Mason and Hamlin is a piano manufacturer based in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
History
The nineteenth century
Mason & Hamlin was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1854 by Henry Mason, son of Lowell Mason, the American hymn composer and musical educator, and Emmons Hamlin, a mechanic and inventor who had worked for melodeon makers Prince & Co. in Buffalo, New York.[1]
They originally manufactured only melodeons,[2] but in 1855 introduced the organ-harmonium or flat-topped cabinet organ. This design placed the bellows vertically and underneath the reeds, and served as the model for the suction operated American-style reed organ.[3] By the early 1870s they were considered the largest and most important manufacturer of reed organs, employing about 500 and producing as many as 200 instruments a week.[1] Mason and Hamlin supplied organs to several prominent composers, notably Franz Liszt, whose name the company applied to their patented selective sustain mechanism for organs comparable to the sostenuto in pianos.[3]
An 1895 Mason & Hamlin Model 512 reed organ. Displayed above the keyboard are the various medals and awards won by the company at international exhibitions.
Mason & Hamlin began manufacturing pianos in 1883. Initially they built only upright pianos featuring a patented method of tuning and maintaining string tension which they marketed as the screw stringer and intended as an improvement over the traditional system with tuning pins.[4] In 1895, the piano department was completely reorganized by Richard W. Gertz, an independent piano designer from Germany who had created new scales for them earlier that year. Gertz was elected secretary of the company in 1903, and president in 1906,[5] and had patented the company's tension resonator, a device fastened to the perimeter of the wooden structure of pianos meant to prevent their sounding boards from flattening. This was first included in their grands in 1900. The firm advertises that it is currently used in all Mason & Hamlin pianos.[6]
The twentieth century
By the turn of the 20th century, the Golden Age of the Piano was in full force and the most illustrious concert artists of the day aligned themselves with piano manufacturers. Sergei Rachmaninoff's 1924 recording of his Second Piano Concerto was made using a Mason & Hamlin. Composer Maurice Ravel said of Mason & Hamlin pianos, “While preserving all the qualities of the percussion instrument, the Mason & Hamlin pianoforte also serves magnificently the composer’s concept by its extensive range in dynamics, as well as quality of tone. It is not short of being a small orchestra. In my opinion, the Mason & Hamlin is a real work of art.”[7] Many piano aficionados today prize Mason and Hamlins made during this period.
In 1924, Mason & Hamlin became part of the American Piano Company, and was considered the "artists' piano"[8] of the firm's premier brands which also included Chickering and Sons and Wm. Knabe & Co.[9] American's sales began to decline in 1928,[10] and following its collapse in late 1929, Mason & Hamlin's trademark, inventory and equipment were sold to American's competitor Aeolian for $450,000 while the factory buildings were sold off separately by the end of the following year.[9] In 1932 it became part of Aeolian-American when these companies merged, which consolidating the control of more than twenty brands of pianos.[8] The Second World War brought the American piano industry to a halt, and Mason & Hamlin turned from making pianos to building airplane gliders. This continued until the end of the war.[11]
Beginning in 1945, Mason & Hamlin pianos were made in the Aeolian American plant in East Rochester, New York.[citation needed] Between 1983 and 1995, Mason & Hamlin changed ownership several times.
Today
Since 1996, Mason & Hamlin has been a subsidiary of Burgett, Inc., which also owns PianoDisc, a maker of reproducing piano systems of the same name. Mason & Hamlin manufactures its pianos in Haverhill, Massachusetts and distributes them throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. Mason & Hamlin is a member of NAMM, the International Music Products Association and PMAI (Piano Manufacturers Association International).[11]
Current Models
In January 2007, Mason & Hamlin added a new Model B (162.6 cm, 5'4") to its already successful family of four grand piano models; the Model A (174cm, 5'8.5"), the Model AA (193cm, 6'4"), the Model BB (212cm, 6'11.5"), and the Model CC-94 (285cm, 9'4").[12] Various woods and finishes are available. The A and BB Models are also available in an art case. The company also offers one upright piano model, the 50" Model 50.
Tension Resonator
Each Mason & Hamlin piano include a Tension Resonator, which is a system of steel rods under moderate tension, anchored to the wooden structure on the opposite side of the sounding board from the strings and iron frame. In their grand pianos these rods fan out from one or two central hubs and are attached at intervals around the rim and to the belly rail; the model 50 upright has a rod stretched between the case sides. The manufacturer claims that this adds strength and rigidity to the rim by locking the rim into its permanent shape and which in turn preserves the crown of the soundboard.
References
- ^ a b "Cabinet and Parlor Organs" The Great Industries of the United States J. Burr & Hyde, Hartford. 1872 p.109-121
- ^ Samuel Atkins Eliot A History of Cambridge, Massachusetts The Cambridge Tribune, Cambridge MA 1913. p.297-298
- ^ a b Robert F. Gellerman The American Reed Organ and the Harmonium The Vestal Press, New York. 1996. p.19
- ^ "Improved Upright Pianos" The Manufacturer and Builder vol.16, no. 12, December 1884 p.282-283
- ^ Alfred Dolge Pianos and their Makers vol.2, Covina Publishing Company, Covina CA. 1913. p.144-150
- ^ Piano Specifications Mason & Hamlin website (accessed October 11, 2008)
- ^ "History", Mason & Hamlin Official Website, 2007. Accessed June 2, 2007.
- ^ a b "Deals and Developments" Time Magazine August 8, 1932
- ^ a b "The American Piano Company" Harvard Business School case study, 1934, reproduced in the AMICA Bulletin and available from the Pianola Society
- ^ "Piano Glissando" Time Magazine, December 30, 1929
- ^ a b "Mason & Hamlin", Grove Music Online, 2007. Accessed June 2, 2007. (Requires subscription).
- ^ "Our Pianos", Mason & Hamlin Official Website, 2007. Accessed June 2, 2007.
External links
