Welmar - A Short History

The story of the Welmar piano begins at the end of the first world war. The hardships of the post-war economy gave the piano trade an uphill struggle as it sought to re-establish sales and profitability. Whelpdale and Maxwell began business in 1876 importing Bluthner pianos from Germany and until the war, they had built a strong business on the qualities of the Bluthner pianos. In 1919, the public were now unhappy about buying German pianos, and Whelpdale & Maxwell had to find an alternative source of income until the mood against German pianos had softened.

Cremona Ltd. of Camberwell, London, made pianos for the trade and used names like Squire & Longson, Ronson and Paul Newman. In 1919 Whelpdale & Maxwell commissioned Cremona Ltd to make pianos using the trade name Welmar.

The Cremona team continued to develop and improve their pianos - particularly the metal frame and the soundboard. But in 1929, disaster hit when the factory was burnt down. The company never recovered from the catastrophy and closed the business in 1934.

Whelpdale Maxwell & Codd (as it now was), managed to acquire the Cremona designs, jigs and templates and began making Cremona-designed pianos but using the Welmar name at a new factory at Clapham Park Road. 

Production continued at Clapham until 2001, when, at an extremely difficult time for the piano trade, all was moved for a short time, to Stroud in Gloucestershire.

The Welmar piano has always been appreciated by serious piano players and students. They were built with the Bluthner tone in mind, by craftsmen devoted to the art of piano-building. Welmar pianos are almost universally admired by piano tuners! And, as they are generally hard to please - this is no small achievement.

© Steve Burden

 

Bluthner - A Short History

At Leipzig, in 1853 Julius Bluthner began making pianos. The qualities of Bluthner Pianos soon won them recognition among the great names of the piano trade and among the Royal Courts of numerous countries - Queen Victoria, the Russian Tsar and many others owned Bluthner Pianos!

Julius Bluthner worked hard at creating a network of international contacts to ensure he could establish a truly global demand for his pianos. Here in the UK, Whelpdale, Maxwell & Codd was founded in 1876 - purely to import Bluthner Pianos. 

After surviving the First World War, and then the Great Depression, the business suffered a severe blow when, during the Second World War, their factory was bombed in an air raid in 1943. The difficult, East German politics of the time meant recovery was very slow. However, production of Bluthner Pianos began once more in 1948.

The firm was nationalised in the 1970s but in 1990, the business was given back to the Bluthner family.

People still talk about the ‘Bluthner’ tone! The beauty of a good piano is found in its tone - Somehow, the Bluthner pianos, more often than not, seemed to get it right! Solidly built to last, many Bluthner pianos, 100 years old or more, are still being used and often still sounding as clear and pure as ever. People love them!

For a while Bluthners used their own Patent Action - vastly different from what has become the standard ‘roller’ action. These patent actions used a slightly shallower touch, but when working properly are, even now, a delight to play! 

Another notable innovation was the ‘Aliquot’ system: a 4th string was given to the upper two thirds of the treble strings. This 4th string was not struck by the hammer but was left to pick up the vibrations of the notes ‘sympathetically’ - the result was a very subtle extra layer of harmonic overtones. Quality has a voice of its own! In a Bluthner Piano, this voice is always in good form!

© Steve Burden