Page 17 - Jeffersonville Journal Visitors Guide

Tickling New Life into Old Ivory
Written by Ginny Brown Davis. Photos provided by Glenn Spielmann
You may recall your first encounter with an upright piano family members.
during a visit to the home of an elderly relative or neighbor, In the late 1800s, Glenn’s grandfather, Henry Spielmann
or in a church’s social hall or a school music room. Tall and wide with yellowed keys, dark wood that gave off a faint odor of aging furniture wax, and three silver-toned pedals located along the bottom center. These pianos are often a child’s first instrument for performing such musical classics as “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Chopsticks.”
was a piano tuner and worked for the Steinway & Sons piano company in Boston. After living in Boston for two-and-half years, he returned to take over the Spielmann family homestead in Youngsville.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the heyday of the upright, these pianos were a fixture in upper and middle class households. Highly prized musical instruments, they were often the centerpiece of the parlor. Joined together in song, there was always at least one talented family pianist. In the years before households owned Victrolas and radios, pianos helped to bring music into many American homes. Sadly, most of these pianos have vanished, relegated to a dusty corner of an antique shop awaiting sale, or worse, the move to the final resting place—the landfill.
George Spielmann, grew up on East Hill in Youngsville and began his piano making career as an apprentice in a piano factory in New York. Later he formed his piano manufacturing company sometime in the late 1800s, selling upright pianos bearing his name. George sold his business in the early 1900s and joined his brother Henry and family at their homestead. He spent the rest of his adult life living in Youngsville.
But there is one old upright piano that found a secure future, rescued from the upper level of one of Jeffersonville’s venerable retail establishments, Peters’ Auction Barn.
Glenn Spielmann couldn’t believe his good fortune, a long lost Spielmann piano had been rediscovered just five miles away in Jeffersonville. After a bit of bartering, Glenn purchased the upright that very day, a Spielmann Concert Grand. Purchase price? $100.
In 2012, Walton resident, Michael Moore visited the barn in search of antiques and vintage goods. On the creaky upper floor, he stumbled upon a dusty relic from the past, an old upright piano. Above its ivory covered keys, ornately inscribed gilded letters proclaimed, “G. Spielmann & Co. New York”. Moore instantly recognized the name Spielmann. At one time, he had a colleague in the Liberty School District named Glenn Spielmann. Michael phoned Spielmann and asked if his family had ever made a piano. He could not have asked a more welcome question. Glenn’s ancestors had indeed made pianos. Though Glenn himself didn’t own one, he knew that his great uncle, George Spielmann, had given two as wedding presents to
His new treasure needed lots of work. There were broken and missing keys, the wood cabinetry was covered in flat black paint with turquoise trim and at some point someone desecrated the poor piano with a belt sander. Initially, Glenn sent the piano to a furniture restorer, but after two years, the restorer surrendered. He just didn’t have the level of skills required for such a project.
A new search put Spielmann in touch with the Sweeney Piano Company of West Chester, Pennsylvania, approximately 200 miles from Youngsville. The firm’s owner, Mike Sweeney was an experienced craftsman and had restored ten Spielmann upright pianos in the past. This piano had merit to support an extensive restoration that went far beyond Glenn’s personal sentiments. According to Sweeney, “You don’t get a better sound than a Spielmann upright."
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