Restore that heirloom!

Restoration of Early Pianos

The difficulties involved with restoring antique pianos and returning them to playing condition are considerable. Little is known about the special tools, building methods and the materials used by early builders, particularly during the first hundred and fifty years of piano history, when the wood-framed fortepiano reached an extraordinary state of perfection. Replacement materials, including hammers, dampers, action parts, and even suitable strings are usually not available. In the case of very early pianos which do not incorporate cast-iron frames, and often have hammers made of laminated leather, both the restorer of original instruments and the replica builder face considerable challenges in their pioneering attempts to duplicate the craftsmanship and the materials of the original builders. The large number of early fortepianos which have survived, often with original strings, hammers, keyboards and case finishes, is a tribute to both the excellent skill and high quality materials used by period builders. After an interruption of over one hundred years in the building of fortepianos, it is not surprising that modern replica makers and restorers must struggle to recreate the mastery of builders who grew up in a flourishing tradition of competitive hand craftsmanship. The skill of famous builders such as Stein, Walter, Graf and Streicher live on in their instruments, but their methods were not adequately described in writing at the time. Famous makers obviously wanted to maintain their competitive edge and they jealously guarded their secret building procedures.

Working with antique pianos requires an enormous amount of thought and care. Every instrument presents its own unique problems and challenges. An antique instrument must not be approached as though it were inherently technically inferior to the modern piano. All attempts to "modernize" an antique piano using new soundboards, pinblocks, modern music wire, and oversize felt hammers and dampers in place of the original materials, must be assiduously avoided. An antique instrument is reduced in importance in direct proportion to the number of original parts which have been removed. One of the definitions of the noun "restoration" is "to put back into nearly or quite the original form." The task of the restorer who hopes to enhance the instruments in his care is to retain and preserve as much of the original instrument as possible.

Increasingly, the curators of museums and musical instrument collections are beginning to question whether the rare musical instruments in their trust should be restored or played at all. Clumsy restoration often diminishes the historical value of an instrument, and playing them inevitably results in deterioration and wear and tear on original parts. Our right to hear the sound of historic instruments often conflicts with the obligation museums have to preserve the instruments for the scholars, researchers and replica builders of the future. Museums are full of instruments which have been greatly reduced in historical value through attempts to restore them and make them play.

Age is not the only consideration which determines if an instrument should receive special consideration. Any piano, particularly if it has special qualities such as an elaborate art case, limited production, manufacture by a famous maker, unusual technical features and outstanding musical qualities, is potentially historically important. Instruments owned by famous musicians have particular importance. The Broadwood, Erard and Graf fortepianos owned by Beethoven, the Pleyel owned by Chopin, Paderewski's Steinway and Bartok's Bechstein are all obviously important instruments, as they provide valuable information about the nature of piano sound in different generations. Many pianos built in the last fifty years are potentially important. The piano restorer must treat such instruments with great caution in order to preserve the intrinsic value of the instruments as historical documents. A musical instrument can be regarded both as a work of art and as a significant historical artifact because of what it can tell us about the history of culture, science and technology.

Several important considerations enter into the question of whether an instrument should or should not be restored and made playable. The age, condition and rarity of the instrument are of foremost consideration. If the instrument is one-of-a-kind and still in original condition, every caution must be taken to preserve and conserve the original parts. The goals in restoring a rare antique have to include preserving the instrument in original condition, saving, documenting and photographing anything which has to be removed, and protecting the instrument against further deterioration. Not every instrument can or should be made playable. In other circumstances the restoration may not result in one hundred percent satisfactory playability. Above all, the original components of the instrument, to the extent that they are still present, must be preserved and documented.

The work of a responsible restorer is always accompanied by a written report, supported by photographs, drawings, measurements, and a detailed explanation of the procedures used in the restoration. Moreover, any alterations should, if possible, be rendered reversible by using water soluble animal glues. It is also incumbent upon the restorer to offer suggestions for the continued preservation and maintenance of rare instruments.

The use of a skillfully made replica instrument instead of a restored original has numerous advantages. Replicas are usually less expensive and they can be transported and used in situations and environments which would be unsuitable for historical instruments. The motivation for the current fortepiano revival is that we should be allowed to hear the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and others on the instruments which the composers originally intended. Although replica builders are rapidly improving in their attempts to recreate the skill of period makers, it is still questionable whether modern replicas or restored original instruments are really as good as the new instruments used by Classic and Romantic period composers.