Perspectives Of Piano History
If you’re anything like us, then you appreciate the way that piano history provides highly interesting perspectives into the lives of past musicians and equally interesting influences on both the musicians of the present and future. We’re particularly encouraged by the history of the Knauss piano and its contribution to the music that we’ve enjoyed for generations.
At its most fundamental level, piano history gives us an insight into why music developed the way that it did. But we’re now in the process of learning where this history will lead us and teach us not only who to appreciate, but why. The problem is that it isn’t always easy to neatly place things or events within a timeline, and sometimes, searching for the history of music can be as exciting as learning it.
Instruments Make History TOo
One of the things that makes learning history difficult is a failure to keep accurate sales records. Without adequate records, it’s difficult to track the trail of development. Another blockade is natural disasters, which literally destroy the evidence we need to understand our role as musicians. In these instances, we are left to seek the story behind our inventions through alternative sources — sources that have made a public impact through other means.
Musical history is made not only through song, it’s also made with the instruments that are played. So then studying the path of development through this route allows an instrument to make its mark in history from the people that play it.
The Knauss piano is one of those instruments and it was the preferred piano of Carl Hardebeck, a London native born in 1869. The Knauss piano is a German product that has a history originating from 1832. But what makes this pianist stand out in history (and thus place the Knauss piano in the archives) was his innate skill for music despite losing his sight as a baby. He moved to Ireland and taught Irish music as a professor, adjudicated competitions, and won awards for his own compositions.
A Knauss Pianist
Although Carl played other instruments, such as the harmonium, his role as a Knauss pianist greatly contributed to some of the beautiful Irish melodies and plainchants that we have today.
Someone somewhere makes history everyday with something — and the Knauss piano isn’t exempt from the chronicles of our studies. To some extent, the lack of significant material compels us to play a more active role in learning more about our interests and to pose questions that might not have ever been asked. New questions often lead to new directions, which of course, lead to new discoveries.
The history of the Knauss piano is prone to progress in a light of such discovery and all efforts will not only help preserve the knowledge that we’ve thus collected so far, it will additionally preserve our potential to learn more about ourselves as a whole.
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