Literature Related to Frames in Steinway Pianos

* The official report of the jury of musical instruments of the 1867 exposition in Paris, summarized the effects of Steinway’s use of iron frames in upright pianos and grand pianos as follows: (1, p. 311)

“Upright pianos have only been in use for a few years in the United States. The Messrs. Steinway have introduced new arrangements in the construction of this kind of instruments which ensure their solidity, so necessary in a climate so variable as that of the United States. These improvements consist of a double iron frame, with an attachment plate and bars, cast in a single piece. The left side of this frame is left open, and by this opening slides the sounding board, to this is adapted a special apparatus, which consists of a certain number of screws which serve to compress its edges at pleasure.”

“The success of this arrangement, with respect to beauty of sound and solidity of accord, induced the Messrs. Steinway to apply the same system to the construction of grand pianos, whose power of sound became more melodious and more sympathetic by means of this compression of the board at will. The Messrs. Steinway took out a patent, June 5, 1866, for this important improvement.”

* An 1884 article in Frank Leslie’s Sunday Magazine had a good review of how the full cast iron frame was used by Steinway & Sons with great effect starting in 1855, as shown in the following excerpt (2, pp. 513-140rence 2).:

“The introduction of this full iron frame was aided to a great extent by the excellence of the quality of American iron and the perfection which the art of casting had already attained at that period. The fact was indisputable, that the pianos thus made stood better in tune than those previously constructed; but one great defect was their thin and disagreeably nasal character of tone. For these salient reasons the new invention soon had quite as many opponents as admirers, so that until the year 1855, a large majority of the American manufacturers made no attempt to use it. Its opponents were especially numerous in New York, where, prior to 1855, as can be authentically proved, not one of the prominent makers used the full iron frame in the construction of their instruments. All the pianofortes manufactured in Boston by the Chickerings at that time had a full cast iron frame, the wrest-plank bridge being a portion of the same. Across the acute edge of this iron bridge the generally exceedingly thin strings were laid, and the action used in these pianos was without exception, what is styled “the English action.” In New York, on the contrary, the instruments made were provided with a small cast-iron hitch-pin plate and the “French action,” and they differed from the Boston pianos in possessing a much fuller and more powerful though at the same time less “singing” quality of tone.”

“The New York piano makers achieved in their instruments the capacity of standing in tune more permanently than had been previously accomplished, by greater solidity of construction and a heavy bracing of the case, and more particularly by the use of a solid bottom or bed (of a thickness of fully five inches), which however to some extent marred the elegant appearance of the instrument. By degrees a new difficulty manifested itself in the instruments thus made, for as their compass gradually extended, and finally reached seven, or seven and one third octaves, it was found impossible to obtain the necessary power of resistance against “the pull” of the strings even by the most solid construction of the case when wood alone was the material used.”

“It therefore became necessary to apply the iron frame, but in such a manner as to avoid the result previously described as so objectionable, in order that the piano might lose none of its fullness and power of tone.”

“This successful result was first achieved by the firm of Steinway 8 Sons, of New York, who in 1855, constructed a piano with a solid front bar and full iron frame, the latter covering the wrest-plank, the wrest-plank bridge, however, being made of wood. The brace which in the treble connected the “hitch-pin plate” with the wrest-plank plate, was slightly elevated above the strings, and ran in a different direction to the latter, namely, exactly to the angle at which the wrest-plank had to sustain the pull of the strings. The bridges of the sounding-board were grouped in such a manner, that they were moved considerably nearer to the middle of the latter, and at the same time the lineal length of these bridges was increased by placing the bass strings of the instrument over the others - or overstringing them - over three nearly parallel bridges, thus increasing the length of the latter over the sounding-board, viz: from forty to sixty eight inches, their position being removed from the iron covered edges of the case nearer to the centre of the sounding board. The results achieved by this novel construction were in every way most successful. The first instrument made on this plan received, by a unanimous verdict of the jury, the first prize, a gold medal, at the exhibition of the American Institute at the Crystal Palace in New York, in 1855. This new method of construction very soon became the standard for all manufacturers in that and other cities, and, as far as can be ascertained, all square pianos manufactured in the United States at the present time are to a greater or less extent, constructed in with this system.”

* Fanny Morris Smith, in her 1892 book, makes several notes about the significance of the iron frame as developed by the Steinways.

o “This iron frame, the work of American genius, constitutes the creative feature of the piano of to-day. (3, p. 78)

o “This arched frame, with its braces, is the famous “cupola” which, like the fan-scale, revolutionized piano-making.” (3, p. 82)

o Theodor Steinway developed higher strength cast iron for use in the metal frames of pianos that permitted increased tensile loads being applied by the strings. (3, p. 120)

* An 1893 review of Fanny Morris Smith’s book summarizes the impact of the Steinways on piano making in America as follows: “Briefly stated the American improvements in piano making up to about 1855 had for their main object to render the instrument more solid and better able to withstand the changes of temperature. The corner stone of the American piano is the iron frame which was invented by Alpheus Babcock, of Boston, in 1825: and brought to greater perfection by Jonas Chickering in 1838. Chickering, by the aid of the iron frame, was able to make a wider instrument and thus to come by a circular Scale which afforded the hammers a better chance. Meanwhile, about 1846, felt was used for hammers by the famous old firm of Nunns & Clark, and other makers had experimented with wider Scales. So when the Steinways began they started with a pianoforte which was practically a summary of about every real improvement that had been made up to that time. They had the iron frame, which no New York maker was using at the time, the felt hammers, the wide circular scale, and, in addition to these points, they brought out one of their own - either in their very first instruments or within two years there after - the overstrung scale. This was not new with the Steinways, but they were the first to apply it successfully. But from that time until this it has been a career of rivalry between them and their leading competitors, who have followed their various enchantments in much the same Spirit as the Egyptian Sorcerers the miracles of Moses - like the former, almost always succeeding in accomplishing each new result by a method slightly different. (4, p. 350)

