Synopses & Reviews
This lavishly illustrated book tells the remarkable story of the Steinway company and its founding family. Heinrich Steinweg emigrated to America at the age of fifty-three with his large and talented family and founded Steinway & Sons, which was to become the builder of premium pianos in America.
Ronald Ratcliffe has spent ten years researching the Steinway story. His fascinating text, supplemented with over 100 color and duotone photographs, documents the history of the piano in America, where the technical innovations of successive Steinway family members set the standards for the modern piano.
He reveals as well the amazing business and marketing sense that characterized the Steinway company from the beginning, bringing it financial success and worldwide acclaim for its instruments. There are photographs of the famous pianists who promoted Steinway pianos: Anton Rubinstein, Ignacy Paderewski, Josef Hofmann, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arthur Rubinstein, and Vladimir Horowitz. There are also photographs and drawings of the most flamboyant customized piano cases, for such clients as Liberace.
This is the complete book on the Steinway piano and the only book to be authorized by the Steinway company.
Synopsis
The exquisite pianos produced by Steinway and Sons are revered by musicians, music lovers, and collectors around the world. Publishing to coincide with the firms 150th anniversary, this beautiful new edition celebrates the history of the family and the instruments it creates with fully updated text and a striking new cover. Interweaving the stories of the pianos, their creation, and the music they inspire with more than 200 photos, designs, sketches, and paintings, Steinway pays elegant tribute to these incomparable instruments.
About the Author
Ronald Ratcliffe was professor of music at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a performer on both modern and historic keyboard instruments.
Stuart Isacoff, a pianist and composer, is founding editor of Piano Today magazine and a recipient of the prestigious ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for excellence in writing about music. He lives in New York City.
Henry Z. Steinway, a great-grandson of the founder, was president of Steinway and Sons from 1955 to 1972 and remains a consultant to the firm today.