The Piano’s Decline in Quality

I’d been given to understand that antique pianos weren’t worth very much, either monetarily or musically. That belief was reinforced by encounters with old pianos in poor condition. But this post argues the opposite: that the best pianos ever made were built a century ago.

The finest pianos in the world were built about a hundred years ago. Due to evolution in engineering, exhaustion of raw materials, and flagging business standards, we will never see their like again. Some people may build very good pianos; new forms of the instrument may exceed (in narrow ways) the magnificent machines built a few decades either side of the year 1900. But, from a musical perspective, there will never be a “better” piano than the typical concert grand of a century ago.

Now I suspect there are a lot of ways to qualify this argument. The author is talking about the best acoustic pianos; it was quite possible to build a mediocre piano a century ago. That piano mouldering in your grandmother’s parlour isn’t necessarily what the author has in mind (for one thing, it may not be as old as you think). And old pianos will almost certainly need restoration to fulfil their potential.

It’s also important to remember that pianos a century ago were considerably less affordable than they are today. As I discovered in my research, piano prices ranged from several hundred to as much as two thousand dollars; in the area I studied, the average annual salary in 1901 was about $840. Do the math. Mass-produced pianos of the second half of the twentieth century were cheaper, even if they were, you know, cheaper.

Via Kottke.