Becoming a cultural icon. The Steinway brothers all received a good cultural upbringing and all had musical talents; they all played the piano well, and William was a very good singer. More than any other brother, William can appreciate the significance of the success of the Steinway Company to the family. With his extraordinary eloquence, elegant manners and the unique shrewdness of the Steinway family, William mingled with the Manhattan elite and often sang accompaniment for famous artists at social gatherings. He was also a major philanthropist, with generous foundations at the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, and numerous other institutions. He was determined to make the name Steinway forever associated with the cultivation of American musical taste. One of Willliam's first tasks was to establish a Steinway piano showroom for musicians.
In 1866, behind the Steinway Company's 14th street showroom, William built the first Steinway Concert Hall. Judging from the building itself, this concert hall is simple but elegant. Its 2,000 seats make it the second largest gathering place in the city. Until Carnegie Hall opened in 1891, Steinway Hall was the centerpiece of New York's musical and cultural life. Not only concerts were held in this concert hall, but also lectures, readings of the works of Charles Dickens, the first piano concert transmitted by telephone (from a concert hall in Philadelphia), and oddly enough, even the occasional séance.
With the opening of Steinway Hall, the Steinway family played an important role in the cultural life of the city. For the Steinway family—especially William—business and art were inseparable. Steinway Hall is more than just a cultural tribute to the city of New York; it's a marketing tool. Every night during the performance season, listeners line up through the door under the name Steinway on the facade of the concert hall, then pass by the many pianos on display in the Steinway Showroom, and finally arrive at the concert hall.
The most important performance event in the history of Steinway Hall was in the autumn of 1872, when the famous Russian pianist Anton Rubinstein held his first and only American music concert in Steinway Hall. Will tour. Young Henry worked for years to win celebrity recognition for Steinway pianos, while William convinced Rubinstein to use a Steinway concert grand exclusively on tour. The publicity and prestige generated by Rubinstein's tours were unprecedented in the American music industry. This passionate, elegant musician is admired wherever he goes. For nearly eight months, he traveled across the United States, performing a concert almost every day. At his last farewell concert, which was also held at the Steinway Hall, when Rubinstein finished his last piece of music, people swarmed onto the stage and pulled at his clothes, trying to pull off a button or a small piece of cloth. As a souvenir. Weeping female spectators practically hugged him.
For eight feverish months, William and Rubinstein, a German and a Russian, changed the cultural landscape of America forever. From that moment on, playing a Steinway piano took on a different meaning. This means that whether it’s a farmer’s wife in Nebraska, a girl making her social debut in Manhattan, or an ordinary barroom pianist, the moment they sit down at a Steinway and start playing From now on, they can all claim to be connected to the perfect things in the world. Nowadays, famous pianists in the world hope to play Steinway pianos, which reflects the prestige that Steinway has always maintained. Theodore's Innovation After the deaths of Henry Jr. and Charles, William alone was not enough to save the company. So he quickly turned to Theodore for help.
Theodore has been running his own stores in Germany for the past 15 years. It was known throughout the family that he did not want to settle in the United States. But the news of the death of the two brothers forced him to come to the company's headquarters in New York to work with William. William and Theodore's 20 years of collaboration brought great results. William continued his efforts to associate the Steinway name with the world's elite of musicians, while Theodore improved the piano designed and built by Henry Jr. Theodore was a capable engineer and acoustician. He personally obtained 41 patents in the past 20 years, adding unimaginable performance to the piano. Unlike the improvements made by young Henry, most of Theodore's innovation patents - which are found in almost every piano today - are completely new inventions. These patents include a copper-iron alloy material that allows an existing frame to withstand double the string tension, interchangeable action assembly parts, and a device for pressing a single piece of laminated wood into a piano case shell (which makes the shell inflexible). prone to cracking) and perhaps the most original "double string array". Only one who, like Theodore, had the gift of finding uses for seemingly useless things could have invented the double chord sequence. Since the invention of the piano, the "sound section" of the strings that vibrate the bridge after being struck by the hammer has been limited by a fixed distance between the bridge and the tuning pegs. Piano manufacturers use felt dampers to prevent the fixed sounding sections of the strings from emitting discordant vibrations. Theodore studied this and decided to adjust the sound section by using a sliding metal strip, also called a "string string", that vibrates in harmony with the sound section of the strings. This innovation makes the sound richer, especially in the treble range. Steinway & Sons has been hand-making pianos since 1853 in New York, USA, and in Hamburg, Germany since 1880. Strict material selection standards, superb handcraftsmanship and successful business operations have made it the most famous top piano manufacturer in the world. Steinway's sister company, Boston Piano Company (BOSTON), is committed to developing BOSTON pianos and ESSEX pianos designed by Steinway's New York headquarters and manufactured by Steinway's Asian partners. , so that more consumers can enjoy Steinway’s brand services. All Steinway-designed products are exclusively promoted and sold by Steinway's approximately 160 authorized dealers.