Charles A. Haddorff

Biography

Charles A. Haddorff was born on a farm near Norrkoping, Sweden, on February 2, 1864. Finding farm life monotonous, he was apprenticed to a cabinet maker after school, while practicing piano playing and studying harmony in the evenings; his devotion to work and music undermined his health, prompting a change of climate. Having learned piano building, he came to America in 1892 and secured a position with an established maker to study progressive piano construction. Six years later he was made superintendent of a western piano factory, where his work attracted the attention of organizer P. A. Peterson of Rockford, Illinois. On January 28, 1902, backed by ample capital, the Haddorff Piano Company began business with Haddorff given free rein to build as good a piano as he knew how. Studying the acoustical works of Helmholtz, Tyndall, and other scientists, he focused especially on soundboard construction, seeking a pure, sweet, sustaining tone rather than mere volume. His later grand and upright pianos, with their carefully drawn scales and patented wrest plank shoulder and string frame construction, were regarded as a revelation to connoisseurs of tone quality.

Highlights

• Born on a farm near Norrkoping, Sweden, apprenticed as a cabinet maker while studying piano playing and harmony in the evenings
• Emigrated to America in 1892 and rose to superintendent of a western piano factory within six years
• Founded the Haddorff Piano Company on January 28, 1902 with backing from P. A. Peterson, and designed grand and upright pianos noted for pure, sweet, sustaining tone

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 103, 104.

Public domain.