Harpsichord Clavichord
1720 Christofori Grand
who was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, as the Keeper of the
Instruments. Cristofori was an expert harpsichord maker, and was well acquainted with the
body of knowledge on stringed keyboard instruments; this knowledge of keyboard mechanisms
and actions helped him to develop the first pianos. It is not known exactly when Cristofori first
built a piano. An inventory made by his employers, the Medici family, indicates the existence
of a piano by the year 1700. The three Cristofori pianos that survive today date from the 1720s.
Cristofori named the instrument "un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte" ("a harpsichord of
cypress with soft and loud").
Originally called a pianoforte (soft/loud), fortepiano (loud/soft), or hammerklavier
(hammer-keyboard) in German, by the 1830s it was simply called a piano.
Beethoven lived in the era of wooden harped pianos. These evolved out of the harpsichord.
All had low tension brass and iron strings and were struck with small low mass hammers.
Beethoven's last piano was a Conrad Graff of 1826 and was still of all-wood construction.
Instruments. Cristofori was an expert harpsichord maker, and was well acquainted with the
body of knowledge on stringed keyboard instruments; this knowledge of keyboard mechanisms
and actions helped him to develop the first pianos. It is not known exactly when Cristofori first
built a piano. An inventory made by his employers, the Medici family, indicates the existence
of a piano by the year 1700. The three Cristofori pianos that survive today date from the 1720s.
Cristofori named the instrument "un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte" ("a harpsichord of
cypress with soft and loud").
Originally called a pianoforte (soft/loud), fortepiano (loud/soft), or hammerklavier
(hammer-keyboard) in German, by the 1830s it was simply called a piano.
Mozart's piano, c. 1780s
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17 to on period piano (29:00) (fast forward to 6:00 to start)
Beethoven lived in the era of wooden harped pianos. These evolved out of the harpsichord.
All had low tension brass and iron strings and were struck with small low mass hammers.
Beethoven's last piano was a Conrad Graff of 1826 and was still of all-wood construction.
Beethoven's John Broadwood & Sons (London) piano, c.1818
High tension metal harped pianos didn't come in to being until 1826 (Babcock). Later
improvements include double escapement (Erard,1828) , one piece laminated case (Steinway,
1855) , and one piece felt hammer (Dolge, 1911). All these gave us the modern piano. It is
truly a product of the Industrial Revolution.
Chopin's Ignaz Pleyel piano, 1830s
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