PIANO IN THE PARLOUR
John MacGibbon
Hardback - Ngaio Press - $49.95


Pianos were indispensable fixtures in thousands of New Zealand front parlours during Victorian and Edwardian times, and into the 1920s. De rigeuer in middle and upper-class homes, the instrument also became a symbol of upward mobility for the working classes.

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, putting pianos in their homes, were highlighted by Jane Campion’s film, The Piano. That was fiction, but similar real-life stories are recounted here.


In pioneer homes, being able to play pieces and accompany songs on the piano helped maintain cultural links with the ‘old country’ and the piano kept these links going for many years – until it was supplanted in most homes by the gramophone and radio. People played album and sheet music for hit songs, old favourites, classical pieces, stage shows, operas and hymns, just as later they would buy recordings or download digital audio files.

This book also looks at the people who sold pianos, from early entrepreneurs such as Charles Russell and George West, to the big firms: Charles Begg & Co, Dresden Piano Co and the Eady companies in Auckland.
 It covers the music they played including what was published in New Zealand, and it visits the old piano teachers.
Included are the words and music (with chord symbols) for a wide selection of songs played and sung in New Zealand homes during the piano’s heyday.

About the author:
John MacGibbon trained in classical piano and graduated to playing keyboards in nightclubs and musical theatre. Still an active pianist, though retired from professional playing, he is a writer and publisher who has written books on Scottish emigrants, war history and the sheep industry, genealogy and music.

 Prolifically and beautifully illustrated. A book for every lover of pianos and piano music. And a fine piece of social history publishing.



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