Not so long ago there was a piano in almost every Swedish home. Learning how to play a keyboard instrument was indeed essential to proper behaviour, based on a tradition going back hundreds of years. During this time the art of making keyboard instruments developed and was refined. In modern times, however, musical life has successively transformed, so that shift work, mass media, synth cultures and computers have changed people’s musical habits.

Still in the 1930s, there were in Stockholm alone a dozen piano factories, but low-priced import and high costs caused a structural change, with the result that not a single piano factory now remains in the whole country – Malmsjö, Hoffmans, Löfbergs, Östlind & Almquist and so on - all having ceased to exist. A 235-year-old tradition from c. 1750 to 1984 has been broken, maybe for ever.

The piano factories preserved and encouraged craftsmanship, and established traditions. Under their roofs technicians, tuners and voicers were trained and continued to work, also taking care of the instruments that were sold on the open market. The moment the factory doors were closed for ever, the craftsmen were scattered, and with them the knowledge they had built up in these unique surroundings.

Piano builders have always been continuously challenged by the same physical laws, resulting in a multitude of solutions to the technical problems they met with - solutions characterized by creativity and joy of craftsmanship. It is not until about 1920 that we can see a standardized manufacturing process. Yet right up to the 1960s, George Bolin was making the last innovative constructions of Swedish upright and grand pianos.

Swedish piano history is, however, far from charted. There is for example no comprehensive study in our libraries accessible to people wanting to know more about their pianos. There is indeed no literature at all available on Swedish pianos, despite their extensive spread in society, which should warrant their consideration as popular instruments. The museum collections usually reflect the periods before 1850, but motivation to preserve later instruments has been lacking.

Old instruments from the 18th and 19th centuries - such as square and grand pianos, uprights, the "giraffe", the "lyra" and pyramid grands - may have fallen silent, becoming quiet witnesses of the craftsmanship and cultural history of their times. Yet many fine-sounding instruments are still left in Swedish homes, witnessing the quality of the production we once had.

To gain perspective and understanding of the Swedish piano history, it is important to preserve a collection of every Swedish piano model, plus documentation on them, from the small wooden creations of the late 18th century to the last Malmsjö models. Today, many instruments face the threat of destruction. While research is going on, important sources are rapidly disappearing.

It is therefore important to protect Swedish keyboard instruments in Klaverens Hus, where light can be cast on all aspects of their inherent musical and social culture. Here, unique instruments are saved for future research, for technical documentation, and for careful restoration to a playable state and exposure in public exhibition - a joy and feast for eye and ear!