Piano Forte: Stories and Soundscapes from Colonial New Zealand

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Preface
Overture: 'My father sent home for the very best instrument he could find'
'Has the piano reached you in safety?'
'Is there a man inside?'
'Life was insupportable without home music'
'Concerts & socials for the promotion of good fellowship'
'She became so engrossed in the pictures that she forgot to play'
'The applause would be tumultuous'
'I want to learn to play the piano'
'Pianos prepared for the New Zealand climate'
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

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Piano Forte focuses on the era in which the piano became of central significance in the private, social and cultural lives of many New Zealanders. It is a book composed of many voices, being based on memoirs, diaries, letters, concert programs, company records and other accounts. The stories begin in 1827, with the arrival of what was probably the first piano to be brought to New Zealand, and end in 1930, when the increasing popularity of the phonograph, the radio and the introduction of talkie movies were beginning to have a profound impact on people's leisure activities. Initially, the piano was a stranger in this land, a European musical instrument that introduced Maori to a new sound world and which provided European settlers with a reassuring sense of "home." For both, it offered opportunities for social and cultural activities, and, as time went by, a possible career. By the end of the period, the piano, too, had thoroughly settled in, no longer a stranger but a loved, essential part of New Zealand society. A selection of historical sketches, paintings and photographs of the piano in many contexts is included as a visual essay on piano soundscapes.

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