Welcome to the Frederick Historical Piano Collection

Updates, Fall, 2023

We are delighted to share the news that all three young pianists who made their audition videos with our pianos, for the second International Chopin Competition with Period Instruments in Warsaw, Poland, have been accepted as competitors! The competition, from October 5th through October 15th this year, has thirty-five competitors (up from thirty in the first competition in 2018).

Our congratulations and best wishes to pianists Chaojun Yang, Arisa Onoda and Derek Wang. Chaojun, who played the May 7th concert in our Spring, 2023 series, is a doctoral candidate at Eastman School, Rochester, NY; Arisa is working on her doctorate at New England Conservatory, Boston; and Derek Wang is studying for his doctorate at Yale University, New Haven, CT. All three recorded their audition videos with our Chopin-era Erard piano, made in Paris in 1840. Derek also recorded video footage with our ca.1830 Bosendorfer piano of Vienna.

The first time the competition took place, in 2018, it was part of Poland's year-long celebration of one hundred years of freedom, following World War I. The only American accepted for that competition was Eric Clark, whose audition video was also made with our 1840 Erard. Eric was able to advance to the second level of the competition, receiving one review stating that he had "obviously had excellent training" for playing historical pianos!

The Piano Collection

We continue hosting Piano Collection tours for groups and individuals, pianists and students, and members of the music-loving public. Tours can be scheduled by appointment, for most days of the week, by phone (978) 827-6232 or by email at piano.fred@juno.com. A typical tour takes three hours, due to the number and variety of pianos to be encountered; musicians frequently stay longer to explore the instruments in more depth.

Concerts

See our Fall, 2023 schedule below for dates, program details, and musicians’ bios and photos.

Admission is still $15.00 per person, children and students, free. Season passes are available on request, offering six fall, 2023 concerts for the price of five ($75.00) with a free guest pass, to introduce a new person to these concerts. Any unused portion of the pass will be counted as a tax-deductible donation.

Covid Policy

Because of the apparent reduced threat from the pandemic, face masks are currently a matter of personal discretion. In the event of a concerning increase inlocal cases, the concerts will continue, but masking will be mandatory, and socially-distant seating will be strongly advised.

Concert Videos

One of the few positive offshoots of the pandemic is the newly expanded use of technology; all of our concerts are being recorded with video, and posted on our own YouTube channel, Music from the Frederick Collection. The high-fidelity audio, by our recording engineer, Christopher Greenleaf, is synchronized with his video footage, chosen from two camera angles by pianist/videographer, Daesik Cha, who also fills-in the titles of the works being played. The resulting videos, posted a few days after each concert, make the performances available at any time, and at no cost, to those:

• Too far away to attend in person – anywhere in the world
• Not wishing to drive, for whatever reason
• Hesitant to attend in-person events due to Covid
• With schedule conflicts on concert days
• Who enjoyed a concert and want to hear it again
• Who have just learned of the concerts, and want to sample some

Events

Concerts are held at the New Dawn Arts Center/Ashburnham Community Church, 84 Main Street (Route 12) at the corner of Chapel Street, Sundays at 3:00 PM. Admission is $15.00, students and children, free.

All pianos are from The Frederick Collection of Historical Grand Pianos.

Fall 2023 schedule

Study Center

Our Historical Piano Study Center remains open throughout the year for visits and tours by appointment. Contact us at (978) 827-6232 or by email to make arrangements to visit.

New Recordings from the Frederick Piano Collection

The Brahms Age: Complete Johannes Brahms violin sonatas using historical instruments. Daniel Kurganov, violin, Constantine Finehouse, piano. Haenssler Classics record company. Sonatas One and Two were recorded with the J.B. Streicher und Sohn piano, Vienna, 1868, from The Frederick Collection.

Two new CD albums, 2022:

Pianist Elaine Greenfield's two-disc set, Ravel Compared, was released on the Navona label. One disc, recorded with our 1893 Erard, shows the music on the samemake and model as Ravel's own piano; the other disc is of the same repertoire as itmight have been heard in the United States, on a 1917 grand piano by Ivers andPond, of Boston.

Pianist Yuan Sheng’s two-disc album of works by Schumann, recorded on our 1846 Streicher piano of Vienna, was issued on the Piano Classics label. Disc I: Davidsbündlertänze and Carnaval: Disc II: Kinderszenen, Waldszenen and Faschingsschwank aus Wien

Like our many other CDs, these albums are available for sale at the Study Center and concerts. We can also take orders by mail.

The Frederick Collection, in the News

The Frederick Collection, in Publications

Read all about it! We have been making the rounds in the print-realm. You may have noticed us in the Grove, or already heard about the commentary on our collection. Come see why we're the leading location for historic pianos in New England.

Our Mission: Education through interaction.

The Frederick Collection of Period Grand Pianos includes over twenty original pianos in playing condition, specifically, the sorts of pianos known to important composers from about 1790 to 1928. At present, there is no comparable collection of period, playing grand pianos in the United States. Most museum collections that include pianos focus on their decorative appearance rather than their musical value. Such instruments are rarely used for performance; perhaps two or three pianos in each of the other major collections in this country are maintained in regular playing condition.

The value of a piano in context

• Piano was the most important solo instrument, for which the most music was composed, from the late 18th through early 20th centuries.
• Music from the late 18th through early 20th centuries represents the core of present-day piano repertory.
• Until around World War I, piano design was constantly changing. As in clothing fashion and furniture design, changes in taste do not necessarily mean improvement. Piano design changes reflect not only shifts in musical taste, but also ideals of technical perfection rooted as much in the Industrial Revolution as in music.
• Every composer wrote for the pianos he knew, capitalizing on particular musical effects available from those instruments. The same music played on a significantly different instrument will have a different sound, and not necessarily one the composer would have preferred.
• To hear and/or play the piano literature on an instrument such as it was conceived for, is to discover important features of the music. Effects unavailable on the standard modern piano (bass/treble balance, clarity of bass tone, tone-color changes over the dynamic range) become evident, enriching one’s appreciation and enjoyment of the music.
• Built on the Frederick Piano Collection, the Historical Piano Study Center offers lecture-recitals, master classes, seminars, workshops, tours and recordings.
• Located in a handsome, handicapped-accessible, renovated 1890 former public library building, the Collection is conveniently accessible to persons who value its resources, including pianists, musicians who perform with piano accompaniment, music scholars, teachers, students, music critics, piano technicians, builders of historic instrument replicas, concertgoers, and interested members of the general public.

For more information, see our articles on changes in piano keyboard ranges, a different perspective on piano history, or how a piano works.