Pramberger Pianos

History

Joseph Pramberger’s father, Anton, began his apprenticeship at an early age handcrafting fine works of art, becoming a Master Artisan in the tradition of Old World European craftsmen. Anton recalls his grandfather handing down the family secrets of fine woodworking and instructing young Anton to “meticulously observe only the best work of others, and absorb every possible detail and nuance of their craft.” The Pramberger family decided to leave war-torn Europe for the United States at the urging of Anton’s uncles and cousins, who had been working at Steinway & Sons® since 1913. Anton had been promised work at the Steinway piano factory in Astoria, New York. There, he put his formidable skills to work, dedicating 25 years as a pattern maker, designing and creating the complex equipment required to build fine pianos.

When Anton came to America in 1950, he brought his son, Joseph Pramberger, who would become the modern-day link in the Pramberger lineage of piano makers. Beginning in 1958, Joseph honed his craft in the halls of Steinway & Sons®, where he ultimately spent 29 years perfecting his skills, first as a Design and Project Engineer, then as Vice President of Manufacturing and Chairman of the International Technical Exchange Group. Through his hands-on involvement in every aspect of piano making, he was able to gain detailed knowlege in all phases of fine piano construction and manufacturing. Joseph further expanded his skills as a mechanical engineer (New York University B.E.M.E. 1966), by studying, refining and documenting established piano making operations. He traveled the world visiting and consulting key suppliers and major piano manufacturers in Europe, Japan and Korea.

In 1987, after 29 years at Steinway, Joseph, in the tradion of the Prambergers before him, formed his own company, Pramberger Piano Ltd., where he and father Anton worked together specializing in the restoration and rebuilding of world class pianos.

Timeline

The Pramberger family’s history of piano craftsmanship dates back to the late 1700s in the Black Forest of Germany. Johann Joseph Pramberger, born in 1779, began making pianos in Vienna, Austria, the Music Center of the World. It was an era in history where every aspect of creating a piano was an art of learned skill and personal craftsmanship. In today’s modern instruments, the same core values still hold true; though the design and manufacturing technology have evolved, the inherited knowledge, experience and skilled touch of a Master Craftsman’s hands are still paramount in the creation of a fine musical instrument.

1700s
• c1700 Bartomeo Cristofori develops the first piano
• 1723 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) becomes choirmaster of Saint Thomas’s church, Leipzig, Germany
• c1750 Pramberger family immigrates to Vienna, Austria from the Black Forest region of Germany
• 1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) is born in Salzburg, Austria
• 1779 Joseph Johann Pramberger (1779–1834) is born in Tyrol, Austria
• 1780 Nanette Stein-Streicher develops the improved Vienna action for the piano-forte
• 1792 Schweighofer & Sohne piano makers established in Vienna. By 1900s was Vienna’s oldest firm
• 1792 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) moves to Vienna to study under Joseph Haydn

1800s
• c1800 Joseph Johann Pramberger, after serving an apprenticeship under Mathias Muller, becomes a partner with Michael Schweighofer
• 1810 Joseph Johann Pramberger acquires full ownership of Schweighofer & Pramberger piano shop in Vienna
• 1810 Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) is born
• 1811 Johann Pramberger, Jr. is born in Vienna, studies under his father, and eventually leads the family piano building business
• 1814 Beethoven’s last public appearance
• 1814 Joseph Pramberger is born, studies with father and brother and becomes an independent piano builder
• 1821 Sebastian Erard patents double escapement piano-forte action
• 1821 Johann Pramberger Jr. invents a new piano stop called the Violoncellton
• 1824 Johann Pramberger Sr. patents new type of piano called a Sirenion
• 1824 Pramberger receives patents for design work on piano strings and metal soundboard
• 1827 John Broadwood patents iron hitchpin piano frame with cross bars
• 1839 Pramberger piano receives honorable mention at Vienna exhibition
• 1851 Franz Liszt, (1811–1886), composes “Transcendental Etudes”
• 1853 Steinway & Sons® piano makers established in Astoria, New York
• 1859 “Modern” overstrung scale with full iron frame patented
• 1867 Pramberger piano receives Bronze Medal at Paris exposition
• 1873 Pramberger piano receives Medal for Technical Excellence in Vienna
• 1892 Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) composes “Prelude in C-sharp Minor”
• 1899 Scott Joplin (1868–1917) composes “Maple Leaf Rag”

1900s
• c1900 Pneumatic player pianos developed
• 1904 Vladimir Horowitz (1904–1989) is born
• 1909 Anton Pramberger is born
• 1913 Pramberger family members begin working at Steinway & Sons®, NY
• 1924 George Gershwin (1898–1937) composes “Rhapsody in Blue”
• c1930 Duke Ellington (1899–1974) broadcasts jazz from the Cotton Club, Harlem, NY
• 1950 Anton Pramberger family immigrates to New York City. Anton begins work at Steinway & Sons®
• 1958 Joseph J. Pramberger begins work at Steinway & Sons®, NY
• 1975 Joseph J. Pramberger invents patented bushing for piano actions
• 1987 Joseph J. Pramberger leaves Steinway & Sons® and creates Pramberger Pianos Ltd., NY

2000s
• 2000 Pramberger Platinum Edition world-class grand piano models JP-185 and JP-208 Debut
• 2004 Pramberger joins the SMC family
• 2005 New generation of Joseph Pramberger inspired JP Prambergers are introduced to the world of premium pianos