Piano

This article is about the modern musical instrument. For other meanings, see piano (disambiguation).

Early history

The piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence, Italy. When he built his first piano is not entirely clear, but an inventory made by Cristofori's employers, the Medici family, indicates the existence of an early Cristofori instrument by the year 1700. Cristofori built only about twenty pianos before he died in 1731; the three that survive today date from the 1720s.

Related Topics:
Bartolomeo Cristofori - Florence - Italy - Medici - 1700 - 1731 - 1720s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Like many other inventions, the piano was founded on earlier technological innovations. In particular, it benefited from centuries of work on the harpsichord, which had shown the most effective ways to construct the case, the soundboard, the bridge, and the keyboard. Cristofori was himself a harpsichord maker and well acquainted with this body of knowledge.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cristofori's great success was to solve, without any prior example, the fundamental mechanical problem of piano design: the hammers must strike the string but not continue to touch it once they have struck (which would damp the sound). Moreover, the hammers must return to their rest position without bouncing violently, and it must be possible to repeat a note rapidly. Cristofori's piano action served as a model for the many different approaches to piano actions that were to follow.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cristofori's early instruments were made with thin strings and were much quieter than the modern piano. However, in comparison with the clavichord (the only previous keyboard instrument capable of dynamic nuance) they were considerably louder, with greater sustain.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cristofori's new instrument remained relatively unknown until an Italian writer, Scipione Maffei, wrote an enthusiastic article about it (1711), including a diagram of the mechanism. This article was widely distributed, and most of the next generation of piano builders started their work as a result of reading it.

Related Topics:
Scipione Maffei - 1711

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of these builders was Gottfried Silbermann, better known as an organ builder. Silbermann's pianos were virtually direct copies of Cristofori's, but with an important exception: Silbermann invented the forerunner of the modern damper pedal (also known as the sustaining pedal or loud pedal), which permits the dampers to be lifted from all the strings at once. Virtually all subsequent pianos incorporated some version of Silbermann's idea.

Related Topics:
Gottfried Silbermann - Organ

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Silbermann showed Bach one of his early instruments in the 1730s. Bach did not like it at that time, claiming that the higher notes were too soft to allow a full dynamic range. Though this earned him some animosity from Silbermann, the latter did apparently heed the criticism. Bach did approve of a later instrument he saw in 1747, and apparently even served as an agent to help sell Silbermann's pianos.

Related Topics:
Bach - 1730s - 1747

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Piano-making flourished during the late 18th century in the work of the Viennese school, which including Johann Andreas Stein (who worked in Augsburg, Germany) and the Viennese makers Nannette Stein (daughter of Johann Andreas) and Anton Walter. The Viennese-style pianos were built with wooden frames, two strings per note, and leather-covered hammers. It was for such instruments that Mozart composed his concertos and sonatas, and replicas of them are built today for use in authentic-instrument performance. The piano of Mozart's day had a softer, clearer tone than today's pianos, with less sustaining power.

Related Topics:
18th century - Johann Andreas Stein - Augsburg - Nannette Stein - Anton Walter - Mozart - Concertos - Sonatas - Authentic-instrument performance

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The term fortepiano is nowadays often used to distinguish the 18th-century style of instrument from later pianos. For further information on the earlier part of piano history, see fortepiano.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~