Long before radios, gramophones, or streaming playlists, the sound of the hand-cranked street piano was the true voice of the urban landscape. From the mid-19th century until the 1920s, these mobile instruments brought the latest music hall hits, operatic arias, and waltzes directly to the cobblestone pavements, providing vital entertainment for working-class communities.

In major cities like London, these instruments fuelled a fascinating immigrant economy. Based heavily around Italian communities in quarters like Clerkenwell, a network of specialized workshops manufactured, rented, and regularly re-pinned these instruments to keep up with current musical trends.

Inside the barrel piano casing lies a wooden cylinder (the barrel), studded with thousands of precisely placed metal pins. When the operator turns the handle it drives the barrel, causing the pins to trigger spring-loaded piano hammers, playing the piano’s strings.

By moving a lever on the case, the performer can slide the barrel horizontally, lining up a fresh set of pins to change the tune. This particular instrument has a 10-tune barrel.

The Museum’s 55-key street piano, originally supplied by Chiappa & Sons / Keith Prowse & Co., was one of many taken-in by Canon A. O. Wintle in the 1920s & 30s – his passion for mechanical music couldn’t bear to see so many instruments decommissioned, and so the Lawshall Piano Organ works was born. From his workshop near Bury St Edmunds many hundred barrel instruments were saved and given a new life, many of which survive today thanks to his foresight. This example was donated to the Museum by the Late Jack Hutchinson in 2008 and has remained a popular interactive exhibit ever since.