Music Trade Review
Issue: 1927 Vol. 84 N. 19 - Page 15
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MAY 7, 1927
15
The Music Trade Review
Albert Steinert Collection of Old
Keyboard Instruments in Aeolian Hall
Temporary Display of Famous Collection of Well-Known Music Merchant, Including
Ruckers Harpsichord, Drawing Wide Attention in New York
r \ N E of the centers of interest at the new
^^^ Aeolian Hall is the display of the famous
Albert Steinert collection of antique musical
instruments, which is held to be one of the
and a third one, French, is now on its way
here.
Mr. Steinert received his inspiration for col-
lection from his father, Morris Steinert, who
Albert Steinert Before an Instrument of His Collection
finest in the world and which shows the grad- is considered the pioneer collector of such in-
ual development of the modern piano from struments in this country. His collection,
the early types, of clavichords, harpsichords which upon his death fifteen years ago con-
and spinets, dating back to the fifteenth cen- sisted of about 250 pieces and was left to Yale,
tury.
Mr. Steinert, who is shown in the accom-
panying illustration seated at one of his old
instruments, began his collection ten years or
more ago and toured Europe widely to discover
rare instruments. When he heard of the ex-
istence of a rare harpsichord or clavichord he
did not hesitate to investigate and if possible
purchase the instrument.
"No one in Europe thought that there was
jp ••*==
a sixth Hans Ruckers harpsichord in existence
until I found one hidden away in Paris almost
under their noses and which I now have," he
recently said.
This instrument was made in
Antwerp in 1613 and has been appraised at
$100,000. Of the other five Ruckers harpsi-
chords, one is owned by the King of England,
another by the Gewerbe Museum, Berlin; a
17th Century Italian Harpsichord
third is at the Chateau de Pau, France; a fourth
in the Musee du Conservatoire, Paris, and a the Smithsonian Institution and other colleges
fifth in the Museum of the Hochschule for and museums, won for him international fame
Musik, Berlin. Within the past month Mr. at the Vienna Exhibition in 1892.
Steinert has added two rare harpsichords to
The Steinert collection to-day, as gathered
his collection, one English and the other Italian, by Albert Steinert, consists of three clavichords,
(f £•' *"
"2
three spinets, nearly a dozen harpsichords and
several viola d'gambas and viola d'amores. It
takes up threo -ooms ua the first floor of his
home.
Two of Mr. Steinert's harpsichords are linked
with famous men. The English instrument,
which he has just received, bears on the inside
of its cover a landscape showing two women
in the foreground of a garden scene. This
painting is attributed by many to Gainsborough.
The instrument was made in London in 1781
and Gainsborough was there at the time. He
died in 1788. It is pointed out that Gains-
borough was in the habit of painting musical
instruments, and other celebrated artists,
notably Rubens, did some of their best work
on instruments.
Mr. Steinert discovered the Ruckers harpsi-
chord quite by accident. He had visited a
Parisian music dealer, who insisted that he
knew of no old musical instrument for sale,
but as the visitor was leaving, finally thought
of an old harpsichord in possession of an old
lady living several blocks away. He accom-
panied Mr. Steinert to the woman's home and
there he found his Ruckers. It was owned by
Mine. Planchant, mother of Gustave Carpentier,
the author of the opera "Louise." She was
eighty-three years old, a retired antique dealer,
and was fully aware of the value of the instru-
ment. At first she refused to part with it and
then set a price that she believed exorbitant.
Mr. Steinert accepted at once, but when he
returned for the harpsichord found that the
owner had changed her mind. He had to per-
suade her all over a^ain to sell and when the
deal was closed took the instrument immedi-
ately.
Not all his deals are so long-winded, however.
On a trip to New York during the Christmas
holidays he was in the Grand Central Art
Galleries with an artist to examine some paint-
ings. He came across an Italian harpsichord
mack in 1636. "It is the most ornate and
beautifully decorated instrument I have ever
seen," Mr. Steinert says. He bought this in-
strument several days after he first saw it and
it is now in Providence.
R. M. Kempton Heads
Aeolian Go. Departments
R. M. Kempton, formerly in charge of the re-
tail radio, talking machine and music roll de-
partments of the Aeolian Co., New York, has
been appointed manager of the several whole-
sale departments featuring the same line. He
plans a general reorganization with a view to
developing business in those departments to
large proportions in the metropolitan district.
In his new post Mr. Kempton succeeds O. W.
Ray, who resigned recently to become con-
nected with the Silas E. Pearsall Co.
Milton Used in Lancaster
LANCASTER, O., May 2.—The combined glee clubs
of the Lancaster High School presented the en-
joyable comic opera, "Captain Crossbones," here
last week. L. D. Thomas, prominent local music
merchant, supplied a Milton Peter Pan piano
for the affair, which added much to the suc-
cess of the production.
