Read complete books and articles on: Piano History

Piano - or pianoforte, musical instrument whose sound is produced by vibrating strings struck by felt hammers that are controlled from a keyboard.

The piano's earliest predecessor was the dulcimer. The first piano was made c.1709 by Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731), a Florentine maker of harpsichords, who called his instrument gravicembalo col piano e forte. (One of the two existing Cristofori pianos is in the Metropolitan Mus. of Art., N.Y.C.) It differed from the harpsichord in that by varying the touch one could vary the volume and duration of tone. This expressive quality was shared by the clavichord, but the latter was far more delicate in tone.

During the 18th cent. changes in musical taste gradually favored the piano's greater volume and expressiveness, and the instrument had largely supplanted the harpsichord and clavichord by 1800. C. P. E. Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Clementi were the first major composers to write for the piano. The main body of its enormous literature, from the 19th cent., includes the works of Beethoven, Czerny, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Franck, Tchaikovsky, and Liszt. Debussy and Ravel used the special effects peculiar to the piano in highly original ways. In the 20th cent. some composers, notably Bartók, have emphasized the instrument's percussive qualities.

The piano was originally built in the shape of a harpsichord, and this style, the grand piano, has always been the standard form. It was greatly improved by the 19th-century innovation of an iron framework, best applied by the Steinways of New York City. The square piano, with strings parallel to the keys, was the most popular domestic piano until the early-19th-century perfection, in Philadelphia, of the upright piano. The English piano maker John Broadwood (1732–1812) was the first to develop the present heavier, more sonorous instrument. In 1810 the double-action striking mechanism, which permits rapid repetition of a tone, was perfected.

In the late 19th cent. a mechanical player piano was developed. A perforated paper roll was passed over a cylinder containing apertures connected to tubes that were in turn connected to the piano action. When a hole in the paper passed over an aperture, a current of air passed through a tube and caused the corresponding hammer to strike the string. The electric piano was developed in the 1930s. In the 1980s computer and compact-disc technology made possible the invention of a "reproducing piano," an instrument designed to recreate a pianist's playing, accurately capturing the nuances of the performance. Innovative developments of the 1990s include the disklavier, a computerized grand piano that uses optical sensors to produce sound, and the two-lid piano, which opens from the top and bottom to better project sound.

Bibliography

See O. Bie, History of the Pianoforte (2d ed. 1966); H. Westerby, History of Pianoforte Music (1924, repr. 1970); A. Dolge, Pianos and their Makers (1911, repr. 1972); C. Ehrlich, The Piano (1976); R. Harding, The Piano-forte (1933, repr. 1978); A. Loesser, Men, Women, and Pianos (1954, repr. 1990), J. Parakilas et al., Piano Roles (2000).

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12 of the Best Books and Articles on: Piano History

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

The Piano: A History » Read Now
by Cyril Ehrlich. 256 pgs.

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...The Piano A History THE PIANO A History Revised Edition Cyril Ehrlich CLARENDON PRESS OXFORD...ed . p. cm . Includes bibliographical references . 1. Piano-History. I. Title...
2.

The Piano: Its History, Makers, Players and Music » Read Now
by Albert E. Wier. 466 pgs.

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...THE PIANO ITS HISTORY, MAKERS, PLAYERS AND MUSIC -ii- THE PIANO ITS HISTORY, MAKERS, PLAYERS AND MUSIC By...important matters connected with the piano--its history...
3.

The Pianoforte in the Classical Era » Read Now
by Michael Cole. 404 pgs.

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In a period of only thirty years in the second half of the eighteenth century European musical culture underwent a remarkable transformation. In 1765 the harpsichord was the indispensable item in almost every concert and in every home where music was practised; the sound of the pianoforte was...
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In a period of only thirty years in the second half of the eighteenth century European musical culture underwent a remarkable transformation. In 1765 the harpsichord was the indispensable item in almost every concert and in every home where music was practised; the sound of the pianoforte was virtually unknown to most music lovers. Yet by 1795 the situation was entirely reversed. The pianoforte was indispensable and the harpsichord had become all but obsolete - except in the most backward and conservative establishments. Three hundred years of harpsichord dominance had ended, and workshops that had been busy producing them either ceased trading or switched hurriedly to the new hammer-action instruments. What precipitated this amazing capitulation was, of course, new styles in musical composition and performance. While baroque counterpoint might be ideally suited to the harpsichord, the new keyboard music required above all expression. Not only loud and soft sounds, which the harpsichord could be contrived to imitate, but diminuendi and crescendi, sudden accents and an arresting quietness, which it was powerless to perform; these became the essential elements in any accomplished performance. For song accompaniments, too, the pianoforte was found to be ideal, with a sweet tone that supported the voice, and a dynamic flexibility that permitted it to follow the vocal line or to prepare the appropriate effect. The Pianoforte in the Classical Era charts the progress of this revolution in musical aesthetics and experience, detailing the extraordinary variety of sounds and musical resources built into the keyboard instruments in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Wherever possible the author returns to original sources - a wide variety of previously unreported documents, as well as surviving instruments - to reconstruct a history of the pianoforte that departs radically from earlier theories of many of the most fundamental issues. A wide range of instruments, each carefully described, is placed in a precise chronological and cultural setting. New insights are offered into the parameters that governed the performance of keyboard music in the Classical Era.
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4.

