Piano In The Parlour: When The Piano Was New Zealands Home Entertainment Centre

Description

Piano In The Parlour takes an affectionate look at when the piano was our most important domestic possession. At the centre of entertainment in the home and often in the community, it also stoked the flames of love for countless courting couples. The extreme lengths pioneers went to, when putting pianos in their homes, were highlighted by Jane Campion's The Piano. That was fiction, but similar real-life stories are recounted here.
305 x 217 mm
127 pages

Table of contents

One: early years, to 1859; Two: mid-colonial period, 1860 to 1899; Three: consolidation; then decline, 1900-29; Four: the service industries; Five: what they played and sang; Six: competition and denouement; Seven: words, music and chords for 17 songs popular in parlours between 1840 and 1929; Feature pages; Appendix I: the Annie Craig music collection; Appendix II: lithographed covers, local and overseas; Appendix III: Dresden Piano Co advertorial in the Auckland Star, 1890; Notes and references; Acknowledgements - illustrations and graphics; Index