MAY 7, 1927
15
The Music Trade Review
Albert Steinert Collection of Old
Keyboard Instruments in Aeolian Hall
Temporary Display of Famous Collection of Well-Known Music Merchant, Including
Ruckers Harpsichord, Drawing Wide Attention in New York
r \ N E of the centers of interest at the new
^^^ Aeolian Hall is the display of the famous
Albert Steinert collection of antique musical
instruments, which is held to be one of the
and a third one, French, is now on its way
here.
Mr. Steinert received his inspiration for col-
lection from his father, Morris Steinert, who
Albert Steinert Before an Instrument of His Collection
finest in the world and which shows the grad- is considered the pioneer collector of such in-
ual development of the modern piano from struments in this country. His collection,
the early types, of clavichords, harpsichords which upon his death fifteen years ago con-
and spinets, dating back to the fifteenth cen- sisted of about 250 pieces and was left to Yale,
tury.
Mr. Steinert, who is shown in the accom-
panying illustration seated at one of his old
instruments, began his collection ten years or
more ago and toured Europe widely to discover
rare instruments. When he heard of the ex-
istence of a rare harpsichord or clavichord he
did not hesitate to investigate and if possible
purchase the instrument.
"No one in Europe thought that there was
jp ••*==
a sixth Hans Ruckers harpsichord in existence
until I found one hidden away in Paris almost
under their noses and which I now have," he
recently said.
This instrument was made in
Antwerp in 1613 and has been appraised at
$100,000. Of the other five Ruckers harpsi-
chords, one is owned by the King of England,
another by the Gewerbe Museum, Berlin; a
17th Century Italian Harpsichord
third is at the Chateau de Pau, France; a fourth
in the Musee du Conservatoire, Paris, and a the Smithsonian Institution and other colleges
fifth in the Museum of the Hochschule for and museums, won for him international fame
Musik, Berlin. Within the past month Mr. at the Vienna Exhibition in 1892.
Steinert has added two rare harpsichords to
The Steinert collection to-day, as gathered
his collection, one English and the other Italian, by Albert Steinert, consists of three clavichords,
(f £•' *"
"2
three spinets, nearly a dozen harpsichords and
several viola d'gambas and viola d'amores. It
takes up threo -ooms ua the first floor of his
home.
Two of Mr. Steinert's harpsichords are linked
with famous men. The English instrument,
which he has just received, bears on the inside
of its cover a landscape showing two women
in the foreground of a garden scene. This
painting is attributed by many to Gainsborough.
The instrument was made in London in 1781
and Gainsborough was there at the time. He
died in 1788. It is pointed out that Gains-
borough was in the habit of painting musical
instruments, and other celebrated artists,
notably Rubens, did some of their best work
on instruments.
Mr. Steinert discovered the Ruckers harpsi-
chord quite by accident. He had visited a
Parisian music dealer, who insisted that he
knew of no old musical instrument for sale,
but as the visitor was leaving, finally thought
of an old harpsichord in possession of an old
lady living several blocks away. He accom-
panied Mr. Steinert to the woman's home and
there he found his Ruckers. It was owned by
Mine. Planchant, mother of Gustave Carpentier,
the author of the opera "Louise." She was
eighty-three years old, a retired antique dealer,
and was fully aware of the value of the instru-
ment. At first she refused to part with it and
then set a price that she believed exorbitant.
Mr. Steinert accepted at once, but when he
returned for the harpsichord found that the
owner had changed her mind. He had to per-
suade her all over a^ain to sell and when the
deal was closed took the instrument immedi-
ately.
Not all his deals are so long-winded, however.
On a trip to New York during the Christmas
holidays he was in the Grand Central Art
Galleries with an artist to examine some paint-
ings. He came across an Italian harpsichord
mack in 1636. "It is the most ornate and
beautifully decorated instrument I have ever
seen," Mr. Steinert says. He bought this in-
strument several days after he first saw it and
it is now in Providence.
R. M. Kempton Heads
Aeolian Go. Departments
R. M. Kempton, formerly in charge of the re-
tail radio, talking machine and music roll de-
partments of the Aeolian Co., New York, has
been appointed manager of the several whole-
sale departments featuring the same line. He
plans a general reorganization with a view to
developing business in those departments to
large proportions in the metropolitan district.
In his new post Mr. Kempton succeeds O. W.
Ray, who resigned recently to become con-
nected with the Silas E. Pearsall Co.
Milton Used in Lancaster
LANCASTER, O., May 2.—The combined glee clubs
of the Lancaster High School presented the en-
joyable comic opera, "Captain Crossbones," here
last week. L. D. Thomas, prominent local music
merchant, supplied a Milton Peter Pan piano
for the affair, which added much to the suc-
cess of the production.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).