Steinway and Sons

By Richard K. Lieberman

Book Overview

The Steinway--once called the "instrument of the immortals"--is more than the preeminent American piano. It is also a symbol of Old World craftsmanship combined with American capitalism, of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300068506
• ISBN13: 9780300068504
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

The best book on Steinway's history and its pianos

Lieberman is the director of the archives that house the Steinway collection, and writes as a knowledgeable insider. The history of the family and its pianos is told, from its beginnings in Germany, up through the sale to CBS and the Birminghams (the sale to the Selmer Company in 1995 happened after the publication of the book.) As a bonus, there's a great history of Yamaha pianos and its fierce competition with Steinway. It's well-written and there are numerous photos. This is great reading, and a wonderful resouce for anyone interested in music or pianos.

Steinwway & Sons is a superb family and social history.

Steinway & Sons is a rich, absorbing history of a business dynasty that stayed vital over six generations. Lieberman astutely analyzes the twin forces of creativity and hard-nosed business sense that made and sustained Steinway's preeminence as the concert piano of choice. This richly anecdotal book does not shy away from the dark side of the family's history-- its contempt for the piano workers, its unthinking patriarchy, even its active cultivation of the Nazis in Germany during World War II. (In America Steinway emphasized its patriotism by draping its conert hall with American flags and publicizing the Steinway sons who were serving in the American armed forces.) In this balanced account, Lieberman takes pains to catalogue the family's numerous contributions to the conert piano's evolution, as well as its unceasing promotion of the finest artists. The Steinways' mixture of creative technical innovation, fine musical taste and ruthless business practices makes them a family of particular fascination. Lieberman brings the various figures, strong and weak and flawed, to vibrant life.

This book is an absorbing social history of our times

Lieberman's book is a wonderful and absorbing social history of our times disguised as a family history. The book covers a journey which begins in the 1850s and ends in the 1980s when this manufacturer of exquisite pianos was sold to a larger corporate entity, CBS. The story reads like a novel because it is a dramatic family and corporate tale that unfolds as you read.

A captivating saga of an important New York immigrant family

Richard K. Lieberman's "Steinway & Sons" delighted me. As a writer doing research into late nineteenth-century New York, I found Lieberman's saga of this German family bringing its craftsmen's tradition to New York and making out very well indeed fascinating. The members of the family come alive in all their shrewdness and occasional peccadilloes. Lieberman does a fine job of tracing how the public's regard for the piano changed overtime. He also brings to life the internal contradiction within the company. On the one hand they wanted recognition as the makers of the finest concert grands, on the other hand the money was in selling to the mass market which wanted cheap pianos for home entertainment. This is a great read, even if the only instrument you play is a tape deck.

This is a fabulous book.

Steinway & Sons is one of the best books of its kind I have ever read. It's carefully researched, informative, entertaining, and clearly written. It's an exceptional example of scholarship that brings to life times gone by, looking through the lens of the Steinway saga. Read this book! You won't be sorry!