The huge changes in the evolution of the piano have somewhat vexing consequences for musical performance. The problem is that much of the most widely admired piano repertoire — for example, that of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven — was composed for a type of instrument that is rather different from the modern instruments on which this music is normally performed today. Even the music of the Romantics, including Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms, was written for pianos substantially different from ours. The interpretation of these works on modern pianos poses a variety of problems.
Piano making flourished during the late 18th century in the Viennese school, which included Johann Andreas Stein (who worked in Augsburg, Germany) and the Viennese makers Nannette Stein (daughter of Johann Andreas) and Anton Walter. Viennese-style pianos were built with wooden frames, two strings per note, and had 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 of his music. The pianos of Mozart's day had a softer, clearer tone than today's pianos, with less sustaining power. The term fortepiano is nowadays often used to distinguish the 18th-century instrument from later pianos.
The soft pedal was invented by Cristofori and thus appeared on the very earliest pianos. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the soft pedal was more effective than today, since pianos were manufactured with only two strings per note, just one string per note would be therefore struck — this is the origin of the name "una corda", Italian for "one string". In modern pianos, there are three strings per hammer and are spaced too closely to permit a true "una corda" effect — if shifted far enough to strike just one string on one note, the hammers would hit the string of the next note.
Piano History: The Complete Story
This page deals with the history of the piano from 1907 and until now days
Piano - New World Encyclopedia
History of the Piano: Piano History Piano Makers History The harpsichord existed for at least 200 years prior to the invention of the piano, and began essentially as
Social History of the Piano
The shape of the harpsichord varies and can appear similar to a .Prior to the construction of the piano, the harpsichord was the primary keyboard instrument from about 1600
History of the Piano Forte - Instruments, Keyboard
Click here to find out more about Piano and Keyboard Centre's huge piano showroom workshop and warehouse complex.Located in the Toronto area.We carry new used
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Contents. The Author. INTRODUCTION. CLASSIFICATION of the PIANO. ANCESTORY of the PIANO. PARENTAGE of the PIANO. CRISTOFORI, INVENTOR OF THE PIANO. TECHNICAL HISTORY of the PIANO
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