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Welcome to this week’s post on highlights in piano history. This week we will begin delving into the early years in piano history, specifically the prototypes and experiments that led up to Cristofori’s ‘piano e forte’. As always, if you have questions or come across something interesting that might add to this list, please leave a comment.
The Early Years
- 582 B.C. – Monochord – A single-stringed instrument used by Pythagoras for experiments pertaining to the mathematical relations of sounds. A string, probably catgut, was strung over a wooden box. On the box was a strip of paper with subdivisions marked according to the divisions of the scale. By pressing down on the string at a given mark, then plucking it, a tone would be produced, whether high or low depending on where the string was pressed down.
- 1300 – Clavicytherium invented in Italy (later copied and improved upon in Germany). Strings were of catgut, sounded by pricking of a quill plectra fastened to the end of the keys. Improvements to this instrument finally developed the clavichord.
- 1400s- Clavichords consisted of 20-22 strings of brass made to vibrate by being agitated through the pressure of a tangent ( a brass pin flattened on top) fastened to the clavis (key). The shape of the clavichord was similar to the later square piano.
- 1503- Giovanni Spinnetti, of Venice, constructed a new instrument which came to be called the spinet (after the inventor). It was oblong in form and had a range of four octaves, allowing for long strings and a larger soundboard. Because of the long strings it was necessary to activate the strings by a pricking or twanging method. This mechanism made it impossible to play with any degree of expression, but the instrument still became popular due to its size and louder tone. The same instrument became commonly known in England as the virginal.
- 1521- Geronimo of Bologna built the first harpsichord. This was essentially a spinet with longer strings in a case shaped like a modern baby grand.
And then came the piano…
Reference:
Dolge, Alfred. Pianos and their Makers: A Comprehensive History of the Development of the Piano. New York: Dover Publications, 1972. (First edition – Covina: Covina Publishing Co., 1911.)
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