Blüthner

Blüthner, formally Julius Blüthner Pianofortefabrik GmbH, is a piano-manufacturing company founded by Julius Blüthner in 1853 in Leipzig Germany.^[1]

History

Julius Blüthner established his workshop in Leipzig, Germany in 1853. This accomplishment was only achieved after a long and difficult campaign to gain Leipzig citizenship. Julius started his endeavor with himself and three other craftsman. A deeply religious man, Julius spoke the defining words that would allow his company to survive and flourish for the next 156 years, "May God Prevail". And with that the first saw cut was made and the first Blüthner piano was underway.

By 1900 Blüthner had become the largest piano maker in Germany producing some 5,000 instruments annually. Innovations such as the Aliquot string, a fourth string that vibrated sympathetically and that is tuned in unison as well as the cylindrical soundboard and angle cut hammers created a unique voice for the Blüthner instrument.

Models

Blüthner grand piano

Today Blüthner makes Blüthner pianos which are of the highest hand made quality. They come in several sizes of grands from 5ft to 9ft in size. They also make several sizes of vertical pianos. They make pianos with most any style of cabinets and veneers with custom orders. Blüthner pianos are hand made so they take custom orders.

They also make several models of Haessler pianos in their German factory.

They also make two lines of Irmler pianos.

Designer models

The one-of-a-kind Blüthner piano of particular interest was the special lightweight instrument, made for use on the Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg. The piano had its harp plate made of aluminum, that saved about 100 kg of weight versus a regular cast iron plate of the same size piano. This was the first piano used in flight,^{[citation needed]} and it was used in an "air-concert" radio broadcast.^[2] It was removed in 1937 to save weight so it survived the Hindenburg's infamous crash, only to be destroyed by bombing during the Second World War.^{[citation needed]} A replica of this piano was also featured in the 1975 film The Hindenburg where Reed Channing (Peter Donat) sings. Since the film is set during the airship's final flight, the piano's presence is an historical error.^{[citation needed]}

Blüthner has made many special pianos. They have made a few pianos with the design reversed so that a left handed person can play the tenor with their left hand and the bass with their right hand. In 2008 they were designing and building a special keyboard for a customer in Spain which had the Janko keyboard design.

Notable Blüthner artists

Sergei Rachmaninoff with a Blüthner piano. Photo ca. 1910s

Numerous royals, composers, conductors, artists, authors and performers have owned Blüthner pianos. They include Willhelm II, Emperor Franz Joseph I, Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, Liberace, Béla Bartók, Claude Debussy, Dodie Smith, Max Reger, Richard Wagner, Johann Strauss, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich.^[3] Blüthners have been used in popular music. One Blüthner piano owned by the Abbey Road Studios in London was used on some tracks of The Beatles' Let It Be album, most notably, in the hits "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road".^{[citation needed]} One was also used in the film The Sting. Another (stunt piano) was destroyed in Iron Man.

References

1. ^ "Blüthner", Grove Music Online, 2009. Accessed 14 April 2009.
2. ^ "History", Blüthner UK Website, 2005. Accessed 14 April 2009.
3. ^ "Personalities", Blüthner UK Website, 2005. Accessed 14 April 2009.

External links

• Blüthner
• German Piano Imports
• Blüthner Pianos London