A little history of the great art of piano-building

In the beginning there was a young carpenter apprentice who loved music: It was 1813  when Johann Grimm applied to become a piano builder with Johann Andreas Streicher, owner of the most famous piano company of its time, in Vienna, Austria. Spending six years with the prestigious Streicher Piano Company the young apprentice was introduced into the art of piano building by the most influential individuals in piano building and music. Johann Andreas Streicher (1761-1833) who was born in Stuttgart, Germany, was a close friend of the poet Friedrich Schiller and married Nanette Stein (1769-1833). She was the daughter of Johann Andreas Stein (1728-1792) who had been introduced to the secrets of piano building by Johann Andreas Silbermann (1712-1783) in Strassburg. Ludwig van Beethoven purchased several instruments from the Streicher Piano Company and was a very close friend of the family. Nanette Streicher supervised the household of the creative but often disorganized Ludwig van Beethoven for many years.  Nanette had also been closely acquainted with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and had played on several occasions with him on pianos manufactured by her family. Her husband, Johann Andreas Streicher, who also was an avid composer, gave regular lessons to Mozart’s son. During his apprenticeship with Streicher Piano Company (1813-1819), Johann Grimm assisted with the building of several instruments for Ludwig von Beethoven and other influential musicians. Sauter Piano Company recently honored the memory of Johann Andreas Streicher by publishing a CD with his original compositions.

In 1846, as Grimm's heir and successor, his nephew Carl Sauter expanded the workshop into a proper manufacturing centre employing a dozen apprentices, which soon became one of the leading piano factories in Swabia.
After his early death, Johann Sauter, who was only 17 years old, took over the factory with his mother. From his extensive trips abroad, including a visit to America, he brought back all sorts of new ideas and concepts. Work at Sauter's was characterised from the beginning by a feeling of openness, a pioneering spirit and a love of perfectionAnd so it was hardly a surprise that many of the inventions and improvements in piano technology were patented internationally. The era of Johann Sauter also saw the changeover of production from square pianos to the larger pianoforte. Carl Sauter II, who took over the company in 1909, continued to expand the factory and increase production. With their outstanding quality and improved models, the excellent sound associated with the name of Sauter became famous throughout Germany. Hans Sauter, who took over the firm in 1948, applied new findings in science and new techniques and materials to the modern craft of piano-building. Soon, the pianos - which both looked and sounded superb - were being exported world-wide.

In 1952, the production of grand pianos marked the start of a new epoch in the company's history - a clear sign of outstanding quality of sound. With the development of the double repetition mechanism, giving the pianos a particularly sensitive touch, and the launch of the high-quality M-Line at the beginning of the 1990s, Sauter consistently followed the direction it has chosen. Sauter has added a designer touch with its exclusive "Sauter - designed by Peter Maly" model range, which was created especially for modern living environments. With the 275 concert grand, to be launched in the year 2000, Sauter is entering the sound dimension of the international grand piano class. A new era of great piano building has begun.