The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: The Hidden World of a Paris Atelier

This chapter follows the own musical history of American freelance writer Thad Carhart. It introduces younger Desforges partner, Luc, who took Carhart one day through the mysterious door at the back of the shop and into the glass-roofed atelier that lay beyond. It was enormous, flooded with sunlight, and stacked with pianos — upright, spinets, grands — in every state of disrepair. The chapter describes pianos as living things with distinct personalities. It argues that Carhart feels their sounding boards tremble like animals as the hammers dance over the strings. His interest divides between voluptuous reverie and hard fact. The chapter also recounts the piano's social history, from its invention around 1700 to its apogee just before the First World War when half a million pianos a year were being manufactured. It emphasizes that pianos live in symbiosis with humans and have adapted to their mechanical progress. The chapter tracks how Carhart's own musical history gradually emerged in the intervals of his talks with Luc.