George Steck

Biography

George Steck was born near Cassel, Germany, on July 19, 1829, and studied piano making under the noted master Carl Scheel of Cassel. He emigrated to America in 1853 and opened his own factory in 1857, achieving enough success to open Steck Hall on Clinton Place in New York City in 1865, where his concert grand pianos were played by leading artists, later expanding to a larger hall on Fourteenth Street. Regarded as an exceptional scale drawer, his grand and upright piano scales were widely copied by other manufacturers for their clear, large tone, and his instruments were endorsed by musicians including Richard Wagner, Sophie Menter, Annette Essipoff, and Sir Julius Benedict; the Steck piano became known as the standard 'school piano' for American colleges. Personally described as lovable and unconcerned with commerce, Steck incorporated the business in 1884 to give employees stock, retired in 1887, and spent his final decade unsuccessfully pursuing a piano that would stay permanently in tune. He died March 31, 1897; the firm later merged with the Aeolian Company. George Steck of New York is named as one of the two judges, alongside Max Schiedmayer of Stuttgart, who conducted the official test of Moritz Poehlmann's piano wire at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, recording the breaking strains at various wire gauges. No other biographical detail about Steck is provided in this text beyond his location and his role in this specific test. George Steck is referenced as an eminent piano builder of his era, called 'that pastmaster of piano building of his day.' Otto Wissner found employment with Steck early in his career, gathering experience in the construction of upright pianos at Steck's factory before moving on to work under Fred Mathushek. George Steck is noted as the master under whom Albert Krell, Jr. and Alexander Krell studied piano making before joining their father in founding the Krell Piano Company in 1889. From Spillane (1890): George Steck founded George Steck & Company in 1857, resolving from the outset to make only first-class pianos, a policy on which he based all subsequent efforts. Spillane calls him a thoroughgoing piano-maker of the old school, with strong inventive and original tendencies in mechanics and acoustics, who personally conducted patient research into tone and sound production. Among his important patents was a highly regarded upright piano 'scale' introduced in 1870, when uprights were still unpopular, later adopted by many smaller houses. He made a particular study of portable instruments, producing the Steck bijou upright known as 'the little giant,' which cleverly applied an almost obsolete diagonal flat scale using metal plate bracing, and the Steck 'baby grand,' introduced in 1873. Further developments followed in 1881. After retiring from active management, Steck turned to novel research, producing 'The Pianete,' a roughly 178-pound upright instrument without strings, sounding-board, iron frame, or heavy framework, with a seven-and-one-third-octave compass, which he believed would become the household piano of the future. George Steck was born in Hesse Cassel, Germany, on July 19, 1829. He apprenticed under Carl Scheel, a noted piano manufacturer in his native city, before emigrating to New York in 1853, where he spent four years working in leading shops to learn American business methods. In 1857 he founded his own firm, beginning on Twelfth Street and Third Avenue before relocating successively to Walker Street and then West Thirty-fourth Street. He opened a large retail wareroom on Clinton Place in 1865 known as "Steck Hall," later moving the hall to East Fourteenth Street in 1871. Among his notable inventions was an independent iron frame for uprights, grands, and squares, patented in 1870, which he later applied to his portable bijou uprights and grands. Steck's business was incorporated in 1884, and he served as president until January 1887, when he sold his entire interest, including patents, and retired from the trade. He was widely respected in the piano business and known for his uprightness and good will.

Highlights

• Served as a judge (with Max Schiedmayer of Stuttgart) testing Poehlmann's piano wire at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair
• Renowned scale drawer whose grand and upright scales were widely copied by other makers for their clear, large tone
• Concert grands endorsed by Richard Wagner, Sophie Menter, Annette Essipoff, and Sir Julius Benedict
• Incorporated his business in 1884 to give employees shares of stock
• Albert Krell, Jr. and Alexander Krell studied piano making with him before founding the Krell Piano Company in 1889
• Described as 'that pastmaster of piano building of his day'; employed the young Otto Wissner, who gained upright-piano construction experience at his factory.
• Patented a Pianoforte (No. 399,710), New York, March 1889
• Founded George Steck & Company in 1857 with a policy of making only first-class pianos
• Patented a highly regarded upright piano 'scale' in 1870, later adopted by other, smaller makers
• After retiring, invented 'The Pianete,' a stringless, soundboard-less, iron-frame-free upright piano that never needs tuning
• Founded Steck & Company in New York in 1857 after apprenticing under Carl Scheel in Hesse Cassel, Germany
• Patented an independent iron frame for uprights, grands, and squares in 1870
• Sold his entire interest, including patents, and retired from the firm in January 1887

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 319, 357; Vol. II (1913), p. 204.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 233, 234, 235, 236.

Public domain.