More than a piece of furniture: it is sometimes as if these old pianos have souls

By Scott Davie, Deputy Head of School, Lecturer in Piano, School of Music, Australian National University

While restructuring a collection of historical keyboard instruments at the ANU School of Music, I’ve been led to ponder the mysterious significance that pianos can have in the human psyche.

Due to limitations of space and funds for maintenance, a decision was made to limit the university’s collection to the most valuable instruments. “Value” was considered on the basis of an instrument’s historical uniqueness, its practical utility for research and overall condition.

Yet “value”, as we know, can be understood in different ways.

Vehicles for musical expression

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