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| Pianoforte-makers
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POHLMANN
1892
THROUGHOUT the musical instrument industry of the United Kingdom
there is no single firm with which we are acquainted that can justly claim
so distinguished a place by reason of antiquity and great manufacturing
achievements as the world-renowned house we indicate at the head of this
sketch.
The ancestors of the present head of the concern were the makers of
the first pianoforte made in England, and it is interesting to note that
Messrs. POHLMANN & Co. still possess among their treasured relics the
identical 5-octave instrument which Johannes Pohlmann made in 1768.
They have also instruments manufactured by all the leading houses in
the trade, whether British, American, or continental. The mere enumeration
of the makers whose productions are represented in Messrs. POHLMANN & Co.'s
showrooms would fill more space than we can afford in the present review,
but we may mention the fact that the firm control no fewer than eighteen
sole agencies, representing the cream of the world's musical instrument
manufactories.
The utmost choice is thus afforded to the intending purchaser, who
may rest reliant upon the fact that an inferior instrument has no place in
the another pianoforte, also made by Johannes Pohlmann in 1773, and
possessing a special interest from the fact that Gluckused it during the
composition of this "Armida" and other works.
The firm of Messrs. POHLMANN & Co. have extensive pianoforte
manufacturing works in Brunswick, the old and original manufactory being
situated at Halifax, Yorkshire, and a very extensive business is carried on.
The head of the concern is Mr. George H. Pohlmann, who is the sole
proprietor, and personally superintends the business.
The Dublin showrooms in Dawson Street are among the finest of the
kind we have ever inspected. They are elegantly fitted up, perfectly lighted
from the roof by Stott's new patent reflex light, and are stocked to
repletion with every class of musical saloons of the firm, however cheap it
may be.
Indeed, in order to guarantee the excellence and perfect character
of every instrument sold, all are personally examined by Mr. Pohlmann before
they are permitted to leave the warehouses of the firm.
But of Messrs. POHLMANN & Co.'s own productions we desire to say
something. The firm have always enjoyed the reputation for being
progressive, and certainly no piano manufacturing house has made a greater
number of successful experiments in the improvemant of the pianoforte than
they; and the results of their constant study, research, and practical trial
of new ideas are strikingly manifested in the superb instruments now sent
out under the name of "Pohlmann." They control a great number of valuable
patents, and, with the exception of Messrs. Erard, of London, they were the
first in England to make pianofortes with 7 ½-octave keyboards.
The new construction of pianos with full iron frames was introduced
into England in 1870 by Messrs. POHLMANN & Co., and in 1871 they were the
first to use the overstrung bass in the upright pianoforte. "They are," says
a recent reviewer in the Industries of Yorkshire, "the inventors and
patentees of the newest construction in horizontal and upright 'grands,
viz., their on double frame cast in one piece (corrugated), with suspended
sound boards, and the excellent equaltension bridge."
Double sound boards, made on a similar principle to violins, are
used in some of Messrs. POHLMANN'S patent "paragon" upright grands (as sold
to Mr. Sims Reeves), and two other notable specialities consist in the
protected "no iseless" pedals for pianos and the silverized, non-corrosive
"harmonic" piano wire, which was first used by Messrs. POHLMANN in 1884, and
which i s now supplied to many of the largest piano-makers. For this wire
the firm claim a superiority in every respect, and the difference in cost is
trifling.
Messrs. POHLMANN have won many prize medal sand other awards for
superiority of tone, touch, and workmanship, and, from their wonderfully
cheap, durable, and most satisfactory school pianos to their superb
horizontal grands at ninety-five guineas and upwards, every instrument
produced by the firm embodies artistic and musical qualities of a high order
and exhibits conspicuous merits of design and finish.
To any purchaser who desires a really high-class instrument at a
medium price we can strongly and confidently recommend the firm's
productions. Messrs. POHLMANN & Co. make every instrument of the best and
most reliable materials, having but one object in view—to produce an
irreproachable pianoforte at the lowest cost consistent with genuine
intrinsic excellence.
The easy payment or three years' system of hire and purchase is
applied to all classes of instruments. American organs, too, form a
prominent feature in connect ion with the firm's business operations;
indeed, Messrs. POHLMANN & Co. were the first to introduce the American
organ into Ireland, and the fact that at the present time they possess the
sole agency for the Karn Organ Co., the Palace Organ Co., and the Packard
Organ Co. —three of the largest American organ manufacturing concerns
extant—taken in conjunction with the fact that Messrs. POHLMANN & Co. sell
more American organs at their Dawson Street depot than all other music
sellers combined, affords striking evidence that the house still retains its
pre-eminence in this department of the musical instrument trade.
Messrs. POHLMANN also carry on an extensive tuning business, a large
staff of efficient tuners being employed, while an equally experienced staff
of workmen in connection with their manufactory is employed in the repairing
departments of the concern.
The music department is under entirely new management, and the stock
Comprises all the latest musical publications, so that all their patrons may
rely on orders being promptly executed; and they hope, by their careful
attention, to merit the continued and increased orders of their numerous
friends and the public generally.
The business throughout is ably and
enterprisingly conducted, and, as a depot for every requirement usually
associated with the profession of music, it has undoubtedly no equal among
the rival music emporia of the Irish Metropolis."
Dublin, Cork and South of Ireland: A Literary,
Commercial, and Social Review, 1892
For references see pages
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PIANOFORTE Warehouse in Dublin, Ireland,
"POHLMANN & CO., Prize Medal Patent Grand Piano forte Manufacturers, Music
Publishers and Sellers, Musical Instrument Importers, etc., 40, Dawson
Street, Dublin. 
