Synopses & Reviews
The first book based on the rich archive of Steinway business and family papers at LaGuardia Community College in New York, as well as on interviews with family members and company employees in the United States, Germany, and England, this authoritative and entertaining book tells the story of the most famous piano company in the world and of the family behind it.
"There is something here for everybody -- the music lover, the history buff, the economist, the sociologist -- Lieberman has brought together the many aspects of human development that lie behind the exquisite machine that is the Steinway piano.... A dazzlingly complex tale, masterfully told". -- Richard Bucci, Newsday
"An often fascinating overview of a musical epoch that may, regrettably, be coming to an end". -- Eva Hoffman, New York Times Book Review
"Lieberman's clearly written, often witty history of Steinway and Sons is not only the very model of what a business history should be, covering every inch of that turf from finance to distribution, but is also an extraordinary tale of a family.... Absolutely first-rate history". -- Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe
"Structurally perfect, with just the right balance between company anecdotes and the broader context in which Steinway operated, the book is much more than a business history.... It reads like a kind of business Les Miserables, spanning one and a half centuries, two world wars and a host of personal and corporate dramas.... An informative and rich narrative". -- Peter Marsh, Financial Times
"A fascinating saga of American manufacturing capitalism at its most dynamic, entrepreneurial and hard-nosed". -- Malcolm Hayes, Sunday Telegraph
Synopsis
The Steinway--once called the "instrument of the immortals"--is more than the preeminent American piano. It is also a symbol of Old World craftsmanship combined with American capitalism, of technological innovation, and of remarkable family management. This authoritative and entertaining book tells the story of the Steinway piano company and the people behind it.
The first book based on the rich archive of Steinway business and family papers at LaGuardia Community College in New York, as well as on interviews with family members and company employees in the United States, Germany, and England, Steinway & Sons describes the making and marketing of an American cultural icon. Founded in New York in 1853 by a German immigrant, the Steinway company quickly rose to prominence on the strength of the distinctive "Steinway sound." For five generations Steinways steered their company in the face of vigorous domestic and foreign competition, bitter labor disputes, temperamental musicians, a fluctuating economy, and wars. Members of the Gilded Age elite, the family also contended with adultery, alcoholism, emotional depression, and long court battles over money. Lieberman discusses the company town the Steinways built in Queens in the 1870s to "escape the machinations of the anarchists and socialists" in the city; the decision to manufacture in both New York and Hamburg, which led to Steinway factories supplying both sides in World War II; the improvements in piano technology that made the Steinway the envy of other piano makers; the company's creative marketing techniques, such as booking celebrated European pianists into American concert halls; the competition from the Japanese-owned Yamaha company; and the sale of the financially troubled company to CBS in 1972. Weaving together themes from social, music, business, labor, and immigrant history, and lavishly illustrated with pictures from the Steinway archive, Steinway & Sons is a rich narrative that casts new light on American cultural history and on a unique family enterprise.