If You've Seen a PH Piano, You Won't Forget It

Once Seen, Never Forgotten

So opens the article in Pianist Magazine by writer Warwick Thompson, about PH Pianos and its founder and CEO, Søren Vincents Svendsen. Thompson’s informative and engaging text shares the background and the story behind our instruments, designed by Poul Henningsen. From our CEO’s first encounter with the PH Pianos, to securing the exclusive rights from the Henningsen family estate to produce the instrument, to the developments of today, Thompson guides the reader through each important aspect of the company.

‘There was a lovely piano shop in the heart of Copenhagen, where I put the instrument to be sold,’ says the charming and cheerful proselytizer for his company, when I catch up with [Svendsen] via Zoom. ‘I was walking past it every day, and I started to notice how much attention it was receiving from people standing there. They were admiring it, and talking about it, and really drawn to it. It struck me that it’s definitely a piece of art that inspires and provokes. People can love it or hate it, but they won’t forget it.’
The piano was soon sold, but Svendsen couldn’t get it out of his mind. Why shouldn’t there be more PH-designed pianos in the world? More of these extraordinary instruments to give people a jolt of pleasure? Something to challenge the ubiquitous ‘black box’ design?
Svendsen had no background in either music or design – his main sphere had been academia and corporate governance – but he decided to try and inject new life into these extraordinary instruments.

Open For Business

Thompson goes on to explain the importance of designer Poul Henningsen and the process of securing the license from the Henningsen estate, for both the furniture and the piano designs.

Next, Thompson describes the origins of Svendsen’s company:

In 2010 he part-bought the piano showroom in which he had sold his own instrument, and made this the base of his new outfit. In 2011 the first new PH Grand Piano, based on the 1931 design, was ready for sale. It is often called the ‘glass lid’ piano, although the actual material used is plexiglass. It was made in collaboration with Blüthner in Leipzig, and this particular model of the PH Grand was named ‘Excellence’.

Thompson’s article addresses the question of maker collaborations: only one edition of one model is made with Blüthner, while others are made with other European-made actions.

Svendsen explains his philosophy: ‘We believe that what makes a PH piano is the case. That is the most important thing: that’s why we do not mention any of the other piano makers we work with, apart from Blüthner.
Of course, just as with a good sports car, it not only has to look good, but drive well – in this case, play well. We know that beauty has to lie on the inside too. So we always highlight the technical details, and underscore that we work with European quality makers, and only with a Renner action. But the case is the thing.’

Shapes, Sizes and Suppliers

PH Pianos crafts its instruments in-house, and it has been developing its manufacturing capacity which Thompson asks Svendsen to describe.

Svendsen and his company went through the most enormous learning curve. ‘During that time we also acquired the licences for PH’s furniture pieces,’ he continues, ‘and thus built up our own production capacity for a whole range of wooden furniture. It means that we now have the ability to do all our case work for the pianos too. We source the insides from different suppliers, and then do everything else in house.’

Thompson also offers some helpful insights about the instruments: in the full article, he differentiates the various instrument designs, explains several of the options available for customers to select, and more.

‘We’re definitely planning to make more customised pianos, and also new versions,’ he says. ‘Take the upright piano: it has a rounded “stomach”, which PH made with glass as well as wood. So now we’ve started a collaboration with a renowned glass specialist who’s prepared some amazing new glass designs for us. And we’ve launched a new bench: you know, most piano benches are either non-functional or just really ugly. So we’ve addressed that in-house, and made an adjustable professional-level bench, inspired by the PH design principles. And we’ve just launched a range of speakers too. The next step is to invite designers to create completely new designs for us, but based on the PH philosophy: we’re hoping to launch something very soon.’

The article also hints at our coming developments in this piece. We are pleased that Thompson mentions our expansive showroom development, in which we are doubling our floorspace, enabling us to invite recording artists such as Peter Sandberg, and to showcase coming collaborations including a special edition with interior designer Sasha Bikoff.

Sounds About Right

Thompson continues with one of the most important questions of all:

What do they actually sound like? For all the assurances given, are they actually worth playing?
Here I have to say I haven’t touched one myself, so I’m relying on my tinny computer speakers to give me an idea. But judging from the Chopin Project
– a number of Chopin études, performed by students at the Royal Danish Academy of Music on two newly made PH pianos, with the results available on the company website – the sound is rather lovely. The instruments appear to have a superb response to both delicacy and firmness, and have a rather lovely fluty overtone in the treble.
As we round up our conversation, I ask Svendsen what has been the most surprising thing he has learned on his journey from academic to piano salesman? ‘That I feel like the ugly duckling in the fairy tale; that I find myself in such a conservative industry, where people can be a bit negative about innovation and development and progress. We’re not doing harm to anybody! We’re not marauding Danish Vikings! We build on the PH philosophy of reaching out, bridging gaps, partnering with piano makers, making beautiful things. We have spectacular designs, and that’s where we want our place in the market.’

Thompson concludes his article with a positive prognosis:

Of course, in the fairy tale, the ugly duckling became a beautiful swan. And for PH Pianos, it looks like it’s happening already.

Many thanks to Warwick Thompson and to Pianist Magazine. You can read the full article in Pianist Magazine here.