Vincent Persichetti, an American pianist and teacher, reminisced from his childhood: "In the beginning, God created a Cunningham player piano. George Gershwin, one of the most esteemed composers of his time, used a Cunningham piano to create the score to his well-known opera, Porgy and Bess. Predictably, no one took him up on his deal, so his piano was dubbed the “Matchless Cunningham”. At one point, Cunningham offered $10,000 to anyone who could create a better piano than his own. His factory in Germantown created grand and acoustic upright pianos, winning awards for design and quality. Patrick Cunningham, an Irish immigrant, was a brilliant woodworker and craftsman. He expanded his company by adding a showroom to Chestnut Street’s “Piano Row” at his location in the 1920s. Patrick Cunningham founded his business on the site in 1891 and quickly became one of Philadelphia's most acclaimed piano makers. Little did renowned American author Louisa May Alcott know that nearly 60 years after her birth at "Pine Place” on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia, a piano company would begin its successful journey on the premises. It had evidently been newly tuned and put in apple-pie order, but, perfect as it was, I think the real charm lay in the happiest of all happy faces which leaned over it, as Beth lovingly touched the beautiful black and white keys and pressed the bright pedals.”
".Beth tried it, and everyone pronounced it the most remarkable piano ever heard.
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