“Have you often regretted that the music in your heart could not find its way to your fingers? You need regret it no longer.”[1] So concludes the article entitled, “The Quest for Perfect Tone,” written in 1915 to document the manufacturing developments of the Everett Piano Company. This article reads more like a sappy mystery novel than a historical record. The article begins with a brief and general history of the keyboard, beginning with the Grecian god Hermes “…hitting his winged foot against a tortoise shell…vibrating five dried sinews stretched taut across it”[2] to Pythagoras to the keyboard instruments of the 16th and 17th centuries. Finally we arrive in the early 20th century, and “…we find here and there a man who would rather make something surpassingly well than heap up great riches.”[3]
But who is this you might ask? McLeary leaves his readers in suspense. He introduces Frank A. Lee, president of the Everett Piano Company, who is searching for a perfectly harmonious instrument. In a section of the article entitled, “Just at the darkest moment fate appears behind the scenes,” a piano dealer leads Mr. Lee into a private display room which holds this perfect instrument. “He ran a short arpeggio in the middle register. Each note rang out as clear as a cathedral bell.”[4] Finally McLeary reveals that it is the Swedish cabinet-maker John Anderson who has fashioned this piano, whose artistry is then compared to the fine works of Benvenuto Cellini, Della Robbia, and Stradivarius. His European heritage is a important item for discussion. There is the implication that his “Old World” studies is an important factor in his superior craftsmanship.
McLeary then quotes John Anderson on his life philosophy and how this impacts his work at the Everett Piano Company. These quotes are too amazing not to list here:
Some people think when one side of an apple tree is touched with word holds and the only way tot save the tree is to cut it down. Then all the good of that tree is lost. Years ago I learned how to save the apple tree by filling the posts with cement and tarring them. It’s a good deal the same way with men.
Some men remind me of tubs…So long as your pour fresh ideas into them their minds are fresh, but if you leave them alone awhile they become stagnant.
All wisdom comes from some great unknown outside source. Anybody can be wise if he will take time to think. A well stays fresh because it continually draws new water.[5]
What struck me most in this article is the description of the piano as the ultimate artistic vessel, and as John Anderson, my great-great grandfather and esteemed piano manufacturer, as some kind of Messiah. He is not only a craftsman; he is a philosopher. By creating the perfect balance in the piano McLeary implies that Anderson understands the deepest secrets of life, and that if you too would like to be as wise as John Anderson, all you need to do is buy from the Everett Piano Company.
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