Thanks for your responses

[Anton Kuerti]

I want to thank the many of you who tookthe trouble to respond to my recent
posting, both publicly and privately.  A few comments on some of the points made
or raised.

I am aware of the danger of creating backward and forward play in the hole at
the bottom of the key. I will try doing it from the top as suggested in the
future, although I suspect one might have more control over the amount of
compression - which is all we are doing anyway - from the bottom.

Of course I am also aware of the possible problem with the una corda, and also
with dampers, if the strings themselves are not level.  If there are really bad
agraffes, naturally one must bend the strings; but usually the problem is with
the hammers.  Furthermore, although I cannot prove it, I suspect that bending
the string could be harmful to its sound, and also I wonder how long it stays
bent when played very forcefully as is the case with concert instruments. Also I
simply attach less importance to the sound with the una corda on, which is at
best fuzzy and unwholesome.  Others disagree; Alfred Brendel, for instance, who
has considerable knowledge and competence, and likes to voice himself, as do I,
voices first with the una corda, and then without.  I think that attaches far
too much importance to the una corda; I want the sound to be splendid without
it, and am willing for it to be less than ideal with the una corda on.

Someone asked about "inner-string voicing" for the various positions of the
sostenuto.  (Of course you meant to write soft pedal, not sostenuto.)  In line
with what I just wrote above, I do not recommend that, as it gives too much
importance to the soft pedal; I would rather optimize the full healthy sound
with the action in its normal resting position.  In principle I avoid use of the
soft pedal, except in unusual circumstances; in practise I guess I use it more
than that, but that is just a bad habit.  However, I do often  it  depressed it
ever so slightly, to move the grooves in the hammer away from the string and
play on more or less virgin hammer surface.  This slight shift of the action is
not likely to disturb the fit of the hammers to the strings, assuming that it
has been well done, and it does not give the ugly hoarseness that the una corda
often produces, especially in the higher registers.  It can improve the sound
quality, in fact, especially on over-bright pianos.  When the una corda sounds
particularly dreadful, it is often hardness from lacquer at the very left edge
of the hammer which is just barely ticking the left string.  This  can be
quickly corrected by very lightly sanding that left edge of the hammer.

Regarding repetition springs, there is room here for some differences of
approach.  The stronger the repetition spring is, the more resistance is offered
by the key after the whippen hits the drop screw.  After all, the effort of the
pianist has to bend the spring.  This causes the bump near the bottom of the key
travel which many people find unpleasant.  It is unfortunate that the whippen
hits the drop screw at almost exactly the same moment that the jack starts to
slide over the knuckle, so if your springs are strong and your jack/knuckle
interface not smooth and well lubricated, the ride is very rough indeed.  This
extra resistance makes almost no difference if you are playing loudly, but it is
a severe handicap if you are exploring the softest dynamic ranges.  It increases
dramatically the danger that a note played very soflty will fail to sound
entirely, and also is the chief culprit in causing notes to sound accidentally a
second time, by bouncing off the whippen, when they are struck too gently to
engage the backcheck.  It makes trilling softly a nightmare.  And the real rub
is that in most cases strong springs only marginally improve repetition.  I know
that some artists are not aware of this, or have a different opinion, and think
that strong springs will repeat better.  Of course if a pianist has little
interest in exploring the softest dynamic levels, he or she will not be much
bothered by strong springs.  I have noticed a tendency of Steinway's own New
York technicians to set the repetitions quite strongly, so maybe that has been
influential elsewhere.

I like almost no lost motion on the damper pedal.

I do prefer ivory keys, but I am also a vegetarian and don't want elephants
killed just so the keys feel a little better.  But please don't replace ivory
with plastic unless the ivory is very damaged.  Most of us would rather accept a
few nicks and cracks on ivory than have plastic.  The first plastic keys were
truly awful, unpleasant edges, slippery, cold, hard white colour; they have
improved a lot and I am ready to put up with them.  Some artists really hate
them; Eugene Istomin will rub them with coarse steel wool to take away some of
the shiny slipperiness.

I am going on tour Monday for about a month, so will turn off this spigot of
information during my absence, but perhaps will join you again at a later date.
If anyone wants to communicate directly, you are welcome to do so, but you may
have to wait a while for an answer - I don't take a computer on my tours and
hardly ever try to pick up my E-mail while I am away.

Anton Kuerti (Toronto)