Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum A question about Peter Salisbury's 1899 Bechstein

This quote is from the C. Bechstein and Pierre Laurent Aimard thread about the 1899 Bechstein that Peter Salisbury bought and restored.

I have started this thread to ask Maestro Lennie's question about the piano's DNA.

In the Bechstein/Aimard video Peter Salisbury explained one reason the 1899 Bechstein sounds as it does. The unison strings are of unequal length. He thought Bechstein, Steinway and the industry may have missed a trick by dropping them a few years later.

Do you agree with him? Would you like some modern pianos to have a similar singing sound?

Here are the two videos from the original thread:
1. The Bechstein/Aimard video primed to start at Peter Salisbury's comments at 7:25
2. Kit Armstrong's Vierne Nocturne without his introductory words

My understanding as to why the design of the bias cut bridge was not "adopted" is that competing sales groups (other manufacturers) used it as a tool to sell their own "traditionally" constructed pianos. They would claim that the "non-traditional" bridge was a cover-up to enhance a faulty design issue in the piano:

"You see, they need to do that because they can't build a piano that will sing...so they have to resort to tricks like that to 'fix' their design mistakes. We don't need that...our pianos sing without that...notice that nobody else does that..."

This kind of competitive (and deceptive) sales tactic was very prevalent then, as piano a were big business. Competitors would quickly point to anything they could and tell the customer a "story" as to why their pianos were better...

Secondly, tuners didn't exactly like it either (similar to Mason & Hamlin screw stringers). It is admittedly a tough sell since serious explanation is required to justify it. I'm open to other explanations s well.

I still think its a great design (and hard to do...not every bellyman can do it well).

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

Peter, I imagine you are right about market forces.

This may be anathema to you, and I only ask, but with CAD and CNC could some of the "hard" precision work be done by machine?

Ian,

Probably yes. The big question would be (to a manufacturer) is there enough improvement to warrant the extra work and design change? That is not something I am equipped to answer. It would require significant side by side testing to figure it.out.

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

Tuners are "trained" to think that unisons are supposed to be totally "pure", and anything that stands in the way of that is "wrong" or "defective". This comes from the days when it was impossible to "micro-inspect" string vibrations. It was ASSUMED that once the tuner got the unison "beatless" that all three strings were at the exact same pitch/frequency. Well the facts are that this is not (in fact hardly ever.. approaching never) the case. The degree of deviance depends on the circumstances and in actual fact, if the strings are in fact tuned electronically to the exact same frequency (individually) the unison will rarely (if ever) sound it's best.

However it is difficult to break this hard core thinking, and since it is open to interpretation ("mis-tuning, mal-tuning, sloppiness, etc etc) many refuse to accept it. "Color" and "purity" are both terms difficult to fully quantify or describe accurately.

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

BTW, here is another recording from the Wigmore Hall, this time with Kit Armstrong, who also gives a short introduction:

Snap!

After that recording, you mentioned the piano went off to Berlin for some recording sessions. Do you know if any of those Berlin recordings are available?

Leading question: do you think Bechstein might ever produce such a piano again with different unison string lengths if only for show?

Honestly I doubt they would remake the instruments of the past because while they were extremely beautiful, they aren’t now regarded as the most versatile in terms of current tastes. I know that’s a personal question of aesthetics and taste but it’s my tuppenceworth on the matter

Independent restorers could though. With a new cap it's perfectly feasible if the skills are there. I know I do not have the skill to do it.

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

Or could bridge agraffes be designed to accomplish the same result? It seems like something Stuart & Sons or Phoenix could easily experiment with or offer as an alternative design.

Larry.

Anyway, the new recording sounds fantastic!

https://www.horizonsmusic.co.uk/pro...-viola-sonatas-op-120-zwei-gesange-op-91

This is what you've all been waiting for.

Thank you OE1FEU! Or here from Presto Classical, where you can sample the tracks.

Thank you, OE1FEU and David for the link. Captivating Brahms - viola, piano and baritone. Not to be missed, samples or the CD.

Great "close-ups" of the piano sound.