[CAUT] 1850's Pleyel Grand

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Ed

Yes, I've been following that with interest, tho my understanding is 
that Anne takes a more museum restorations perspective with these 
things.  In my Bluthner project I found it particularly difficult to get 
any real help. For a variety of reasons.  Some folks are just plain 
protective of course... I guess the industry has always had to deal with 
that.  Some wanted me to approach the project from a completely 
different angle then I had in mind.

In the end, it came out quite nice in itself... tho I lack enough 
acoustic references to know yet if I have succeeded in my goal of 
reproducing the basic sound character of the instrument while bringing 
the upper treble more in line with modern sound.  This second goal is a 
loaded matter really.  Because through the some 3 odd years I have spent 
so far on the thing, I've found that perceptions about what the "snuff 
it was made for" vary quite wildly.

Some say for example that the sustain and body of these old instruments 
were actually quite similar to todays instruments after all... and this 
was possible because of the completely different string materials used.  
Shorter lengths for high treble strings were not a problem for this 
reason and we are left forced to re-scale and use presently available 
string materials to come close. Pure sound is said by many to be a 
blessing in this regard and certainly performs well on my Bluthner.

I most certainly will approach the Pleyel differently then I did the 
Bluthner. The Pleyel will be sold to a pianist friend of mine who loves 
these old instruments pretty much as they are. So this will pretty much 
just be stabilized with no major parts being replaced. Epoxy 
stabilization of the pinblock is in my mind a perfectly ok way to 
proceed as in the end if one ends up someday having to replace the 
pinblock one has done no "damage" in the meantime.

Thanks to my good friend Linda from Sweden for the link and for her 
enthusiastic post.


Cheers
RicB



    The Journal is running an extended series on understanding and
    restoring
    19th century pianos.
    Conservators have special techniques for working on pianos like
    this, and
    they are going to share some of them with us.
    Epoxy consolidation of a pinblock, for example, is much easier than
    removing
    and replacing a mortised block.
    I hope you will wait a few months to learn about this.
    It is helpful, in fact crucial to develop a collegial relationship with
    someone who specializes in dealing with
    "pre-modern" instruments.  The "snuff" you try to bring it up to
    should be
    the "snuff" it was made for.
    Note, for example, the description of the sustain on Chopin's piano
    in the
    Times link from Linda Strahle.  In her articles on 18th and 19th
    century
    pianos Anne Acker has given descriptions of the relationship between
    the
    sound of historic instruments and the interpretation of music
    written for
    those pianos.

    Ed Sutton