The piano, or pianoforte, is the most popular of the keyboard instruments. An Italian, Bartolommeo Cristofori, a Florentine maker of Harpsichords, who was experimenting to produce a keyboard instrument that was more responsive to the player’s touch than the harpsichord, made the first piano around 1700. The new instrument might have passed unnoticed but for the interest of a writer, Scipione Maffei. An article he wrote after a visit to Cristofori’s workshop was later translated into German and probably inspired Gottfried Silbermann to start making pianos. In 1760 Johannes Zumpe, one of Silbermann’s pupils, took the art of piano making to England, and there developed his compact “square” piano. Developments in manufacture continued in Europe and America during the next hundred years and led to the modern instrument of today [1]. The Grand Piano was created by Silberman in about 1745 and belonged to King Frederick the Great of Prussia. Silverman took responsibility for a number of minor improvements but the action used in his pianos was adopted from Cristofori [5].
|
During and after Ludwig van Beethoven’s time (1770 – 1827), the piano grew to have more keys, therefore not only increasing in size but also sounds [6]. Piano makers began designing the instrument out of iron for a louder effect which created more depth in dynamics. The piano was incorporated into orchestras, which soon became a popular source of entertainment so much that concert halls were built bigger for more seats.
Pianists gained popularity that paralleled rock stars of today, often inducing men to cry, women to weep and the stage to be showered with flowers. Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886), a Hungarian pianist, was such a musician. He introduced the solo piano performance as opposed to orchestral and wrote more than 600 pieces [7]. |
Although they were not allowed to publicly perform, women were expected to know how to play the piano at home and teach their children how to play as well. Many American women made careers out of becoming piano instructors, as a result. Pianos were even built into sewing tables in Germany and Australia so women could conveniently practice both womanly tasks. Pianos were made in different shapes and sizes around the world to accommodate different middle-class homes, often appearing square-shaped in America and curvier in Germany and Austria.
|
The rise of the piano was fast and phenomenal, and its influence on Western popular culture and the musical scene was just as intense. For the first time, an instrument with almost endless musical possibilities, was placed within the reach of ordinary men and women [8].
Without the invention of the Piano, several genres, for instance Jazz; Ragtime; Pop; Rock and roll and Classical would not be the same today. |