fact, the
Handel orchestra commonly contained two
harpsichords. One of these was for the con-
ductor, who sat at it, guiding the movement by
an occasional chord, sometimes moving his
hand or arm to direct the players before him,
while his leading violinist stood by him and indi-
cated the tempo and beat by the motions of his
fiddle. The second harpsichord was used to
play the continuo as above said.
With the introduction of the piano, late dur-
ing the eighteenth century, the orchestra found
an improved harmonic instrument, but the idea
of utilizing it for color or for its characteristic
musical powers of expression was not yet
thought of. After the time of Weber and Men-
delssohn, however, the piano disappeared from
the orchestra entirely, save for intermittent ap-
pearances as a solo instrument in concertos. It
now took a more suitable place for itself on the
modest stage of the recital room, where a suc-
cession of great pianists have reigned over it
during a century. Meanwhile, it has spread all
over the civilized world in the diminutive form
of the upright, and more lately has again begun
to appear in horizontal" form as fhe apartment
grand. And it is just here that the piano's
weakness begins to be appreciated and the
causes of its relative decline in popularity to be
ascertainable.
Familiarity and Contempt
The truth of the matter is simply that public
appreciation of music has been increasing stead-
ily, and with it, public desire for understanding
of musical instruments; and during the process
the piano has lost something of its original
charm. It has been for three-quarters of a cen-
tury domesticated to such an extent that two
things, widely separated but cumulative in effect,
have happened to it. On the one hand it has
been cheapened in workmanship and tonal ef-
fect. On the other hand it has been exposed to
the tender mercies of three generations of mu-
sical amateurs, who have thumped and banged
it until its very sound has become hideous to
thousands. The ordinary person does not go to
recitals and does not hear the real tone of a great
concert piano—that is, of a piano in its proper
condition and rightful beauty—once in the pro-
verbial blue moon. Thus in two directions fa-
miliarity has come to breed contempt; and the
piano has suffered.
The Player-Piano
The player-piano has had a curious effect in
this respect. It has, in a word, damaged the
popular love for the piano while vastly increas-
ing popular love for music in general. This
seems strange, but it is the truth, as can read-
ily be deduced from observation of facts pre-
sented to one's view daily. The exact difficulty
(Continued on page 16)
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