Music Trade Review

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Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
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VOL. LXXVI. No. 17 Piblished Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 373 4th Ave., New York, N. Y.
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April 28, 1923
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Contribution of Jonas Chickenng to the Piano Industry t@ \ i
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N Saturday of last week, in Boston, there was celebrated with elaborate and appropriate ceremonies
the one hundredth anniversary of the completion of the first piano by Jonas Chickering at the estab-
lishment he had opened in that city. The occasion held not only the interest of Bostonians, for whom
it naturally had a direct appeal, but of those associated in any way with music throughout the country.
The Chickering centennial was not in any sense simply the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary
of a business house. Rather it was a tribute not so much to the founder of the House of Chickering & Sons,
but to his accomplishments in the development of the American pianoforte and consequently in the development
of the art of music as a whole.
As W. J. Henderson, the noted critic, declared in his address, the success of Jonas Chickering was due
to his ability to combine engineering with art as did the ancient Romans in their architectural achievements.
It was the invention of the iron plate by Chickering that made possible the sonorous quality of tone found in the
pianos of to-day, particularly grands. For without that plate it was impossible to build a wooden frame strong
enough to withstand successfully the heavy strain of the strings.
In the invention and adoption of the practice of over-stringing, the bringing of the heavy bass strings
across the most vibrant section of the sounding board, Chickering also made an outstanding contribution to the
art of piano building. The fact that the full iron plate and the over-strung scale are found in all pianos of the
present day offers indisputable testimony of the soundness of the engineering knowledge of this great American
piano-maker.
The fact that one hundred years have passed since Chickering made and sold his first piano is also deeply
significant from a purely historical standpoint. For within the space of that century the American pianoforte,
as a result of the inventions and adherence to high ideals on the part of Chickering and those who have come
after him, has been developed to a point where it is acknowledged as the dominant instrument of its type
throughout the world.
In the establishment and maintenance of high ideals in the production of pianofortes, and in strict adher-
ence to the idea of offering something representative of art in its fullest sense rather than of a commercial
proposition, Chickering and those who have followed him in observing the traditions of the trade are deserving
of a measure of credit far greater than that usually accorded them.
Regardless of the quality of the individual piano, or of the standards observed in its production, it is to
be conceded that it has been the work of these idealists of the trade—these men who have been able to co-ordi-
nate art with practical engineering sense—who have made possible the creation of a permanent interest in, and
respect for, the American pianoforte, and consequently the establishment of an industry that, although not per-
haps as large and widespread as some of the trade members would like to see, nevertheless stands at the head
of similar industries throughout the world. It is gratifying to realize that the industry, through the medium
of the President of the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce, Richard W. Lawrence, took the opportunity to
extend official recognition to the occasion and to its importance, for it was a celebration in which commer-
cialism was eliminated in an effort to pay proper tribute to the science and art of the industry in observing the
centennial of an outstanding example.
Incidents such as the Chickering centennial are to be considered seriously as representing the passing of
definite periods in the progress of the industry. In the case of the American pianoforte, for instance, the
marketing of the first Chickering piano meant the first step in whatever has come after. Whatever position
the American pianoforte holds among the instruments of the world to-day is due to the progress that has been
made and the reputation that has been won in the century that has passed since Chickering first launched his
enterprise.
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