* The 1895 issue of Appletons’ Cyclopaedia has the following interesting excerpt regarding the cast iron frames produced and used by Steinway and Sons: “The same critical care is exercised in the production of all the metallic portions of the instrument, and in the foundry skill of no common order is brought to the accurate casting of the iron frames or plates. Some seventy of these are simultaneously east. Samples of the metal are always subjected to proof-stress in a testing machine. The metal employed contains 3.34 per cent. of carbon as graphite and 1.20 per cent. of silicon, besides manganese and sulphur. This in strength and lightness resembles cast steel, and is found to be especially well suited for its purpose.” (5, p. 504)

* The 1896 book by Hipkins summarizes the large impact of the full iron frame coupled with overstringing that was introduced by Steinway in the 1850s, as follows: “We now come to the grand piano of Steinway & Sons, of New York—an invention patented by Henry Engelhard Steinway in that city, December 20, 1859—anticipated in a similarly made square piano, exhibited for the first time at the American Institute in New York in 1855. The grand piano was played upon in public, for the first time, at the New York Academy of Music, on February 8, 1859. It is hardly necessary to say the square piano, as an instrument, has been for years superseded by the grand and upright pianos. With respect to Steinway's invention—in its broad features the combination of a solid metal frame and overstringing— there can be no doubt it represents the flood-mark of American pianoforte making; what has been done since being to modify and further improve it according to the ideas and experience of the respective makers of different countries who have adopted it.” (6, p. 21)

* The 1904 issue of the Encyclopedia America has a list of the most important American piano inventions. The Steinway inventions related to cast iron frames in that list are as follows (pdf page 492 of Reference 7):

o 1855. Invention by Steinway & Sons, of New York, of the overstrung system and its iron frame, placing the strings in form of a fan, in square pianos.

o 1859. Invention by Steinway & Sons (United States patent, 20 Dec. 1859) of the overstrung system, with its strings in fanlike shape, and novel construction of the iron frame, in grand pianos; also the square
grand piano and novel agraffe bar (United States patent, November 1859).

o 1866. Invention (United States patent, June 1866) by Steinway & Sons of double iron frame and patent resonator (controlling tension of sounding boards) in upright pianos.

o 1872. Invention by Steinway & Sons (United States patent. May 1872) of the iron cupola and pier frame; also the grand duplex scale (United States patent. May 1872).

o 1874. Invention by Steinway & Sons (United States patents, October 1874) of the tone-sustaining pedal.

o 1875. Invention by Steinway & Sons (United States patents, October 1875) of concert grand with capo d'astro bar all cast in one piece, and design thereof. o 1885. Invention by Steinway & Sons (United States patent, March 1885) of double cupola iron frame in grand pianos.

* The 1911 book by Dolge summarizes the effects of the adoption or iron frames by Steinways as follows: (Pages 51 and 52 of Reference 8)

“At the World's Fair, in the Crystal Palace, New York, in 1855, Steinway & Sons created a sensation by exhibiting a square piano having the overstrung scale, and a full iron frame, designed on novel lines to conform with the varied and much increased strain of the new scale. In this instrument the Steinways had not only succeeded in producing a much greater, sonorous tone, than known heretofore, but had entirely overcome the harsh, metallic quality of tone, so objectionable in other pianos having the full iron frame. Although at first seriously objected to by many, the overstrung scale and full iron frame were soon adopted by all American makers.” Summary Regarding Iron Frames The many changes to the pianos associated with full iron frames introduced by the Steinways involved improvements to the frames that had been developed earlier in the industry but had not been optimized. The many detailed changes made by the Steinways eliminated the objectionable tinny tone of earlier pianos with full iron frames, and allowed the adoption of overstringing, with its increased volume and purity of tone.

Sources:

1. Fetis, M. “Official Report of the Jury Upon Musical Instruments of the Paris Exposition of 1867,” in Watson's Art Journal, Vol. 8, No. 24 (APRIL 4, 1868), pp. 309-312.
2. "The Pianoforte, Ancient and Modern," in Frank Leslie’s Sunday Magazine, Volume XV, January – June 1884, T. DeWitt Talmage, Ed. pp 509-515 (The author of this article is not identified in the reference).
3. Smith, Fanny Morris. A Noble Art, Three Lectures on the Evolution and Construction of the Piano. New York: The De Vinne Press, 1892.
4. Music, A Monthly Magazine, Volume III. W. S. B. Mathews, Ed. Nov. 1892 to April 1893, Published by W. S. B. Mathews, Chicago.
5. Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of Applied Mechanics, Volume II, Park Benjamin, Ed. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1895.
6. Hipkins, A. J. A Description and History of the Pianoforte and of the Older Keyboard Stringed Instruments. London and New York: Novello Ewer and Co., 1896.
7. Encyclopedia America, Volume 12, F. C. Beach, Editor in Chief, New York and Chicago, 1904.
Available at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015068387235&view=1up&seq=9
8. Dolge, Alfred. Pianos and Their Makers. Covina, California: Covina Publishing Company,, 1911; reproduced in 1972 by Dover Publications, New York, N.Y.