The newest member of the music department arrived with great fanfare on
Thursday, October 2, 2008. The audience members of the packed Lutz Hall watched the
unveiling of the brand new Steinway and Sons grand piano. Dr. Eric
Fung officially introduced and christened it with a performance of
Andrei Schulz-Evler’s Concert Arabesque on motifs by Johann Strauss By the Beautiful Blue Danube .
Following is the official text for the ceremony:
The Steinway D Concert Grand Piano
A gift to the students and faculty of Lebanon Valley College
from The Otto Haas Charitable Trust #2
October 2, 2008
A bit of background
For
many years, a nine-foot Steinway model D concert grand piano with a
walnut veneer graced the Lutz Hall stage. In 1992, the piano was
purchased at auction and given to the College by the late Dr. D. Clark
Carmean H’85 and his wife, Edna Jenkins Carmean ’59, H’85. That instru
ment
served the College well, but over the past several years its sound
became compromised. While most casual listeners found the sound
palatable, it was not in a condition that enabled the College to
attract artists to play in Lutz Hall.
For
major concerts featuring a piano, the seven-foot Steinway B in
Zimmerman Recital Hall is used. The Zimmerman Steinway produces a fine
sound and is appropriate for the size of the Recital Hall, which seats
approximately 175 audience members. However, that sound is not
sufficient to project in the 532-seat Lutz Hall, especially if an
orchestra is present.
In
2007, Steinway technicians were called in to study the instrument in
Lutz. They determined that it could be rebuilt but with no guarantee
that the problems would be resolved. However, the walnut veneer was
valuable. Reifsnyder’s Pianos and Organs of Lancaster, the area’s
authorized Steinway dealer, offered to purchase the instrument from the
College for $20,000. Those funds were set aside to purchase a new
Steinway once the College saved or raised the remaining funds needed.
In
May of 2008, College Trustee Daniel K. Meyer, M.D.’81, a graduate of
the music department, and his partner, Frederick R. Haas, learned of
the College’s desire to purchase a new Steinway for Lutz Hall. With
their encouragement, the Otto Haas Charitable Trust #2 made a gift to
the College of $100,000 so that a new Steinway could be purchased and
put into use immediately.
A
new Steinway D carries a retail price of $111,400, which reflects its
hand-made quality. In the words of Dr. Dennis Sweigart ’63, professor
of music, “Steinway has proven to be the most reliable manufacturer of
pianos in the world. Among musicians, it is recognized as the most
beautiful and desirable instrument for practice, performance, and
recording. In purely financial terms, Steinway is the only piano that
actually appreciates in value over time.”
Choosing the new Steinway
On
September 19, 2008, a group of LVC faculty and staff members, along
with Dan Meyer and Fred Haas, traveled to the Steinway factory in New
York City. Bill Crabtree, the president of Reifsnyder’s, and his vice
president for institutional sales, Jim Strite, hosted the LVC team. The
group included Professors Eric Fung, Mark Mecham, Shelly
Moorman-Stahlman, and Dennis Sweigart, along with LVC Vice Presidents
Anne Berry and Deb Fullam. During the factory visit, the LVC faculty,
Meyer, and Haas privately tested five different Steinway D pianos.
After much discussion and spirited comparison of the instruments, they
chose the piano that will be unveiled today. The College’s new piano
was completed the day before the LVC team arrived at the factory, on
the same day that the company’s former President and Chairman,
Henry Z. Steinway, died at the age of 93. A
great grandson of the firm’s founder, Mr. Steinway was actively
involved with the Company up to the time of his death. Thus, the
Steinway D that was chosen for LVC, Serial #583604, was the last D
model piano built during Mr. Steinway’s lifetime.
The
piano was crated for transportation, personally received at the factory
by Reifsnyder’s, and delivered to campus.
Remarks by President MacDonald:
Today is a special celebration to mark the arrival of the College’s new Steinway concert grand piano.
We
welcome new faculty and staff when they join the community, and we do
the same with our students at the annual fall academic convocation. But
I do not believe I’ve ever welcomed something that doesn’t move or
speak until touched by others. But when this piano is touched, it speaks and sings in a manner unmatched.
The
Steinway that used to occupy this space was purchased for the College
by our late friends Clark and Edna Carmean. At the time, it was quite
expensive even when purchased used at an auction, but the College could
never have afforded a new Steinway. It is often said that “Steinways
are built to outlast their owners,” but they do not live forever. The
Carmean Steinway served us well, but outlived its useful life and
needed to be replaced. It was the dream of our music faculty that we
finally purchase a new
Steinway concert grand piano, an instrument with sound to reach all
corners of this hall, and enthrall audiences for the next several
generations of LVC students.
But,
a new Steinway of this caliber carries a very dear price, and we
believed that we would have to wait until we could find the funds to
pay for it. However, one of our trustees is Dr. Daniel K. Meyer, Class
of 1981 and a graduate of the music department. When he heard of the
need, he and his partner, Fred Haas, responded and arranged a gift that
would allow us to purchase the Steinway immediately.
