This from Dave Lamoreaux re the "Paderewski" piano in the Smithsonian. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lester D Lamoreaux" <davelamx at starpower.net> To: "Ed Sutton" <ed440 at mindspring.com> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 10:41 PM Subject: Re: [CAUT] S&S Hammers and lacquer > The original hammers that came with the Paderewski Concert D grand > were taken off in the early 80's and replaced with modern ones so the > piano could be played on regularly. The old hammers were kinda yellow > colored and quite soft. If there was any lacquer left in them, it > certainly was well hidden. (Those hammers were packed away for > scholarly research whenever that happens.) The piano was very loud > and bright sounding in spite (or as some have said, because of) the > soft hammers. My take on that was that the hammers were thin enough > for the wood core sound to come thru on hard blows. At least one > pianist who played the piano before the old hammers were removed felt > that the piano has never sounded as good and powerful as it did when > it first came to the Smithsonian. I am not prepared to contradict him. > > I have always wondered what kind of wool was used in those old > hammers. The piano dates from 1891-2 and was used by Paderewski in > his US tour of 1892-93. Then when he was kicked out of Poland (by the > Communists) after serving as President of Poland and all those other > things he was famous for, Steinway allowed him to have the piano in > his apartment in New York until he died. After that Steinway kept it > preserved in some basement until it was given to the Smithsonian in > 1975 for the Bicentennial celebration. > > It has been used in some pretty cool recordings and quite a few > concerts at the museum. > > David Lamoreaux > > On Sep 20, 2007, at 8:19 PM, Ed Sutton wrote: > >> Dave- >> Any chance you could tell us about the age and condition of the >> hammers on the Paderewski piano in the Smithsonian? >> Is it a B or a D? >> Thanks! >> Ed Sutton >> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Douglas Wood" >> <dew2 at u.washington.edu> >> To: "College and University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org> >> Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 7:58 PM >> Subject: [CAUT] S&S Hammers and lacquer >> >> >>> I keep hearing contradictory things about the nearly-mythical >>> '20's Steinway piano hammers, particularly regarding the use of >>> lacquer. Many independent technicians are convinced that they do >>> not contain lacquer, or at least very little. This does not seem >>> to agree with my experience. And I have asked at least 6 >>> different, very knowledgeable, senior technicians employed by >>> Steinway about it, and they all have agreed that to their >>> knowledge, every Model D Steinway ever issued from the factory >>> (NY) has had lacquer (or its precursor) in all 88 hammers. This >>> includes Joe Bisceglie, who probably had the earliest involvement >>> with the company. >>> >>> So, can any of you provide hard evidence of a factory hammer in a >>> D without? I'd really like to know. >>> >>> This relates to my earlier post about the hammers being, actually, >>> a composite. And the suggestion that Steinway developed its >>> hammer, and its tone, including lacquer (or its precursor) as an >>> essential element. I'd guess that most of you don't hold >>> particularly to the purist notion that a no-lacquer hammer is by >>> its very nature superior to a lacquered one--that we somehow >>> should apologize for needing to use such awful stuff, or >>> whatever. But this myth that in the golden days of piano >>> manufacture the hammers were so great that lacquer wasn't >>> necessary does the industry a large disservice. >>> >>> Doug Wood
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