1878 Bechstein Grand Piano

[andyjone]

St John the Baptist Church in Coventry have an 1878 Bechstein grand piano which is currently under restoration by Courtney's of Oxford. It was delivered to Paterson & Sons, Edinburgh in 1880 but we don't know where it went after that. I was wondering if there is a way of finding out a bit more of that piano's history? C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik AG have said to us: "According to our archive books the instrument with serial number 10855 was produced in Berlin and first delivered in 1880, January 7. Your piano is a grand piano model 5 („Flügel 5“). Until around 1904 C. Bechstein produced five different models of grand pianos, the models 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The model 5 had a length of 200 cm. Back then it was the shortest and most frequently built C. Bechstein grand piano. Your Model 5 was first delivered to „Paterson & Sons“ in Edinburgh. This was a piano dealer. Unfortunately we do not have any further information about the history of your instrument."

Thank you
Andy

[Bill Kibby]

As a piano historian, I am always being asked about tracing the history of individual pianos. Generally speaking, there are no records, so the little scraps of information you have are more than most people ever find. Unless the piano was logged in some official paperwork, it is unlikely you will find any more. See my Archives page for more information...
http://www.pianohistory.info/archives.html

[andyjone]

ok - thank you. Wonderful information in your archives!