Dan and Fred could not be with us today, but I and others have thanked them for making our new Steinway a reality.
Technical specifications about the Steinway D Concert Grand Piano (Courtesy of Steinway & Sons)
Since
1853, Steinway pianos have set an uncompromising standard for sound,
touch, beauty, and investment value. Handcrafting each Steinway
requires up to one full year – creating an instrument of rare quality
and global renown. Not surprisingly, Steinway remains the choice of
nine out of ten concert artists, and countless pianists, composers, and
performers around the world.
Length: 8 feet, 11.75 inches
Width: 61.25 inches
Weight: 990 pounds
Finish: Ebonized satin finish, completely hand-rubbed.
Rim
Made
entirely from hard rock maple; 18 laminations; continuous bent, both
inner and outer form one single rim; unequaled strength and stability.
Thickness: 3 1/4".
Braces
5
solid spruce braces with a volume of 4,052 cu. in.; spruce provides
tensile strength with less weight. Maple dowels fasten the braces to
the rim producing a single homogenous foundation upon which is built
the entire tonal component. A cast iron treble bell, affixed to rim's
underside at treble bend, holds the plate firmly in position by means
of a steel bolt. The Steinway & Sons iron wedge anchors the brace
ends securely to the crossblock assuring permanent rim posture.
Pinblock
Hexagrip
patented design; 7 laminations of quartered hardrock maple stock. The
grain is symmetrically distributed at successive angles of 45° or 90°
employing grain direction uniformly around the circumference of the
tuning pin to provide the ultimate in pin grippage. As a result of this
exclusive design, the tuning pin has smoother movement under torque, a
more uniform retaining action for solid setting, and a piano which will
hold its tuning longer.
Soundboard
Created
like the soundboard of violins to give a free and even response
throughout the entire scale, it is so constructed as to be 9 mm thick
in the center and tapered to 6 mm as it approaches the rim and outer
case before being double crowned. This design permits complete freedom
of movement, while acting as a homogenous unit to displace a greater
amount of air, thereby creating a richer and more lasting tonal
response. Close-grained, quarter-sawn Sitka spruce, a wood having
unusual stability and vibrance under stress and vibration, is used
exclusively for the soundboard.
Ribs
Made
from durable, resinous sugar pine to assure strong and constant support
of string down-bearing on the soundboard. The rib ends are hand-fitted
into their mounting surfaces virtually locking in the important
soundboard crown.
Bridges
Treble:
Hard rock maple vertical laminations capped with solid hard rock maple;
planed to prescribed height, graphite coated, drilled, and notched by
hand for precise individual string bearing. Design defies splitting.
Bass: Continuous with treble. Maple doweled, glued, and screwed to
soundboard.
Scale
Overstrung; combination agraffe; Front and rear duplex. Tension: 45,373 lbs.
Plate
Sturdy gray iron; filled, hand-milled, and sealed; bronzed and lacquered.
Tuning Pins
Premium blued steel with rust-resistant, nickeled heads.
Strings:
Treble:
Twelve whole & one-half sizes from high-tensile Swedish steel.
Bass: Swedish steel core wire wound with pure copper. Longest, agraffe
to bridge: 79 1/4".
Hammers
18.5-pound
premium wool top felt over premium wool under felt; treated to resist
insects and moisture. Compression-wired to retain permanent shape. Hard
birch moldings. Shanks formed from select resilient maple.
Dampers
Horizontal-cut premium wool for effective dampening. Maple heads for endurance.
Action
White,
quarter-sawn maple parts are bushed with specially treated wool action
cloth for freedom from friction. Parts are anchored in hard maple
dowels housed in inflexible seamless brass tubing to assure precise and
stable regulation. Exclusive single, combination phosphor bronze
repetition and fly spring provides constant crisp touch response.
Specially designed to respond 14% faster fortissimo and 6% faster pianissimo by using an exclusive combination of half-round balance rail bearings and strategically placed key leads.
Keys
Bavarian
spruce, individually weighed-off. Chip-proof, stain-resistant coverings
for naturals; slip-proof, delicately abraded ebonized sharps. Tough,
durable Linden wood buttons reinforce keys over balance rail permitting
maximum tonal power with every strike. Longest: 24 1/2".
Keybed
Made
from planks of stable, quarter-sawn spruce. Horizontal planks are
freely mortised together, while their ends are permanently mortised
into vertical planks, presenting a vented system for humidity
escapement while allowing for necessary expansion and contraction.
Front center is crowned contrasting the reverse-crowned action frame
for snug fit. This design intensifies key movement and prevents
"slapping" during heavy playing. Large maple dowel ends provide a solid
mount for adjustable brass touch-regulating screws. Thickness: 1-3/4".
Pedals
Heavy, solid brass. Soft, sustaining, and full sostenuto.
(all pictures: © Jeff Snyder)
