Steinway: Worth Much
More Than a Song
by Maya Roney March 6, 2007 -
Back To Main Story
More Than a Song
by Maya Roney March 6, 2007 -
Back To Main Story
With 12,000 parts per instrument, Steinway claims its pianos are the most complex things made by hand in
existence
John Lennon composed Imagine on one. Vladimir Horowitz called his “my faithful and inseparable friend.”
And today, more than 90% of concert pianists and performers play pianos made by Steinway & Sons, a
company that has somehow managed to stay at the top of its game for the last 150 years while other
corporations of its day faded into oblivion.
How is this possible? Part of the Steinway allure comes from its rigorous process. It takes nearly a year to
make a single Steinway piano. Using only the highest-grade wood, highly skilled artisans painstakingly craft
each part to perfection almost entirely by hand. Expert tuners coax more than 230 strings into harmony,
instilling each piano with its own unique “personality.” There are no factory rejects here either -- one crack,
and the work is off to the woodpile, even at the finished stage. The result is at once musical instrument,
intricate machine, and handsome piece of furniture. Here's a look at how the world's most prized pianos are
made.
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Steinway builds pianos one at a time,
applying skills that were handed down from master to
apprentice, generation after generation.
applying skills that were handed down from master to
apprentice, generation after generation.
