piano destruction

wajid · Post by **wajid** » 04 Apr 2007, 06:04

hello all.....

can anyone give me feedback on how they feel about pianos being destroyed in the name of art, for example by the composers Karl-Erik Welin and Francois-Rene Duchable or by performance / installation artists such as Raphael Ortiz.....would you be willing to destroy your own piano for any reason ? do you find the idea of destroying a piano wholly unacceptable ?...i'd be very curious to hear opinions from pianists on this forum

PianoGuy · Post by **PianoGuy** » 04 Apr 2007, 07:06

I'm all for it.

The more smashed, the more there are to repair.

Result!

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 04 Apr 2007, 15:56

I frequently feel like destroying the piano I'm using, generally when I can't get the f***ing notes right.

I suppose if you own the piano it's entirely up to you what you do with it. I'd be against smashing a piano that wasn't yours to smash.

The old 'but is it art?' chestnut is bound to come up. If you're creating the art to make a statement or provoke a reaction and you feel that smashing a piano is part of that process then I guess you should go ahead.

I can't think of any circumstances in which I'd allow a good piano of mine to be smashed, largely because the piano is, for me, the vehicle I use to create 'art' (as I perceive it).

Maybe it's like asking a painter if they would blind themselves in the interest of art.

On the other hand I'm all for challenging accepted norms, so if you feel the art justifies the means, smash away. Just don't do it to my piano or I'll break your legs.

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 04 Apr 2007, 16:11

Around WW1, there were bonfires of old square pianos, orchestrated (hah!) by piano dealers who were fed up with all the old instruments still in circulation which really (in their view) should have been binned, and were preventing the sale of new pianos by remaining on the secondhand market. I wonder how many priceless (by todays' standards) Zumpes and suchlike went up in smoke...That said, I could assemble a few candidates for the pyre from my round - there's nothing worse than Mrs Miggins getting a new piano after years of subtle (and sometimes unsubtle) wheedling on my part, and then turning up to a new tuning, only to see Mrs Miggins' reject grinning at you from the corner of a different front room!

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 04 Apr 2007, 22:57

It's a little known fact that during WWI Queen Mary sent every British soldier an upright piano at Christmas to help them through the long hours of tedium in the trenches. The pianos were made by the now defunct company of Trubbel & Sons.

Initially the pianos were unpopular with military top brass because they had to abandoned when the soldiers decamped. Within weeks the French countryside was littered with thousands of abandoned uprights and these impeded the progress of our tanks.

Fortunately Trubbel's technicians came up with an ingenious design of piano which could be dismantled and stored in special canvas bags, designed by Florence Nightingale's sister, Kit.

This made the pianos infinitely more portable and also gave rise to the popular song "Pack up your Trubbel in your old Kit bag."

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 05 Apr 2007, 15:39

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Tom Tuner · Post by **Tom Tuner** » 13 Apr 2007, 18:32

The Great Square Piano Bonfire was at a dealers' convention in Atlantic City about 1903. The 'destruction' caused consternation in some quarters at the time.

Tom Tuner

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 15 Apr 2007, 16:05

There were quite a few in this country too, around 1900 - 1910. There may be another one soon if I have another day like I had yesterday...Eavestaff mini, anyone?

wajid · Post by **wajid** » 16 Apr 2007, 05:56

thank you for replies and especially to tom tuner for info on the piano bonfire of 1903.....obviosuly economic reasons as opposed to artist one for the destruction...must have been quite a site

A440 · Post by **A440** » 18 Apr 2007, 20:29

I once made a pile of pianos 5 high then burned them infront of a large crowd. I'v also made 'stone henge'type structures then burned them. There are lots and lots of pianos which are past their sell by date. There is nothing so depressing as visiting a house for a tuning only to find the newly aquired 250 pound piano is an untunable wreck and total wast of money.
It is a difficult subject and widely misunderstood, but Burning pianos puts rubbish out of circulation and is doing everyone a favour.
Always salvage ivory, music rests and casters, the rest I'm afraid is rubbish.
Hint... leave piano outside for a week or so before burning as this lets the tension off the strings and makes it safer. Also there are less fumes as the polish is neutralized. You can sell the left over frame to a scrappy for about a tenner.

A440 · Post by **A440** » 18 Apr 2007, 20:33

By the way, as far as frontline pianos are concerned, Steinway made a camoflaged piano designed to be dropped by parachute to the trenches, some survive and are quite collectable. I kid you not!

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 18 Apr 2007, 22:03

I believe you...the British NAAFIs had a beer-proof piano during WWII, with the action protected from drunken accidents by a) having a roof-like top, with the hinge as the central ridge of quite a steeply-inclined pitch, thereby stopping people parking their pints on top of the joanna, and b) an interior sloping piece of wood pitched downwards from the frame towards the top door to deflect any aberrant ale from the action.

A440 · Post by **A440** » 20 Apr 2007, 01:14

Never seen one, sounds like a great idea, would stop vases of flowers too. How many times have I stripped piano lids to get rid of the ring marks...?
On a similar theme, I have kept every item found inside a piano over the last 20 years or so. I have a great collection of old coins, cigarette cards, toys, odd and strange things on a shelf in the workshop. I always think it would make a great art installation/ collection thingy. Have never found a diamond ring or anything really valuable yet. Found hundreds of old woodbine fag packets in one piano and once found an old victorian note written by a child about 'if anyone finds this in the future..' I left it in the piano for the next finder.
Has anyone else got a similar collection? maybe we could get together and make one large collection... then take over the world.. (or something..)

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 20 Apr 2007, 17:54

I think Bill Kibby has a record of wonderful odd and ends found in pianos if you ask him nicely...

Otto · Post by **Otto** » 23 Apr 2007, 10:08

In the late '60s I bought a Morris Minor which did sterling service for a couple of years, and when I came to sell it I thought that the mileage seemed a bit high, so I resolved to 'correct it'.

When I took the back off the speedometer, a small scrap of paper fluttered out.

On it were the words "Oh no, not again!"

After the 'adjustment' I put it back in for the next fellow, and the next, and the next ...

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