[Avodah] Chasam Sofer and pianos

[Zev Sero]

AES wrote:
> I recently heard that the Chasam Sofer was not a fan of pianos and
> that, today, followers/descendants of the Chasam Sofer do not have
> pianos in their homes.
> 
> Has anyone else heard of this minhag, and if so, can you provide a
> source from the writings of the Chasam Sofer?

In the 19th century and early 20th, a piano wasn't just a piano.  It was
a sign of "culture", and thus of haskalah.  A modern woman would want a
piano in the home, so that her daughters could take lessons and be like
the other "cultured" Jews (i.e. like the goyim, if only at a remove, and
sometimes not), and be "better" than the "primitive" and "uncultured"
Jews who had only Jewish mesorah and not Western polish.  This was
unfortunately a machla that attacked even the best families (and on the
contrary, davka the best, because the women of those families were more
likely to read books and get such notions).

Going to the theatre was also a sign of such culture, and therefore
frowned on by traditional Jews even if the play itself was "kosher". 
One need only hear older yidden pronounce the words "pyanneh" and
"teyatter" to understand the disdain that such seemingly pareve things
evoked in that era.  Today, though, a cigar is just a cigar, and a
piano is just a machine for making music.

-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                     - Margaret Thatcher