Category:George Hicks (musical instrument maker)
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References[edit]
- Laurence Libin (1985) "Keyboards and Automata" in American Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art / W. W. Norton & Company, pp. 190-191 ISBN 0-87099-379-8 (MMA), ISBN 0-393-02277-3 (W.W. Norton)"Widely popular from the mid-nineteenth century until well into the twentieth, the keyless cylunder piano is often confused with the street organ. Hauled about by an itinerant busker accompanied by a begging monkey or ragamuffin, the instrument was operated by a hand crank that rotates a horizontal wooden cylinder studded with brass pins, which engage a simple upright piano action. The strings stretch vertically over the soundboard, in front of which, on more expensive models, small articulated figures move in time to the music. English makers, notably the Hicks family from Bristol, provided many such instruments for export, their cylinders programmed with tunes popular at their destination. ",
"The Museum's typical example (Fig. 241 and Colorplate 14) dates from about 1860. Encased in stained pine and mahogany, it it stenciled G. Hicks maker of cylinder pianos & barrel organs 101 Jay Street Brooklyn N-Y. George Hicks (b. 1818; d. New York, N. Y., February 21, 1863) may have immigrated from Bristol. He worked in Brooklyn after 1849 and maintained an office or salesroom in Manhattan from 1856 to 1858. Following his death from apoplexy, he was buried in Greenwood cemetery, leaving his widown, Harriet, and three children. Little more is known of his career. He may merely have assembled instruments from imported components; it is unlikely that he manufactured all the parts, including the pinned cylinders and crank hardware. ",
"[Fig] 241. Cylinder piano by George Hicks. Brooklyn, N. Y., c. 1860. H. 36 1/2 in. A panel enclosing the strings has been removed. (89.4.2048). See also Colorplate 14 ",
"This piano, serial number 604, has a diatonic range f1-e3, plus f sharps and an isolated c1. Ten papier-mâtché figures stand on its mirrored “stage” (Fig. 242). By moving the cylinder sideways the operator selected one of eight tunes—German, Italian, Irish, Polish, the perennial “Yankee Doodle” (familiar since at least 1767) and so on—according to the ethnic character of the neighborhood. Tempo varies with the speed of the cranking. Two brass bells punctuate the rhythm as the costumed puppets bob and turn. A uniformed courtier, controlled by a knob, raises a tray to solicit coins, which he deposits in a trough. ",
"[Fig] 242. Detail of articulated figures on “stage” of cylinder piano in Fig. 241. The woman at center plays a keyboard instruments; the man at far right collects coins on his tray and drops them into the trough below ",
"Since the street piano impeded traffic, New York aldermen prohibited its use in 1885. This drew forth protests, including a poem beginning / I'm fond of classic music, e`en of the Vogner school / And dearly love to hear it sung by signor Mike O'Tool / But the music that I love the best, is that I hear each day / Played by a wandering refugee on a sweet street pianny. ",
"The instrument was usually hired by the operator and returned every six or eight weeks for a freshly pinned cylinder. Because of hard outdoor use these instruments had a limited lifetime. They needed frequent tuning, and their cylinders required careful handling. No copyright applied to the tunes, and music pubishers may have appreciated the free publicity for their songs. The cylinder piano and barrel organ put popular music within earshot of poor tenement dwellers and provided a welcome diversion for people on the street: And yet they talk of passing laws to break up strolling bands / The organ grinder with his monk who on the corner stands / The girl with tambourine and bell! the harp and fiddle too, / If they succeed, oh dear, what will we music lovers do?8 "
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Barrel Piano MET DT691.jpg 2,978 × 3,722; 1.59 MB
