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Julius Bluethner |
Ignatz Boesendorfer |
Carl Bechstein |
One of the best known pianomakers of that time was Breitkopf & Haertel,
still known today as a prominent music publisher. These were strong reasons
for Julius Bluethner to start his piano making in Leipzig after having spent
several years wandering from one piano maker to another to improve on his
knowledge of the craft. In November 1853 he began with three men and his
instruments found immediate acclaim among the musical bourgeoisie.
Julius Bluethner founded 1853 in Leipzig, the Bluethner name has enjoyed an
enviable reputation for almost 150 years, and in the opinion of many world
famous artists and musical connoisseurs, has reached the pinnacle of
perfection. It was also essential to furnish instruments to the royal courts
and Bluethner took great pride in being appointed as official supplier to the
royal court of many European countries, among which were the German Kaiser,
Queen Victoria, the Russian Tsar, the Danish King, the Turkish Sultan and of
course the King of Saxony.
Bluethner Pianos are appreciated particularly for their warm rich tone and
superior craftsmanship, which has been confirmed time and again by
professional and international opinion. Their reputation is built upon a long
tradition of careful manufacturing and particular attention to soundboard
design.
Ignaz Boesendorfer, son of Jacob Boesendorfer a Vienna cabinetmaker and
his wife Martha, is born on July 27th, 1794. At nineteen, young Boesendorfer
begins an apprenticeship with Joseph Brodmann, organ and piano maker of Vienna.
A good master has found an ingenious pupil.
Vienna, 1828: Austria is slowly recovering from the Napoleonic Wars. That
year, Ignaz Boesendorfer applies for a permit to start his own piano
manufacturing business. He receives a decree saying "The Permit together
with all professional and municipal rights is herewith bestowed on the aspiring
pinoa maker Ignaz Boesendorfer by the magistrates office of the capital city of
Vienna for the purpose of manufacturing pianos.".
The young Liszt, with his monumental technique, was shattering every
piano put at his disposal in Vienna. Taking the advice of a few friends, he
tries a Boesendorfer and this instrument stands up under his playing. After the
introductory selections, Liszt becomes ever more demanding of the piano. His
excitement electrifies the audience as he challenges the instrument to perform
beyond even its maker's expectations. In one sweep, Boesendorfer becomes famous
as a concert grand. For Liszt, this is the beginning of a life long friendship
with the House of Boesendorfer.
1830: Ignaz Boesendorfer is the first ever to receive the title of "Court
and Chamber Piano Maker" from the Austrian Emperor. In 1839 and 1845
Boesendorfer wins the gold medal and the First Prize at the Industrial
Exposition in Vienna. The reputation of Boesendorfer's pianos grows rapidly
throughout Europe after the endorsement from Franz Liszt. Boesendorfer himself
travels extensively in Germany, France, and England; and the increasing demand
for his pianos leads him to begin planning the construction of a new factory
which, unfortunately, he does not live to see completed.
1859
Ignaz Boesendorfer dies.
His son Ludwig, born in 1835, takes over the firm. His far-seeing father
had fully acquainted Ludwig Boesendorfer with the secrets of the Boesendorfer
piano by the time he was twenty-four. A highly talented musician with an
extraordinarily sharp ear, Ludwig makes such improvements in the instrument
"as to render the name of Boesendorfer inseparably connected with the
conception of music and noble sound".
For two years Ludwig Boesendorfer had attended the Commercial and Technical
Department of the Royal Imperial Polytechnic Institute in Vienna. He had worked
in his father's workshop until his death. In 1859 he is registered as a "piano-maker"
in Vienna and becomes proprietor of the house.
1860: The business is moved to a new factory in Neu-Wien, Vienna. In the
building there is a concert hall seating-twohundred. The same year Boesendorfer
registers a patent: "To protect the invention of a particular piano action".
The factory soon becomes too small, and in 1870 the business is moved again. The new factory building, which is still being used today, is on the Graf-Starhemberg-Gasse 14 in Vienna. The office and showrooms are moved to the center of the city, into the Liechtenstein Palace on the Herrengasse 6.
