One of Julie’s daughters, Fanny, was a pianist.  She made her living as a piano teacher before working for Steinway as the moving force behind its program of sponsoring young or unknown concert pianists.  It is through her legacy that Esperanza boasts the Steinways that it has.  However, the whole family has a tradition of musicality (to my great shame, I break with this tradition being barely able to stumble through the most basic of pieces).  Entertainment for generations meant a performance, usually on the piano.  Through the 1920’s, it was not uncommon for there to be parlor concerts, family members and visiting performers from New York City and, even, Europe might be involved.

Because of Fanny’s career, and because of Helen’s interest in the arts as well, it is no surprise, that the acoustics of the 1893 addition are remarkably good for a private home.  It was not built as a theater, but I cannot help but think that they must have requested a space specifically designed for the piano.  The piano, I would note, arrived a year or two later…and has never been moved.  Today, Jamie can usually be convinced to play a Chopin nocturne or two (from Memory!!!), and the elegance of the sound is not due solely to Chopin. 

Tonight, the reason for this post, I am seeing just how much the respectable (if by today’s standards antique!) sound system can take in regards to Anglican choral music.  The answer, for the curious, is that the space handles it well, for those that have heard such music in its original spaces, this is a compliment.