Bechstein - A Short History

 Carl Bechstein had a firm grasp of piano making while still a young man, he also had an acute understanding of how to use publicity to further his business. His first grand piano was built in 1856 - a piano on which Hans von Bulow gave a concert playing Liszt's piano sonata. This concert earned the Bechstein Piano universal praise, and thus Bechstein became a piano-making force to be reckoned with!

The following year, Hans von Bulow is believed to have written that, "Bechstein is, in my opinion, the foremost maker of grand pianos in Germany, although he has built only three so far..." In 1861, still seeking to further the cause of Bechstein Pianos, he wrote to Klindworth insisting that the Bechstein Piano be properly demonstrated at the upcoming International Exhibition in London.

Sure enough, at the 1862 London Industrial Exhibition, Bechstein was awarded the English Grand Prix. The pianos were described as "distinguished by outstanding freshness and breadth of tone, quality of play and uniformity of the different registers..."

The Bechstein Piano appealed to the musical elite and to numerous Royal Households. In 1881, a Bechstein Piano was sent to Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. In 1885 what was to become the largest dealership in Europe was opened in London. During the early years of the 20th century the list of royal clients grew to include the tsars of Russia and the royal families of Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Austria and Denmark.

The annual production from the Bechstein factories grew steadily. In 1900, annual production was about 3,700 pianos. By 1910, this had increased to about 4,600. 

Bechstein Pianos still have the something of their 'freshness and breadth of tone'! The build quality is legendary and even today, many pre 1900 Bechstein Pianos are thought worthy of total rebuilding. The Bechstein Piano deserves its status as one of the foremost Piano Makers of all time. 

© Steve Burden

Hopkinson - A Short History

In 1835 at Leeds in Yorkshire, the Hopkinson family music-selling business was established. A few years later two of the brothers, John and James had retail premises in the centre of Leeds. Nearby, the Kirk family were making pianos and it is not too fanciful to suppose the Hopkinson brothers would take some of the Kirk pianos to sell in their music shop - the close proximity would have kept transport costs much lower than buying pianos from London or Birmingham.

Elizabeth Hopkins, John and James' widowed mother had a relative working at Kirk's piano building business who's name was Edward Barker Gowland. Barker was Elizabeth's maiden name.

John, the senior brother in the business, took Edward Barker Gowland and set off to London to start building his own pianos in 1846. Edward Gowland was his workshop foreman. James stayed to manage the business back in Leeds.

In 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition, the factory was employing nearly 50 men and John had patented a new grand piano action for which he won a Prize Medal! All very good publicity for the relatively new firm which by now was known as J & J Hopkinson.

At the Great Exhibition there was some reservations about how open some of the exhibitors were about their products. Copying ideas from other makers was thought to be a nuisance. The new, patented action was kept hidden for the duration. Close inspection was thus prevented. Piano actions were notorious for misfiring under certain conditions and the more complicated the design, the more likely problems would occur. 

James came down to join John in 1856 leaving Thomas, the youngest Hopkinson brother to manage affairs in Leeds. The Piano making business continued to thrive so that in 1866 a completely new factory was built at Fitzroy Road, Camden Town.

Having seen the business firmly established at Fitzroy Road, just 3 years later John Hopkinson the senior retired to North Wales. The next generation of Hopkinsons were not so keen about piano making - one eventually moving up to Scotland, the other rather more interested in Zoology. The business was sold in 1919. 

While there was no further family involvement in piano building, the Hopkinson name  was still put on pianos for many decades. The ownership of the names passed through the hands of various makers who's output was very modest. I remember during the 1980s the Hopkinson name appearing on a piano made at Bentley's in Stroud. 

© Steve Burden

Collard & Collard - A Short History

The history of Collard & Collard begins around 1760. The story starts with a Music Publishing Company called Longmann & Broderip who dabbled in making pianos. Muzio Clementi, whose many compositions were published by Longmann & Broderip was interested in having a piano-making facility and, being wealthy, he invested in the piano factory and brought in his associates F.W. & W.P Collard to manage it. 

Clementi traveled widely and sold Pianos along with his compositions.

Orders were sent back to London from wherever Clementi visited - he was a very shrewd businessman. At this time, the company was called Clementi & Company. 

