{"title":"Steingraeber \u0026 Söhne Sordino","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0075\/9758\/8550\/files\/Sordino_1200.jpg?v=1545124770\" alt=\"Steingraeber \u0026amp; Söhne Sordino\" style=\"float: none;\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Sordino®: Rediscovery of a Vintage Sonority\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA quantum leap for the expressive palette of the modern grand piano, both in terms of dynamics and its entire colour spectrum.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0075\/9758\/8550\/files\/sordino_586e8c1e-b34c-4853-ac97-5f8d6845e244.jpg?v=1545125050\" alt=\"steingraeber sordino\" style=\"float: none;\"\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe ‘Sordino’ was a common feature\u003c\/strong\u003e in both Graf (Vienna) and Erard (Paris) \u003cstrong\u003epianos in the early 19th century.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eToday, Steingraeber \u0026amp; Söhne is offering this vintage sonority once again\u003c\/strong\u003e thanks to the encouragement of Jura Margulis. \u003cstrong\u003eThe sordino sound effect is produced by means of a very thin strip of felt inserted between the hammers and strings,\u003c\/strong\u003e allowing sound modifications as described by Schubert’s “\u003cem\u003efp\u003c\/em\u003e” markings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eThe Sordino function can be released in different ways, depending on each pianist’s preference. The \u003cstrong\u003emost popular application\u003c\/strong\u003e is to activate the Sordino \u003cstrong\u003eusing the middle pedal,\u003c\/strong\u003e rendering the sostenuto pedal temporarily inoperative. Other possibilities are a fourth pedal or a knee lever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 60px;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0075\/9758\/8550\/files\/steingraeber_pianist.jpg?v=1545125389\" alt=\"steingraeber sordino\" style=\"float: none;\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJura Margulis\u003c\/strong\u003e, a German-American pianist of Russian extraction, \u003cstrong\u003ewas the catalyst behind Steingraeber coming back to the Sordino\u003c\/strong\u003e and incorporating it into Steingraeber modern \u003cstrong\u003eD-232 grand piano.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe commented: “The Margulis-Steingraeber Sordino Pedal (MSSP) represents a quantum leap in terms of the expressive palette of the modern grand piano, both in terms of dynamics and the entire colour spectrum.” It hardly needs to be pointed out that the above-mentioned celeste pedal has nothing to do with modern devices used for soft playing, such as ‘neighbour protection’ devices, also known as ‘mufflers’, which are often found in today’s pianos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eMany pianists have expressed their excitement about the new sordino function. Martha Argerich, for example, commented during the Lugano Festival 2014 that “…\u003cstrong\u003ethe sound of the piano increased in colour and capacity – a desire of every pianist.”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eThe german pianist Martin Stadtfeld released his CD ‘Chopin+’ in November 2016 on Sony Classical, which displays his frequent implementation of the sordino. In addition in May 2017 he ordered a Steingraeber \u0026amp; Söhne concert grand piano with sordino for two concerts in the new Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Even pianist Paul Badura-Skoda expressed his excitement about the sordino during a visit to Steingraeber Haus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 210px;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0075\/9758\/8550\/files\/steingraeber_sordino.jpg?v=1545125759\" alt=\"steingraeber sordino\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eBy the mid-nineteenth century, the ability to colour the tone of the piano had mostly disappeared from the canon of various pedal functions. However in Vienna they held onto the practice until the early twentieth century, perhaps due to the fact that Conrad Graf was held in such high regard. In the first half of the nineteenth century, he fitted all of his grand pianos with a horizontally-movable rack made of felt. He called the device a “muffler”. Erard used a buckskin rack in his grand pianos for similar purposes and called this sound effect a “celeste”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003eTechnically speaking,\u003cstrong\u003e the sordino sound effect is produced by means of a very thin strip of felt inserted between the piano’s hammers and strings.\u003c\/strong\u003e Its distance from the strings is negligible, and so the release is easily activated. \u003cstrong\u003eThe sordino guides are inserted on the left and right near the mountings\u003c\/strong\u003e and the flange of the piano’s frame. The path of the horizontal shift has to be fitted into the treble region of the frame. \u003cstrong\u003eSteingraeber piano technician Alexander Reul was given the task of working out the technical aspects of what turns out to be a rather complicated innovation.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"593\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-EH06hM8H5U\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHugh Sung – pianist, author, techie and entrepreneur – tested Sordino and other innovations during the NAMM Show 2017 in the U.S.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"593\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UP5T4v3LFWE\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJura Margulis explained sordino during the 2014 Frankfurt trade fair Musikmesse (moreover, Ratko Delorko talks about the “Mozart Rail”, by then activated by a knee lever).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","products":[],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0075\/9758\/8550\/collections\/banner_steingraeber_b2e722c9-3f02-4fa1-8a0f-a9c2be393d44.jpg?v=1545124790","url":"https:\/\/www.silkpianos.com\/collections\/steingraeber-sohne-sordino.oembed","provider":"Silk Pianos","version":"1.0","type":"link"}