Piano

The history of the piano is an exciting human adventure. Bartolomeo Cristofori, born May 4, 1655 in Padua, Italy, was a factor in famous harpsichords and clavichords. Bartolomeo Cristofori owes his fame to the fortepiano that he invented as a result of research and experiments to endow the clavichord with increased expressive possibilities. He chooses, to achieve this, a harpsichord case to install his new mechanism.

Unlike the harpsichord where the strings are "pinched" by jumpers, the fundamental discovery of Cristofori is the resolution of a mechanical problem intrinsic to the pianos: the hammers must hit the strings but stop being in contact with them once struck so not to stifle the sound; they must, moreover, return to their initial position without bouncing violently, and this quickly to allow the notes to be repeated at a satisfactory speed.

The first fortepiano dates from 1698

Cristofori will have built in all twenty fortepiano before his death, the first fortepiano was made around 1698, only three of them have reached us, they are dated the 1720s.

The National Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome (Italy) has one of the pianos forte he made in 1722.

Bartolomeo Cristofori breathed his last breath in the city of Florence, Italy, on January 27, 1731, at the age of 75 years.

The fortepiano evolved after him to become the modern piano. The word piano is an abbreviation of the Italian 'pianoforte' invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1709. The name "piano" will appear in 1880.</br></br></br></br></br></br></br></br></br></br>