66 THE DESIGN OF GRAND PIANOS. 



the lyre. In the adjoining panel the Shulamite is asleep, and her dream is represented in the 

 encircled corner picture. The fifth and sixth show Solomon returning from war, and pressing his 

 suit with the Shulamite. These two panels are on the end of the instrument, and the remaining three 

 on the straight side show the return of the shepherd lover, the release of the Shulamite and her return 

 with him, and, finally, the wedding feast. This notable sequence of pictures incorporates, in a naive 

 and delightful way, various features of Scottish scenery, and the progression of events is marked by the 

 changes from dawn to midday, and through night to the brightness of another day. One feature only 

 remains to be noted the long panel over the keyboard, whereon are represented three subjects taken 

 from Kossetti s Sonnets. &quot; I sat with Love beside the wayside well.&quot; Altogether the treatment of the 

 instrument, both in its woodwork and in its painting, emphasises the fact that a piano can be made a 

 thing of beauty. 



Among other notable designs on a less ambitious decorative scale those by Mr. Forsyth (Fig. 100) and 

 Mr. Lutyens (Fig. 96) can be considered together, for they also revert in principle to the old harpsichord 

 manner, in that the weight is distributed over a well-knit frame, which rests on many legs. They have, 

 however, one notable difference. That by Mr. Forsyth is based on the idea that the instrument is one 

 thing and its means of support another, and the legs are not directly framed into the body of the piano. 

 This is an echo of the virginal, which was generally quite separate from its frame. In Mr. Lutyens 

 design the instrument and its frame are treated as a unit. One may note, too, the skilful way in which 

 the pedals are mounted on light and graceful metal supports, a far remove from the hideous lyre-shaped 

 object which usually carries them. These are, of course, costly things, with their delightful panelling 

 and intricate framing, by comparison with the ordinary piano ; but Fig. 102 shows a type that 

 costs, and need cost, no more than the usual monument of ugliness with which people are content to 

 distress the eye. By the use of severe lines and the substitution of an under frame of six simple taper 

 legs for the usual corpulent three, an attractive result is secured without increased expense or sacrifice 

 of the musical qualities of the instrument. Such a design, paying no homage to any historical style, but 

 succeeding by reason of its simple reasonableness, looks well in any surroundings. Where, however, any 

 definite period of decoration governs the treatment of a room, it is often desirable to bring the piano into 

 accord with the prevailing feeling, and of success in this direction the mahogany case designed in the 

 Chippendale manner is a good example (Fig. 101). 



Reviewing the progress made in the last twenty years by the firms who are producing pianos 

 made to admirable copyright designs, such as the four last mentioned, there is reason to hope that the 

 ugliness too long associated with the instrument will die a natural death. It is, of course, very difficult 

 to give an attractive outline to a very small piano. Some are made as short as five feet from tip to tip 

 to meet the needs of those who live in small rooms. This fashion is unlikely to persist, however, because 

 anything less than six feet means unduly shortened strings and a reduction in the sounding-board, 

 which cannot fail to prejudice the tone. In any case, the piano, in Halevy s words, &quot; forces every door 

 a rare, discreet friend who only speaks when a question is asked, and can at once be silent.&quot; 

 Such a friend deserves to appear before us in gracious guise, so that it may faithfully symbolise when 

 it is silent the beautv it creates when its voice is heard. KATHLEEN PURCELL. 



