Volume 12, Number 10
22 November 2005





Click, to go back to the contents of this issue

This Week



We appreciate feedback from our readers
Browse through the collecton of older issues



THE VOICE

WHO INVENTED THE PIANO?

The word "piano" is the shortened form of "pianoforte." The complete original name is, in Italian, "gravicembalo col piano e forte," which
means "harpsichord with soft and loud [tones]." This refers to the piano's ability to produce varying degrees of loudness according to how hard a key is pressed. The piano was invented by Bartelemeo Cristofori, an employee of the Medici family, in Florence, Italy in the early 1700s. Cristofori died in 1731. During his lifetime, he built approximately twenty pianos, about three of which are still in existence.

The invention remained unknown until 1711, when Scipione Maffei wrote an article about the piano which included a diagram of the hammer mechanism. This article was also crucial for the next generation of piano builders, who were starting to work on their own models.

One of them, Gottfried Silbermann, invented the sustaining pedal. He showed an early model of his piano to Bach in the 1730s. Bach thought that the higher notes were too soft. Silbermann did not give up, and 1747 he gained Bach's approval with an improved version. Bach also helped him as an agent to sell his pianos.

By the late 18th century, the production of pianos had increased. Three important Viennese makers, Johann Andreas Stein, Nannette Stein and Anton Walter, were building the Viennese-style piano. Mozart used this model while composing his concertos and sonatas. This piano had a softer and clearer tone than today's.

In the early 19th century, the Broadwood firm was one of the most important piano manufacturers. They made pianos for Haydn and Beethoven, among others. In 1810 they built a piano with six octaves for Beethoven, to accommodate the range of notes in his works. In 1820 the Erard firm in Paris became the leading innovator in the field, building pianos used by Chopin and Liszt. They added a new feature called double escapement, which allowed a note to be repeated rapidly. After being refined by Hertz in 1840, this feature was used by all piano manufacturers.

With composers' and pianists' demands for a more powerful instrument with the ability to produce more sustained tones, the piano took on its modern form during the 1890s. By this time, the total range had increased from the five octaves of Mozart's day to the seven octaves found in modern pianos.

This is dedicated to those who have always wondered who invented the
piano. Have a nice week.



 

Sıla Türkü Kural (EE/III)
turku@ug.bilkent.edu.tr

 Click, to go back to the contents of this issue








Bilkent News Welcomes Feedback From Readers.
This newsletter will print letters received from readers.
Please submit your letters to bilnews@bilkent.edu.tr
or to the Communications Unit, Engineering Building, room EG-23, ext. 1487.
The Editorial Board will review the letters and print according to available space.