PATHETIQUE
Pathetique means ’passionate’ / ‘emotional’ and that is what I feel about pianos. Old piano actions intrigue me. Over the centuries and hundreds of inventions we now have a fairly stable invention- the piano. In the 1850/60’s when this piano action was made, it was still a no man’s land of experimentation and invention. Some companies did not have brass hinges yet, so they used leather. Here, 150+ years later the leather still works and is intact. What is fascinating to ponder is how did the workmen that made this get to work, where only candles were used for light, what was their life like. Steam powered machinery in many cases was still a decade or so off. The stories these parts could tell and the music it made across the oceans!
42” x 42”
