Introduction

A human being is unique among all the Earth species. No other living creature on our planet has developed culture: it’s an inherently human phenomenon. Music, the most abstract of all arts, represents the highest point in human culture. Classical music is the highest point in the development of music. Grand piano is the most versatile and sophisticated instrument for performing classical music. Steinway makes the best grand piano in the world. Steinway grand piano, therefore, represents ideal technological expression for the very pinnacle of cultural achievement of the entire human civilization.

America has brought many things into the world: McDonald’s and Ford Mustang; lightbulb and napalm; Abstract Expressionism and oil spills on the ocean surface; Colt handgun and Disney animated movies; blue jeans and atomic bomb. Steinway piano, the best musical instrument in the history of the world, may be argued to be greater than all those things combined. In a way, Steinway Model D concert grand piano culturally justifies the existence of America.

We live in critical time for our civilization. Despite many great tendencies, we’ve experienced noticeable decline in cultural values. Culture is being replaced with entertainment. New musical genres grow increasingly commercialized and primitive. We may very well live during the fall season of our civilization, in the world that may be unstoppably sinking toward the new great war.

And yet, in the midsts of that cultural decline, against the overwhelming common current, Steinway factory in Astoria, Queens, makes better handcrafted concert pianos today than it did even during its “golden era” in 1920s.

This website is dedicated to the great history of Steinway.