Patrick Boeckstijns asked:

> 1) Is Hupfeld the name of a piano or the name of a player system ?

It was the name of a company, possibly the most distinguished in the
history of player pianos and organs: Ludwig Hupfeld AG of Leipzig.

Hupfeld started with a pushup in 1898 whose design was immediately
poached by Aeolian for the production Pianola (look at Dolge's book
showing sections through the two -- it's flagrant).  Legend says it was
naked industrial espionage by an Aeolian salesman who managed to have
the case taken off at a Berlin exhibition.  Judging from the products,
Hupfeld had a quality policy 90 years ahead of its time (except that
we don't have many products as good as theirs even now).

In Europe you may readily buy 88-note "Animatic" hand-played rolls
which have a handsome green leader with a drawing of their factory
as it was around 1915, architect-designed and purpose-built about ten
years earlier to make the company's unique 73-note Phonola pianos and
Phonoliszt band pianos.  It was rectangular with a large compound or
yard in the middle and had a Mansard roof (like the top of an octagon
with dormers) all round and a large brick water tower.

In 1909 Hupfeld joined in the internationalization of player piano
standards and started making 88-note instruments with hand-played
rolls that were compatible with Aeolian's "Themodist" and Standard's
"Solodant" systems.  In fact, I think the term "Solodant" belonged to
Hupfeld originally.  In 1912-13, after two years of recording activity
(also exploited on Phonola and 88-note) they launched the DEA repro-
ducing piano.  The 1914 war scotched any possibility of making this
a success.

In 1918 they started again with the Triphonola, which was derived
from the DEA and used its masters, but was a "theme and accompaniment"
system like a cross between the DEA and Duo-Art.  This shared with
the green-paper Welte system the distinction of being a full 88-note
reproducer, and the rolls could be pedalled on any 88-note theme piano
without modification.

Alas, Duo-Art got in first in Europe and Triphonola proved an expensive
commercial failure.  I think it suffered a bit like Hupfeld itself, of
concentrating so hard on the quality end of the market it never got
mass sales which might have kept the company in better shape overall.

( Why _Tri_-phonola ?  Apparently Solophonola was their first 88-note
theme system and Duophonola a pedal-only version of the Tri, like a
pedal "half Duo-Art".  I've never met anyone who's seen a Duophonola
but I'm sure there are some in Germany.  Indeed I've only heard one
Triphonola playing, the one in Frank Holland's museum when it had just
been restored; it was well up to its American competitors. )

Hupfeld 88-note rolls were just called "Hupfeld" to make them universal
-- it was found that putting piano system names on rolls drastically
reduced the number of people buying them, because of ignorance.  The
rolls were renamed "Animatic" in 1918 to overcome the anti-German
feeling in Europe and happily, stupendous numbers of these musically
impressive and exquisitely-made rolls survive in Germany, Great
Britain, Italy and France.

The sequestrated English branch of Bluethner were the London agents
and sold not only Bluethner pianos with Hupfeld actions in them but
Roenisch and Hupfeld pianos as well, the last-named being made in
Leipzig.  None of these pianos seemed to be "the cheap line"; they were
all solidly crafted.

Animatic rolls continued being made until 1940, but sales were low
after the Nazis came to power because of their restrictions on popular
music styles.  I don't know for certain but I kind of remember from
somewhere that production of the 73-note rolls petered out in about
1938.  Maybe someone in Germany can correct me on all this.

Like the Universal roll factory at Hayes in Middlesex, the Leipzig
factory was commandeered after 1940 for war work and was reduced to
about one-quarter of its original size in 1943 in a bombing raid by the
RAF.  After 1945 Hupfeld was in the Russian zone and since there was
still a big concentration of skilled people there, was made one of the
East German state enterprises.  I recall seeing a Hupfeld upright on
sale in London in about 1960.  It was very shiny but sounded pitiful
and its main attraction, as for all Eastern bloc products, was its
price.  There was also a Roenisch which was somewhat better.

Frank Holland of the Musical Museum was told by a German visitor
that while there were indeed employees from the great pre-war days
at Hupfeld, they had been threatened with instant dismissal or even
imprisonment if they made any remarks which suggested that things
might have been better in years gone by.  I believe group visits by
West German enthusiast groups were tolerated in cold silence and
contact with old employees was frowned on.

Now things have taken a better turn and Hupfeld at least is making
respectable pianos again under West German ownership.  I'm probably
biased, but I rank it with the historic piano names like Pleyel and
Broadwood, if not exactly Bechstein and Steinway.

Dan Wilson, London