Morris Steinert

March 9, 1831 (age 80)

Scheinfeld, Germany

At the age of twelve Steinert worked in the shop of a maker of optical instruments at Coblenz. He was then sent out by his employer as a salesman at Bad-Ems, where he remained for three years. The interruption of business by the Revolution of 1848 necessitated his return to his home for a time, and thus the record of his life for a number of years thereafter is one of wandering from city to city in an attempt to make his way as an optician. His business took him first to Switzerland, then to Germany and Russia. He settled for short periods in 1855 at Berlin, Helsingfors, and St. Petersburg successively. His experiences during this time of his career were not always pleasant, for life in cold, police-ridden Russia was exceedingly difficult, even hazardous. Throughout these earlier years Steinert's love for music became intensified as he heard the then "new" music of Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann, and the German and Italian operas. Shortly after 1855 he emigrated to America, and after several years of selling optical instruments at Sharon Springs, New York, he settled in New Haven, Connecticut. The musical profession, however, gradually took the place of his trade, and the records show him as a violoncellist in Maretzek's orchestra in New York City, and as pianist with a traveling minstrel's troupe. After a short period of residence in Savannah and Thomasville, Georgia, the opening of the Civil War sent him North and he settled permanently in New Haven. From 1861 until his death his work was identified with New Haven, and his most memorable activities were those that contributed to the musical development of that city. In his later years Steinert became greatly interested in collecting old musical instruments, purchasing the first examples in and near his native village of Scheinfeld. His skill in discovering and restoring them was soon recognized, and he was invited to exhibit his collection at the Vienna exposition of music and drama in 1892, and at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. He died in 1899.

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Reminiscences of Morris Steinert, comp. and arranged by Jane Marlin

Reminiscences of Morris Steinert

( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

The M. Steinert Collection of Keyed and Stringed Instruments: With Various Treatises On the History of These Instruments ...

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

Catalogue of the M. Steinert Collection of Keyed and Stringed Instruments: Clavichords, Spinets, Virginals, Harpsichords, Hammerclaviere and Pianos; ... Da Spalos, Viola Pomposa, Violins, Violas a

(Excerpt from Catalogue of the M. Steinert Collection of K...)

The M. Steinert Collection of Keyed and Stringed Instruments: With Various Treatises on the History of These Instruments, the Method of Playing Them, ... Influence on Musical Art (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from The M. Steinert Collection of Keyed and Stri...)

Excerpt from The M. Steinert Collection of Keyed and Stringed Instruments: With Various Treatises on the History of These Instruments, the Method of Playing Them, and Their Influence on Musical Art The articles in this pamphlet have been written for a twofold purpose. First. In order to serve as a catalogue to the visitor of the Exhibition, to fully explain to him the nature and construction of the different instruments of my collection and to serve as a book for future reference. My experience at Vienna, where I exhibited a part of this collection in 1892, has taught me that students of music in order to fully understand these instruments, should be provided with some work of guidance, explanation and instruction. In this little volume I have endeavored to fully meet this demand. Second. In order to teach the student the polyphonic nature of the music of the great masters of the eighteenth century, as played on the instruments of that period, to remind him that the music of Bach and his contemporaries was written for the instruments of that period solely, and that their innate beauty can only be fully compre hended if rendered on them, although the music of Bach has been resuscitated by Mendelssohn and others, the instruments for which it was intended had been lost sight of. For this reason I have made it one of my dearest tasks to collect and fully repair these instru ments and learn the original method of playing them, in order to reproduce these works strictly in conformity with the composer's intention. In my researches l have been greatly assisted by my friend, A. J. Hipkins, F. S. A., of London. His various works on the history and construction of musical instruments have been of immense value to me, and have furnished me with many an item for this little work which, as a mark of appreciation, I dedicate to him. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The M. Steinert Collection of Keyed and Stringed Instruments: With Various ...

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Reminiscences of Morris Steinert - Scholar's Choice Edition

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Morris Steinert

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Background

Morris was born on March 9, 1831 of Jewish parents, Heyum Lieb Steinert and Esther Steinert, in Scheinfeld, a small Bavarian village.

Education

His early education was necessarily meager, but later he came under the influence of a man named Kleinschrod and under his guidance made extensive studies in the German classics and philosophy. Moritz (his given name) showed from the beginning an aptitude for music.

He first learned to play, not on the pianoforte, but on the clavier, and grew naturally to understand the older types of instruments and the music of the Mozart-Haydn period written for them.

He learned also to play the violoncello and many times his mastery of both keyboard and bowed instruments served him well in his struggle to make a living as a musician.

Career

At the age of twelve Steinert worked in the shop of a maker of optical instruments at Coblenz. He was then sent out by his employer as a salesman at Bad-Ems, where he remained for three years. The interruption of business by the Revolution of 1848 necessitated his return to his home for a time, and thus the record of his life for a number of years thereafter is one of wandering from city to city in an attempt to make his way as an optician. His business took him first to Switzerland, then to Germany and Russia.

He settled for short periods in 1855 at Berlin, Helsingfors, and St. Petersburg successively. His experiences during this time of his career were not always pleasant, for life in cold, police-ridden Russia was exceedingly difficult, even hazardous. Throughout these earlier years Steinert's love for music became intensified as he heard the then "new" music of Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann, and the German and Italian operas.

Shortly after 1855 he emigrated to America, and after several years of selling optical instruments at Sharon Springs, New York, he settled in New Haven, Connecticut. The musical profession, however, gradually took the place of his trade, and the records show him as a violoncellist in Maretzek's orchestra in New York City, and as pianist with a traveling minstrel's troupe.

After a short period of residence in Savannah and Thomasville, Georgia, the opening of the Civil War sent him North and he settled permanently in New Haven.

From 1861 until his death his work was identified with New Haven, and his most memorable activities were those that contributed to the musical development of that city.

In his later years Steinert became greatly interested in collecting old musical instruments, purchasing the first examples in and near his native village of Scheinfeld. His skill in discovering and restoring them was soon recognized, and he was invited to exhibit his collection at the Vienna exposition of music and drama in 1892, and at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

He died in 1899.

Achievements

Morris Steinert founded the Mathushek Pianoforte Company, and later the M. Steinert and Sons Company, which maintained stores for the sale of pianos in Boston Providence, New Haven, and other cities. He donated the greater part of the collection in 1900 to Yale University.