CONCLUSION

Someone once asked a piano tuner if he thought he might tune pianos in heaven. Certainly music must play a part in heaven. Angel choirs announced the birth of Christ. But if there are pianos, what would they be like? C.P.E. Bach would have expected a tiny rectangular, clavichord-like instrument. Chopin would have hoped for a sweet, smooth Pleyel. Beethoven might have liked anything that would hold together and play loud enough to hear. A modern artist might think it heavenly to play a celestial sized concert grand that could be heard as thunder around the world. The humble tuner would just hope that parts were still available. The player today would do well to keep in mind that keyboard music of the 18th and 19th Century was written for quite a different instrument than Is generally built today and adjust playing accordingly.

What does the future hold for the piano? So far, it is still an exciting, affordable, and popular mode of musical expression. If the trends of the past teach us anything, it would be to expect the piano to remain popular for a long time, but not necessarily In its current form.

New patents are applied for regularly by modern manufacturers. The engineering staffs of the large and prosperous builders as well as the up and coming ones are constantly probing for innovative improvements. In the years to come it will be exciting to be a part of the evolution of the piano, and the historical preservation of our beloved traditions.
 

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