Piano Playing → Henry’s backstory | Steinway & Sons®

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You’ve probably heard of Steinway & Sons, the renowned piano manufacturer founded in the United States in 1853. Listen to host André Brathwaite share the backstory of its founder, Henry Steinway, who turned his passion into a lasting brand—so that you could enjoy piano playing as a hobby.

Listening to this backstory is just one of the many ways we at Forms of Recreation help you find or reconnect with the hobbies you love.

The opinions expressed are solely those of Forms of Recreation and do not necessarily reflect the views of any brand mentioned. We encourage you to check their corresponding websites for further information.

• Transcript

  Episode 30

  Piano Playing → Henry’s backstory | Steinway & Sons®

  Picture a living room.

  Soft light.
  An inviting bench.
  A piano waiting.

  You sit down.
  Not to perform.
  Not to impress.

  Just to play.

  Your fingers hover above the keys.
  Then press.

  One note.
  Then another.

  The sound isn’t short.
  It lingers.
  It fills the space slowly.

  Playing the piano
  asks something unusual.

  It asks how you are feeling—
  right now—
  as you play.

  You can’t force that feeling.
  You can only meet it
  where it is.

  Every key responds differently.
  Every note reveals more.

  Piano playing teaches patience.
  It teaches humility.

  
  It teaches you that progress
  is measured by the feelings you express,
  not the applause you expect.

  And that relationship—
  between hand, ear, and instrument—
  became the foundation of a brand
  built by someone who understood
  that sound can bring out beauty:

  Steinway & Sons.

  Heinrich Steinweg
  was born in Germany in 1797

  He was the youngest of twelve children.
  And his childhood unfolded during
  wars led by Napoleon the Great—
  a dark time marked by illness, starvation,
  and instability.

  He lost his parents
  and most of his siblings
  at a young age.

  Survival wasn’t occasional.
  It was daily.

  At fifteen,
  with no money
  and no safety net,
  he joined the Black Brunswicks—
  a volunteer military unit
  fighting to expel Napoleon’s forces
  from Germany.

  Which led him to fight
  at the Battle of Waterloo.

  While serving,
  Heinrich learned woodworking
  and later became a cabinet maker by trade.

  However, his passion was found elsewhere.

  He wasn’t interested in cabinets
  He was consumed by sound.

  He repaired pipe organs.
  Harpsichords.
  Guitars.

  But what captivated him the most
  was the emerging fortepiano—
  a keyboard instrument
  capable of both delicacy and force.

  By 1836,
  local guild regulations restricted his workshop
  to repairs only.

  No innovation.
  No experimentation.
  No original instruments.

  So Heinrich did something
  quietly defiant.

  He built a grand piano anyway.

  Secretly.
  In the kitchen of his home.

  At night
  Piece by piece.
  Without permission.

  A 212-centimeter concert grand piano—
  innovative, powerful,
  and illegal by guild standards.

  It became known as
  the Kitchen Piano.

  Not a prototype for show.
  A private act of mastery.

  That same discipline followed him
  to the United States,
  where he emigrated with his wife and children
  and changed his name
  to Henry E. Steinway.

  In New York City,
  with little money
  and no guarantees,
  he began again.

  Steinway & Sons
  wasn’t founded as a factory.

  It was founded as a workshop.

  The goal was never scale
  for scale’s sake.

  Henry obsessed over soundboards.
  String tension.
  Resonance.
  How vibration moves through wood
  and returns as emotion.

  Over time,
  Steinway grew,
  manufactured pianos,
  and introduced
  more than a hundred patented innovations.

  Steinway didn’t chase musicians.

  Musicians found Steinway.

  Because the instrument met them
  where discipline already lived.

  Think about it.

  Because Henry
  was willing to build in secret,
  to do what felt right
  when permission was denied,
  to honor sound
  even when the system tried to keep him quiet—

  you get to sit down at a piano today
  and feel understood.

  Every key invites honesty.
  Every note demands attention.

  Steinway & Sons wasn’t built
  to make music easier.

  It was built
  to make it deeper.

  To remind us that doing what you love
  comes from returning—
  again and again—
  to the same practice.

  So the next time you sit at a piano,
  pause.

  Feel before you play.
  Because the question will be asked,

  “How are you feeling today?”

  Have the courage
  to keep returning to your hobby.

  And make a small promise to yourself,
  one that involves play.

  Because someone loved
  pianos so much
  to build a brand around it,

  so that you
  could get to love it too.

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