A History of the Pianoforte and Pianoforte Players » Read Now
by E. E. Kellett, E. W. Naylor, Oshar Bie. 336 pgs.

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...v. Wasielewskis History of sixteenth century...are to-day for the piano. Encyclopaedias...father of modern piano music, if only this...isolated in musical history. We shall...
5.

Makers of the Piano, 1700-1820 » Read Now
by Martha Novak Clinkscale. 412 pgs.

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The early piano has grown in popularity over recent years. It is now recognized as a window to the past and indispensable in revealing the sounds in the ears of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century composers. Fulfilling a need for a comprehensive study of early pianos, Makers of the Piano 1700-1820 is...
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The early piano has grown in popularity over recent years. It is now recognized as a window to the past and indispensable in revealing the sounds in the ears of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century composers. Fulfilling a need for a comprehensive study of early pianos, Makers of the Piano 1700-1820 is the first book to present details about all known extant pianos built during the earliest years of the instrument's existence. Biographical information about each maker and such details about his instruments as the place and date of manufacture, style, compass, case description and measurements, strings, action, stops, pedals, and present and former owners are given. Bibliographical references are listed separately for the individual pianos. Builders whose pianos have been lost are identified; however, anonymous pianos have not been included unless an attribution to a known maker is likely. Principal collections with their catalogues and an exhaustive bibliography complete this valuable reference work.
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6.

Thesaurus of Orchestral Devices (Part V "Keyboard Instruments") » Read Now
by Gardner Read. 634 pgs.

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...237 Chapter 39 Celesta, Organ, and Piano 238 Introduction 250...Organ Organo Orgue Orgel Org. Org. Piano Pianoforte Piano Klavier Pno., Pn., P. Pfte., P.-no., Pf...
7.

Beethoven on Beethoven: Playing his Piano Music His Way » Read Now
by William S. Newman. 336 pgs.

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...student of Beethovens piano music. I have concentrated...final volume in my History of the Sonata Idea...Beethovens early piano music; and in, among...diss. that includes...
8.

A Companion to Mozart's Piano Concertos » Read Now
by Arthur Hutchings. 216 pgs.

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This classic study of Mozart's piano concertos is, in the words of Alfred Einstein, 'full of penetrating remarks not ony about the piano concerto but about Mozart's art in general'. It is here reissued with a new introduction by noted Mozart scholar Cliff Eisen, who, as well as drawing the reader's...
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This classic study of Mozart's piano concertos is, in the words of Alfred Einstein, 'full of penetrating remarks not ony about the piano concerto but about Mozart's art in general'. It is here reissued with a new introduction by noted Mozart scholar Cliff Eisen, who, as well as drawing the reader's attention to the virtues of the volume, also examines at the developments in Mozart scholarship since the volume's original publication.
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9.

The Interpretation of Bach's Keyboard Works » Read Now
by Erwin Bodky. 426 pgs.

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...interpreting the works of Bach on the piano. Yet the instrument problem is...instruments. 1 The earliest history, especially that of the clavichord...brief excursion into...
10.

The History of Pianoforte Music » Read Now
by Herbert Westerby. 410 pgs.

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...PIANOFORTE MUSIC THE HISTORY OF PIANOFORTE MUSIC...AUTHOR OF The Piano Works of the Great...a despotism--your piano is the Constitutional...The study of the history of...
11.

A Guide to Piano Music by Women Composers, Vol. 1 » Read Now
by Pamela Youngdahl Dees. 225 pgs.

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Designed as a practical reference guide for professional pianists and piano teachers, A Guide to Piano Music by Women Composers, Volume I, is an annotated catalogue of the available piano music in print composed by 144 women born before the 20th century. The work also features biographies and...
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Designed as a practical reference guide for professional pianists and piano teachers, A Guide to Piano Music by Women Composers, Volume I, is an annotated catalogue of the available piano music in print composed by 144 women born before the 20th century. The work also features biographies and extensive bibliographical information for each composer. Arranged alphabetically by composer into categories including single works, collections, and anthologies, the music is also described in terms of grade level, genre, mood, style characteristics, and technical requirements, and ranges in difficulty from late elementary to virtuoso concert repertoire. As far too many teachers, students, professional musicians, and audiences are unaware of the contributions made by women in music, and of the beauty and merit of their specific compositions, this reference work provides an invaluable addition to the current literature.
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12.

The Piano in America, 1890-1940 » Read Now
by Craig H. Roell. 396 pgs.

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