List, I'm forwarding this article from the piano list, with permission, because I thought a lot of you might not have seen it and would find it interesting. It originally appeared in the May/June issue of Clavier magazine. >Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 18:30:25 +0000 (MST7MDT) >From: Walden Hughes <wdhughes@science.nnc.edu> > > - paragraph delineations were lost in the copying process: > >Voicing and Regulating: Horowitz's Conception vs the Industry Standard > > Imagine driving Mario Andretti's race car if you are a racing > enthusiast, or swinging Babe Ruth's favorite bat if you are a > baseball fan. Pianists all over the country have recently > experienced the equivalent exhilarating adventure for pianists - > playing Vladimir Horowitz's personal piano. This instrument, which > was a wedding gift from the Steinway piano manufacturing company in > 1943, has recently been available for pianists to play, while on a > tour of 75 cities. It is especially inspiring to play this famous > piano considering that Horowitz used it on his world tours; he > allowed no one else to play it while he was alive, other than Murray > Perahia. As most Clavier readers are aware, Horowitz performed only > on Sunday afternoons (even at the White House), and there were other > requirements: the money had to be enticing, he had to have his own > piano and piano bench (he always carried a spare), as well as his > personal piano technician (Franz Mohr). The world is full of > industry standards. For example, most slices of bread fit the > average toaster and modern automobiles have steering wheels, as > opposed to some other type of navigational device. The piano > manufacturing world is no different. All manufacturers have voicing > and regulating standards so that there will be some degree of > consistency in terms of how their products sound and feel to > pianists. The condition of Horowitz's piano reveals that his > conception was somewhat different than the industry standard. Anyone > who has played Horowitz's personal piano would have quickly > discovered why Horowitz insisted on playing only this instrument. > Even though his technician was also head of Steinway's concert > artists division, the piano as it was maintained specifically for > Horowitz defied the industry standards to conform to Horowitz's > edicts, according to his exacting personal preferences. How is the > Horowitz piano different from all others? It is voiced unusually > brightly, which enables the pianist to sound absolutely thunderous > when required. This instrument is also easy to play softly, however, > once the pianist becomes accustomed to the possibilities presented by > precise regulation. Most pianists are used to bright pianos, but > generally these instruments are bright due to the fact that hammer > maintenance has been neglected. Pianos with hammers which fall into > this category are uncontrollable at the lower dynamic range; as the > hammers become flat, not only does the sound become brighter (and the > tone quality also changes), but the distance to the string becomes > altered. The pianist therefore has less control of the hammer. > This process is so gradual that most pianists aren't conscious of the > changes. Horowitz was aware that in order to maintain the voicing > and the level of control he wanted, constant attention to the hammers > was necessary. Consequently, his hammers were kept in excellent > condition by his technician. Franz Mohr not only voiced Horowitz's > piano brightly, but regulated it so precisely, that it was also easy > to play softly. The Horowitz piano defies the industry standards, as > well, in terms of how the action "feels," in that it has an extremely > light action. Horowitz used to tell his technician that the keys > should go down, even if he simply blew on them. In order to achieve > the desired result, Franz Mohr found it helpful to file down the size > of the hammers. Horowitz required precisely 44 grams of key > resistance and full-size hammers were too heavy to allow the action > to be weighted easily to this gram-weight (the average Steinway was > weighted to approximately 57 grams during much of the time Franz Mohr > worked with Horowitz). The result is an extremely fast action which > is difficult for most pianists to control initially, due to the fact > that other pianos present greater resistance to the fingers. The > author's students agreed that after a brief period of getting used to > the Horowitz concept of how a piano should feel, they would expect to > be immediately capable of greater technical prowess. They also > concurred that their interpretive skill was instantly enhanced by > this instrument; because of the brightness of the voicing and the > exacting regulation of the action, the dynamic range is effectively > extended, thereby presenting increased interpretive possibilities. > The reader should be reminded at this point that the bulk of the > standard piano literature was written for instruments which had > lighter actions than today's pianos. Earlier instruments > (harpsichords, clavichords, and fortepianos) generally also had a > reduced "key dip" when compared with today's pianos. The evolution > of the piano during the 19th and 20th centuries, then, has actually > made this literature more difficult to perform on modern instruments. > Before the reader draws the obvious conclusion at this point and > subscribes to the philosophy that piano manufacturers should > implement the necessary design changes to allow all pianos to conform > to Horowitz's conception, it must be pointed out that there are > trade-offs. In order to maintain the full dynamic range with such > bright hammers, especially at the lower dynamic level, constant > regulation and hammer maintenance would be required. This would not > only be tremendously expensive, but would also require a first-rate > piano technician, which is a rare commodity, indeed. Additionally, > the reality is that smaller hammers, which would be required to > achieve a lighter action, also render not only a brighter sound but a > different tone quality. This "brighter" sound, which is perfectly > acceptable to most pianists, can quickly become "obnoxious" if proper > regulation and hammer maintenance is not supported. Larger hammers > with more felt are more "forgiving" in this respect. Most pianists > don't pay very close attention to tone quality, having become > accustomed to not listening to the almost universally poorly > maintained practice pianos available to them as students in homes, > music departments, and conservatories. These pianos are generally in > poor condition, again due to the expense of proper maintenance. > Sound conception is not only a function of maintenance, however. > Different manufacturers also have varying concepts of what a piano > should sound like; for example, American pianos in general, do not > sound like Asian pianos. Pianists who become increasingly focused on > awareness of tone quality will find themselves hearing differences > between pianos. "Listening" becomes more enjoyable when a high > quality, well-maintained instrument is available. The pianist who > becomes absorbed with sound in this way, will begin to notice > differences in pianos, even in sound recordings. Many recordings > acknowledge the make of piano used in the performance. Attention to > this detail will aid the intelligent pianist in developing awareness > of differing sound ideals between manufacturers. It should be noted > that, even though not all Steinways sound alike (brighter pianos tend > to be used for concerto performances, for example, and every > instrument has distinctive quality), most Steinways sound more like > other Steinways than like Yamahas or Kawais. The more we become > focused on listening to tone quality, the better equipped we will > become to determine what the standard should be in terms of ideal > sound quality. Sound does not exist in a vacuum, however, and > practical elements necessarily enter into the picture, as we have > seen. In order to achieve the Horowitz ideal, then, the current > industry concept in terms of "sound" would have to be sacrificed. > Our opinions on this matter are influenced by our personal preference > and by our level of "awareness" of tone quality. Regardless of our > preferences, it is unlikely that most pianists will call for a > substantive change in terms of the industry standard in order to more > closely approximate Horowitz's ideal piano, if only due to the > prohibitive pragmatic problems such as the increased expense which > would necessarily accompany such an alteration. Few pianists have the > luxury of defying the industry standards and indulging their > distinctive taste in piano sound. Horowitz was not only able to > indulge himself in this way, but he did so with the support and > cooperation of the piano manufacturing community. > >Walden Hughes Web Site: http://science.nnc.edu/~wdhughes _____________________________________ Avery Todd, RPT Moores School of Music University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-4893 713-743-3226 atodd@uh.edu _____________________________________
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