Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had pianos in their apartments in all of the palaces that they occupied. The great pianist and composer Sigismond Thalberg (1812–71), as Deputy Chairman of the Jury in Musical Instruments at the Great Exhibition observed that:

The social importance of the piano is beyond all question far greater than that of any other instrument […] By the use of the piano many who never visit the opera or concerts become thoroughly acquainted with the choicest dramatic and orchestral compositions.

Sigismond Thalberg