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Revision as of 10:42, 19 October 2004 by 211.30.218.68 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Steinway & Sons is a piano-manufacturing firm, currently based in New York and Hamburg, Germany.
The firm was founded in 1839 in Seesen, Germany by Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, who emigrated to America in 1851 and changed his surname to Steinway. By the 1860s they were the leading piano manufacturer in America. The innovations introduced by Steinway, including the cast-iron frame and overstringing, became a model for other piano manufacturers worldwide.
In 1866, Henry Steinway built Steinway Hall on 14th Street in New York City. It housed the firm's offices and showrooms on the first floor, and a large auditorium on the second floor which became a center of culture and music.
In 1880, Henry Steinway's son William Steinway established a company town, Steinway, Queens Co., New York, which later became part of Long Island City, and built piano factories and worker housing there.
Their success is reflected by their presence on the largest concert stages in the world. Steinway was for a time nearly the exclusive provider of high-end pianos. Their production now has been outnumbered by other firms such as Yamaha and Kawai, with each brand having its loyalists. At the top of their success in the 1920s they sold more than 6,000 pianos a year. Steinway's long established reputation and hand-crafting, particularly for those produced in Hamburg, set them apart from others.
After long financial woes the firm was finally sold to CBS in 1972. CBS sold Steinway to Steinway Musical Properties, Inc. which finally sold it to Selmer in 1995. Only one member of the Steinway family currently still works for Steinway.
Today pianists usually have a preference to Steinways manufactured in Hamburg or New York. Whilst the differences are preferential and not qualitative, each has its loyalists. Influential artists such as the late Vladimir Horowitz insisted on the New York Steinway, with its less dense, more penetrating timbre, whereas others, most notably Marc-Andre Hamelin, Alfred Brendel and Arcadi Volodos amongst others prefer the Hamburg Steinway for its more mellow, rich, warm tone. The differences in tone are determined by the piano's hammer manufacture (NY Steinway uses considerably harder-felt hammers than their Hamburg counterparts).