Piano, Primitive German Action. Eighteenth Century
The story of the first piano to come into this country is truly romantic and historic. The famous continental frigate "Boston," a privateer, sailed into port with a British merchant ship as a prize. The dauntless Captain Tucker was in command. The cargo was sold for the benefit of the National Treasury, and among other articles was a pianoforte of London make.
It was not until after the revolutionary period that the spinet and harpsichord were superseded in this country by the piano. A newspaper of 1791 tells us that there were some twenty-seven pianos among the wealthy Boston families. All were of English make. In 1840 slow, easy-going ways crept into Philadelphia and she lost the prestige she once enjoyed of being the center of musical culture as well as of art and literature. Boston took the place and has held it ever since. Many of the distinctive features of the American piano actually originated there, such as the applying of metal in construction, which idea was first shown to be practical by Alpheus Babcock and Jonas Chickering. Then Timothy Gilbert, another Boston man, conceived the upright action which is in such general use today. There is no doubt but that Chickering was the first man who dared deviate from a prescribed method in case building.
Old newspapers contain much of interest concerning these first days in the musical history of our country. In the Boston Gazette, published in 1770, we are told that an excellent spinet had just been completed which for goodness of workmanship and harmony of sound was esteemed by the best judges to be superior to those imported. So much for American skill and enterprise.
It might be well to mention that Massachusetts is credited with making the first violins in this country. In 1789, also, there were two teachers of harp and piano in Boston, one of whom could act as tuner and repairer if occasion demanded. We find that Boston early supported a musical magazine. In 1797 Peter Van Hazen left New York for the "Hub" and there issued the first copy of his publication devoted to topics on music. He also imported sheet music direct from London. It was about 1800 when Benjamin Crehore, of Milton, Mass., built the first piano ever made in this country, and he did it in Boston. He was a skilled workman who knew how to make violins, 'cellos, guitars, drums, and flutes. Ten or twelve pianos were all he could make in one year and, to the shame of America be it recorded, he had to put the stamp of London or Paris upon them before he could make a sale, showing that our forefathers considered the foreign made article superior to those of home manufacture. All these things are changed, however; the American instrument now commands the highest price and is shipped to every part of the world.
A Stodart Piano (Old English)