The excellent acoustics of the Boesendorfer Hall next to riding school
created immense excitement, and it is the most frequented concert hall in Vienna
for more than forty years. During this time more than 4500 concerts take place
in the hall. The most brilliant names of time are heard repeatedly in the
Boesendorfer-Saal: Anton Rubinstein, Pablo Sarasate, Franz Liszt, Moritz
Rosenthal, Eugen d'Albert, Johannes Brahms, Ignaz Paderwesky, Hugo Wolf, Bruno
Walter, Teresa Carreno, Emil v. Sauer, Arthur Schnabel, Ernst v. Dohnany, Max
Reger, Arthur Rubinstein, Bela Bartok, Edvard Grieg, Georg Hellmesberger,
Wilhelm Kienzl, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss.
The Boesendorfer piano gains the respect of every artists on the
continent. Custom made instruments are manufactured for the court of the Emperor
Franz Joseph I., the Imperial Country Residence at Ischl, for the Empress
Elisabeth, and for many Austrian archduchesses and archdukes; for the Empress
Eugenie of France, the Emperor of Japan, the Zar of Russia, and other prominent
personalities.
The Viennese Operetta is experiencing its golden years. Johann Strauss (father
and son), Josef and Eduard Strauss, Ziehrer, Lanner, Franz v. Suppe, Karl
Milloecker, Richard Heuberger and many others characterize the Danube city as
the gay and spirited world capital.
1909: Ludwig Boesendorfer, who has no direct descendents, is looking for a
successor to take over the firm. He sells the business to his friend Carl
Hutterstrasser who continues on in the same spirit. During the years 1913-1914,
just before World War I, production reaches a new high. Four hundred and
thirty-four instruments leave the factory
The First World War takes its toll. Production sinks to one hundred and thirty-six instruments during the first year of the war. The war and the destruction of his beloved concert hall are too much for Ludwig Boesendorfer. He dies in 1919. In his will, Boesendorfer directs that his body was to be driven to cemetery on a simple piano-carriage and buried in perfect silence before the notice of his death is published. Only Carl Hutterstrasser, the vice-president of the Society of Music Friends, Dr. Ernst Kraus, and Boesendorfers personal attendants are to be present at the burial. There are to be no flowers, wreaths, announcements of death, funeral speeches. Even the gravestone has to bear nothing more than the name "Ludwig" and the year of his death. As heir to his property he leaves a foundation entitled: "Ludwig Boesendorfer Foundation of the Society of Music Friends of Vienne." The revenue from this is to enable the Society to "permanently and ideally support and promote music". Unfortunately, the subsequent destruction of the Austrian Crown makes this sensitive gesture ineffective.
Carl
Bechstein – one of the very few names that have become a synonym worldwide for
excellent grand pianos. The company celebrating now its 150th
anniversary.
Carl
Beckstein was born in Germany in 1826 and while still young was taught by his
stepfather to play piano, violin and cello. One of his sisters married a
piano-maker, Johann Gletiz, and as Bechstein reached maturity it was decided
that he was to become a piano-maker and would serve an apprenticeship with
Gletiz.
Following
his apprenticeship he traveled, mainly in France learning from some of the top
French piano builders of that day, such as Erard. He studied how to get more
volume and also the commercial side of the piano. He made great friends with the
pianist Hans von Bulow, who subsequently praised the Bechstein instruments. Like
Bosendorfer, Bechstein set out to build a piano that was tougher, more resonant,
and would appeal to the finest concert pianists of that day 1853.
In
1856 with 30 years Carl Bechstein started build his first concert grand piano.
It caused a sensation in 1857. By the end of 1860 , Bechstein had built a total
of approx. 300 instruments. That was less than Feurich nad Bluthner in Leipzig,
had already reached serial number 2.500 since 1853. Two years later a new
breakthrough accured. At the London International Exhibition of 1862, Bechstein
won gold medals. In 1900, production had reached more than 3.500 instruments per
year. In 1903 since 1853 a total of 65.200 pianos and grand pianos had been
built.
Although Carl Bechstein was perhaps not a great innovator, his forte had been to utilize the best ideas from other quality builders and to put them together to make a truly great instrument. His pianos have the highest respect throughout much of the piano world today