F.W. Collard introduced improvements to their pianos, on the strength of which, they took a significant share of the market. When Clementi died in 1832, the firm became known as Collard & Collard. By this time the pianos were solidly built by craftsmen and had a proven reliability.

The Diary of a Nobody  was published in 1892, written by George & Weeden Grossmith. This charming book is a classic of English literature, telling the story of a Mr. Charles Pooter and describes mundane life in late Victorian England. One anecdote involves a new cottage piano - bought on the three years' system, manufactured by W. Bilkson (in small letters) from Collard & Collard (in very large letters). Collards were by this time at least a well-known household name.

Collard & Collard had established themselves as makers of good quality and reliable pianos. They continued to be popular well into the early 20th century. In the late 1920s the piano trade was having to adjust to the harsh realities of very poor sales. Many long-established makers had to close, those whose 'names' were deemed to have value were bought by the stronger of the surviving companies.

Collard & Collard was eventually bought by Chappells.

© Steve Burden

Brinsmead - A Short History

John Brinsmead began life in rural Devon and among his early ambitions was that of being a farmer! His elder brother Henry moved up to London and began building his own pianos in 1835 and for a couple of years he and John worked together. After a falling out John set up business on his own.

Increased production levels put severe strain on the site of the original factory at Chenies Street and so a purpose-built factory was opened in 1874 at Grafton Road, Kentish Town. Some 15 or so years later an extension was needed to cope with the demand created  by strong sales abroad.

The firm went from strength to strength supported by the factory at Kentish Town and the showrooms at Wigmore Street. Part of the success was due to John’s very close watch on quality control and his knack at self-promotion! This not very ‘English’ trait did not go down well with the likes of Broadwood and Collard. However, timidity does not yield rocketing sales.

1899 Brinsmead became a Limited Company managed by Horace Brinsmead - John’s youngest son. Horace set about modernising the the business and introduced 10 new models by 1900. Alas, another family fall out led to Horace leaving the firm  in 1903.

John Brinsmead died in 1908 and in the spring of 1921, the firm was declared insolvent. There had been difficulties for Brinsmead’s for at least a decade but the manager, Henry Billinghurst had even considered closure about 1912. He had made careful plans to reduce the the severity of the fallout as much as possible. 

In 1921 the name and goodwill of John Brinsmead & Sons was purchased by Walter Saville of J. B. Cramer. The further production of Brinsmead pianos was transfered to the Saville factory very close by at Castle Road, Kentish Town.

A new range of pianos were introduced with the Brinsmead name designed by one of the Cramer workers. These pianos were the same as the Cramer pianos of the time but had the Brinsmead nameplate.

Walter Saville squired a number of brand names: Justin browne, Metzler, George Russell. In 1964 the whole company was sold to Kemble & Co. 

© Steve Burden

Bosendorfer - A Short Early History

There were many piano builders in Vienna in 1828 when Ignaz Bosendorfer began building his pianos.  At 19, Ignaz Bosendofer began an apprenticeship with the organ & piano builder Joseph Brodman.

When he was 34 years old he took over the Brodman workshops and set about improving their pianos. The Viennese pianos were traditionally mellow in sound with a light and easy touch of the action. Improving the construction allowed for heavier strings and a stronger action, thus making the tone much more like that of the modern piano. 

In the piano world, high quality speaks for itself - the rugged reliability of Bösendorfer pianos won the admiration of virtuosos. Franz Liszt, known for his formidable technique found it difficult to find a piano that could withstand his vigourous playing - until friends suggested he try a Bosendorfer Piano for his recitals.

Using a Bosendorfer, he was impressed to find at the end of the recital, the piano was undamaged! This sensational moment established the Bosendorfer Piano's reputation and their long association with Franz Liszt who wrote, “The perfection of a Bösendorfer exceeds my most ideal expectations...”

Bösendorfer Pianos were soon exported to the rest of Europe and overseas so that Bosendorfer became the best-known of all Austrian pianos.

About 1860, Ludwig Bösendorfer succeeded his father in carrying on the business and moving to a new factory in New Vienna. Bösendorfer had to move again ten years later to cope with the growing demand for Bosendorfer Pianos.

© Steve Burden