Julius Blüthner

Biography

Julius Blüthner was born March 11, 1824, at Falkenhain. He learned his trade with Hölling & Spangenberg of Zeitz and studied under Alexander Bretschneider, a renowned builder of grand pianos at Leipsic, until 1853, when he started in business for himself. Handicapped by a lack of broad education, he nonetheless had a highly developed sense of hearing and, per the text, no one in his large establishment could later "voice" a piano as accurately as he could. Ambitious to advance his art, he made many experiments, reviving Hans Ruckers' fourth-string system as his "Aliquot System" to enhance tone in the upper octaves, and he also invented a grand action. Using skilled advertising, his instruments found markets worldwide, and by 1882 his annual output reached 1,200 grand and 1,800 upright pianos. He published a treatise on piano making with Gretschel. The King of Saxony honored him as Privy Counselor of Commerce, and he received decorations from the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He died at Leipsic in 1910, in his eighty-seventh year. A portrait of Julius Blüthner accompanies the text. Julius Blüthner was a piano manufacturer of Leipsic (Leipzig), Germany. The text credits him with making good use of the presence of the Leipzig Conservatory of Music, whose international students studied on Blüthner pianos and, upon becoming teachers or virtuosos, spread praise of the instrument wherever they went. Blüthner is also singled out as a pioneer of aggressive advertising, never sparing 'printer's ink' to promote his pianos, a practice that scandalized the older, more conservative German makers. He entered his pianos in world's expositions and won prize medals there, further building the firm's international reputation. The passage credits him as an early mover among German makers in adopting modern commercial and publicity tactics, ahead of firms such as Irmler and Breitkopf & Härtel, who only later adopted similarly aggressive business methods once their export trade came under threat. Julius Blüthner co-authored, with Heinrich Gretschel, the "Lehrbuch des Pianofortebaues," published in Leipsic in 1872 and revised by Robert Hannemann in 1909. Dolge recommends the book to German-reading practical piano makers for its careful treatment of piano construction and of the materials, tools and machinery used in manufacturing.

Highlights

• Benefited from students at the Leipzig Conservatory of Music who studied on his pianos and carried praise of them around the world
• Never spared 'printer's ink' in advertising his pianos, to the horror of old-school makers
• Won prize medals at world's expositions
• Born March 11, 1824, at Falkenhain; began his own business in Leipsic in 1853 after training with Hölling & Spangenberg and under Alexander Bretschneider
• Invented the "Aliquot System," reviving Hans Ruckers' fourth-string system to enhance tone in the upper octaves, and also invented a grand action
• By 1882 his annual output had risen to 1,200 grand and 1,800 upright pianos; he was honored as Privy Counselor of Commerce by the King of Saxony and died at Leipsic in 1910 at age 87
• Co-authored "Lehrbuch des Pianofortebaues" (1872, Leipsic) with Heinrich Gretschel

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), pp. 169, 233, 234, 235.

Public domain.