Steck (piano) - Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Steck_(piano)#Steck_Hall

Steck (piano)
was a brand of pianos manufactured from 1857 to 1985. They were initially made by
George Steck & Company before combining with the Aeolian Company in 1904. The Aeolian
Company went bankrupt in 1985. The Steck piano brand was then sold to Sohmer & Co., and then
to America Sejung Corporation, which dissolved in 2013.

George Steck & Company had a performance

hall known as Steck Hall, which was also the
site of several notable speeches.

History

(July 13, 1829[1] or July 19,

1829 – March 31, 1897) was born in Hesse-
Kassel, Germany.[2] He grew up and studied
pianomaking with Carl Scheel in Cassel, Steck Pianola piano
Germany. He moved to New York in 1853 and
Steck & Grupe
opened a piano factory four years later as the
firm Steck & Grupe.[3][2][4] The company was Piano manufacturing

known as George Steck & Company by 1860.[4]

1857
Another source lists him founding a new
company in 1865, also known as Steck & George Steck

Company.[2] The first factory was located on 1904

Twelfth Street and Third Avenue. In 1859 the
Acquired by Aeolian
company moved to Walker Street and later to
Company in 1904
west 34th Street. Steck found success
manufacturing pianos, and his models became
standard school pianos across the United States. In 1870 he developed an iron frame for various
pianos. The companies pianos were highly awarded at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair and 1876
Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. At Vienna, Steck won the "1st prize of merit for pianoforte".
In 1884 he incorporated his company, giving stock to his employees. Steck retired from the
company in 1887, and spent the remainder of his life attempting to design a piano that was
always in tune.[3][5][6][7] Factories were also run in Gotha, Germany. Richard Wagner reportedly
composed the opera on a Steck piano.[6][3] Steck died in 1897.[2]

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George Steck & Company combined with the Aeolian Company in 1904. The corporation
continued to make Steck pianos.[3] In the 20th century Steck pianos were a trade name of the
Aeolian Company.[8] By 1975 the pianos were manufactured in East Rochester, New York.[6] The
Aeolian Company went out of business in 1985.[8] The Steck piano brand was then sold to
Sohmer & Co.[9] and then to America Sejung Corporation, which dissolved in 2013.[10]

Steck Hall

was opened in 1865 on Clinton Place by

Steck as a wareroom where musicians could perform
on his piano. He moved into a larger building on East
14th Street, also known as Steck Hall, in 1871.[11][3]
New York City,
[12] Walt Whitman delivered his first lecture on New York
Abraham Lincoln in the hall on April 14, 1879.[13]
José Martí spoke at the hall on January 24, 1880,[14] USA

his first speech in the United States.[15] 1871

See also

• Pianola

References

1. "History Of The Piano — George Steck & Co" (https://www.houstonpianocompany.com/blog/piano-br

ands/history-of-the-piano-george-steck-co) . . Retrieved 2021-05-21.

2. Clinkscale, Martha Novak (1993). (https://books.google.com/books?

id=iqK3FPhQm5gC&pg=PA350) . Oxford University Press. p. 350. ISBN 978-0-19-816625-2.

3. Dolge 1911, pp. 318–319.

4. Men Who Advertise 1870, p. 26.

5. Spillane 1890, pp. 233, 235.

6. Thompson & Bohle 1975, pp. 2141–2142.

7. Marquis 1975, p. 504.

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8. Hoover, Cynthia Adams (2014-07-01), "Aeolian Corporation" (http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/gro

vemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-4002261117) ,
, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.l2261117 (ht
tps://doi.org/10.1093%2Fgmo%2F9781561592630.article.l2261117) , ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0,
retrieved 2021-05-16

9. Fine, Larry (1990). (https://books.google.com/

books?id=gHMIAQAAMAAJ&q=%22sohmer%22+%22steck%22) . Brookside Press. p. 93.
ISBN 978-0-9617512-3-4.

10. "C2404562 AMERICA SEJUNG CORP" (https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/CBS/SearchResults?Searc

hType=NUMBER&SearchCriteria=C2404562) . .
Retrieved 2022-03-31.

11. Spillane 1890, p. 235.

12. "George Steck & Co.'s New Piano Rooms" (https://www.jstor.org/stable/25306208) .

. (9): 132. 1866. ISSN 1946-195X (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1946-195X) .
JSTOR 25306208 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/25306208) .

13. Pannapacker, William (2004).

(https://books.google.com/books?id=zMySAgAAQBAJ&d
q=%22steck+hall%22+nyc&pg=PA98) . Routledge. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-135-92451-5.

14. Turton, Peter (1986). (http://archive.org/details/josemartiarch

ite0000turt) . Internet Archive. London : Zed Books ; Totowa, N.J., USA : US distributor, Biblio
Distribution Center. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-86232-510-7.

15. Ripoll, Carlos (2017-09-04). (http

s://books.google.com/books?id=StwzDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22steck+hall%22&pg=PT32) . Routledge.
ISBN 978-1-351-51057-8.

Bibliography

• Dolge, Alfred (1911).

(https://books.google.co
m/books?id=O0ALAQAAIAAJ&dq=george+steck+was+a+most+lovable+character&pg=PA31
8) . Covina publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-486-22856-3.

• Spillane, Daniel (1890).

(https://books.google.com/books?id=GHMZAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22steck+hall%22&pg=P
A235) . D. Spillane.

• Thompson, Oscar; Bohle, Bruce (1975).

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Steck (piano) - Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steck_(piano)#Steck_Hall

(http://archive.org/details/internationalcyc00thomrich) . Internet Archive. New York : Dodd,

Mead. ISBN 978-0-396-07005-4.

• (http://archive.org/details/whowaswhoina
meri00marq) . Chicago : Marquis Who's Who. 1975. ISBN 978-0-8379-3301-6.

•
(http://archive.org/details/menwhoadvertisea00geor) . George P.
Rowell & Co. 1870.

External links

• Virtual Piano Shop: Steck (http://www.pianoshop.co.uk/info/pianos/s/steck.php)

• Player Piano: Steck grand piano (http://www.playerpiano.co.uk/steck.htm)

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