May 17, 1923
MUSICAL COURIER
6
HISTORIC OLD STEINWAY HALL TO GO
Famous Fourteenth Street Landmark, Begun in 1863, Has Been Sold and World Renowned Piano Firm Will Erect a New and Modern Building in West Fifty-seventh Street—Interesting Past History—Appreciation of William Steinway—Steinway Hall and Some of the
Distinguished Artists Who Have Appeared There
By A. T. KING
monthly contributions until 1864, when Mr. Nunns died at the age of eighty years.
The general expansion of the business soon obliged the father and sons to give up their work in the factory and to devote their entire attention to the mercantile side of the business. Then it fell to William Steinway’s lot to conduct both the mercantile and financial business of the firm. A factory was built on Fourth avenue, between Fifty-second and Fifty-third streets in 1859, into which they moved in 1860. making a large addition to this factory three years later.
After the death of the two brothers, Charles and Henry, Jr., Theodore, who had remained in Germany during the fifteen years, came to New York and was made a partner in the business.
William Steinway was president of the firm, an office which he continued to hold until his death in 1896, twenty years after the business had been incorporated. He was succeeded by his nephew, Charles H. Steinway, who had entered the business in 1874. After his death in 1919, his brother, Frederic T. Steinway, became president. Thus for nearly seventy years the Steinway name has stood at the head of the firm as presidents.
Appreciation of William Stein way.
William Steinway was a man of superior intelligence, who did not build for a day, but looked far ahead in making his plans for the future. Plans that he made, changes that he brought about, were so well shaped and laid out that they have been followed through the years with only the changes necessitated by conditions of manufacture that could not have been anticipated. Mr. Steinway was interested in all the musical events of the city; his support of the opera was of a substantial kind, the amount of money spent being larger than any other business house in the piano world has ever expended.
Outside of the Steinway business he was one of the founders of the Bank of the Metropolis and a director, vice-president of the Germania Savings Bank of New York and of the Queens County Bank of Long Island City, director of the Steinway Railway Company of Long Island City and the New York and College Point Ferry Company. As if these offices were not sufficient to occupy a very busy man’s life, he was twelve times president of the Liederkranz Society, an honorary member of _ the Arion, member of the American Geographical Society, New York Historical Society, New York Chamber of Commerce, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Berlin and honorary member of the Royal St. Cecilia Society of Rome, Italy. Of him it was written: “A sound, enterprising, clear-headed, benevolent and versatile man and ready speaker, the metropolis is constantly the gainer because of his remarkable genius.”
Charles H. and Frederic T. Steinway. When Charles Steinway assumed the position of president of Steinway & Sons he was confronted with conditions that seemed insurmountable. The expansion of the Steinway business had been great, but it had grown fast and this through the superior quality of the instruments. Many of the enterprises that William Steinway had entered into involved the house of Steinway, but with the solid foundation that had been laid Charles H. Steinway soon overcame these difficulties and built to the glory of the house. Charles H. Steinway in no way conflicted with the policies laid down by his predecessor as president of Steinway & Sons, and when death removed him from office the house of Steinway was one of the staunchest in the piano industry.
The same policies that were formulated by William and Charles H. Steinway are now being carefully carried out by Frederic T. Steinway. The success that has attended the Steinway house places it at the forefront of industrial enterprises, as, though the building of nianos must be considered as an industry, yet there is that artistic phase that is necessary, which must be carefully nourished through the experience and ability of the human organization in the factory plants. But these three men—William, Charles IT. and Frederic T. Steinway—have combined the artistic with the industrial and (Continued on Page 12).
In Walker Street.
STBINWAY HALL IN 1865.
At the extreme right is the Academy of Music.
From an old engraving.
The necessity of larger quarters took the Steinways in 1854 to 88 Walker street, formerly occupied by Nunns & Co., who had failed in business. It can be said that while William Steinway was a loser of wages by this failure, which took place in 1854, he assisted Mr. Nunns with
No event that has occurred recently in the world of music is of greater importance than the sale of Steinway Hall, announced very recently in three words, “Steinway Hall Sold.” To those of an older generation it was a matter of regret that a landmark with which one had been acquainted for sixty years was about to become something entirely different. Of course the change cannot be made right away for there is a new building to be erected in West Fifty-seventh street for warerooms and offices, so it will not be until the autumn of 1924 that the uptown move will be made.
When the marble building on Fourteenth street was started in 1863 that locality at once became the music center of New York. The Academy of Music was a near neighbor; Union Square began to assume an importance with its various shops devoted to the sale of music and musical instruments; “trade” papers begp to hover as near the headquarters of Steinway Hall as was possible, while Fourteenth street took on an air of great importance in the business world.
Some Past History.
Any history of the great house of Steinway cannot begin when the building was finished in 1865 but must go back to the town of Seesen״ Germany, where William Steinway was born, March 5, 1836. His father, Henry E. Steinway, was a prosperous piano manufacturer of that town, so from his earliest childhood William was associated with the piano industry. He showed very early in life that music was of especial interest and importance to him, for he had mastered the piano and when only fourteen years of age could play difficult music; and more, he also understood the practical side of the instrument, as he tuned pianos for concert use, a remarkable feat for a fourteen-year-old boy.
While the business in Germany was flourishing and extending, politics became involved in that country. As early as 1839 Henry Steinway had exhibited one grand, one three-stringed and one two-stringed pianos in the State Fair at Brunswick, Germany, receiving a first prize, as well as the highest praise, for the tone and workmanship of the instruments. But the political situation became so involved that in 1850 Henry Steinway came to New York, his son William accompanying him, with the other members of the family, including the eldest son, C. F., Theodore Steinway remaining in See-sen to look after the business there So it was that in the year 1850 the Steinway house became Americanized and the substantial foundation was built that has resulted in the present world-wide growth and knowledge of that institution.
Choice of Profession.
At the age of fourteen the choice was given William Steinway either of taking up a trade or of being educated as a musician. He chose the trade and became an apprentice to William Nunns & Co., of 88 Walker street. After working there for three years he joined his father and his brothers, Charles and Henry, in founding the house of Steinway. In order to learn American ways and to have a solid foundation for their future work, Henry Steinway and his three sons worked for three years in different piano factories of New York and perfected their knowledge of piano building. Then they began business in a small way in a rear building on Varick street. With only a few workmen the Steinways built one square piano a week, father and sons doing their share in the work. William made the sound boards, and while there were many people in New York City who thought that no piano was of any merit unless it was imported from Europe, the beauty and power as well as the fine workmanship in the Steinway instruments attracted attention, and the piano became established in musical circles as well as in public favor. The Steinway piano conquered for itself.