Piano History for Piano Majors
Keyboard Instruments
Harpsichord
Before the piano, there were two instruments that were similar: the harpsichord and the clavichord. The harpsichord was often used for performances due to its larger sound. It generated its sound by plucking the strings, resulting in a resonating and sustained sound.
The harpsichord was used well throughout the Baroque period and was continuously innovated upon, such as the two-manual harpsichord.
Clavichord
The clavichord was smaller and was often a practice tool. It generated its sound by metal (tangents) hitting the string. This allowed for interesting vibrato-like techniques called Bebung [ˈbā-(ˌ)bu̇ŋ].
The clavichord was eventually phased out by the end of the Baroque period.
The First Pianos
Cristofori
The piano was first invented around 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori, an Italian maker of musical instruments.
This piano had potential for dynamics by adjusting the velocity of the felted hammer striking the string, but unlike our modern pianos, it had a much smaller range and used a single-escapement action. The single-escapement action was important because it released the hammer from the string once struck, allowing the sound the resonate. It also used a single string for every note, resulting in a smaller sound (una corda).
Due to all of these insufficiencies, the first pianos were not very popular. Even though it was available in the Baroque period, Bach seldom used it.
Broadwood
In the 1780, John Broadwood and Sons improved the piano by adding foot pedals for sustain and una corda. This piano had higher string tension, and the range of the piano spanned six octaves. This resulted in a heavier action and a more resonant sound.
Thomas Broadwood supplied the piano to Beethoven as a gift, and Beethoven loved its large sound.
“My very dear friend Broadwood—I have never felt a greater pleasure than in your honor’s notification of the arrival of this piano, with which you are honoring me as a present. I shall look upon it as an altar upon which I shall place the most beautiful offerings of my spirit to the divine Apollo. As soon as I receive your excellent instrument, I shall immediately send you the fruits of the first moments of inspiration I gather from it, as a souvenir for you from me, my very dear Broadwood; and I hope that they will be worthy of your instrument. My dear sir, accept my warmest consideration, from your friend and very humble servant—Ludwig van Beethoven.”
—Beethoven’s letter to Broadwood
It is important to note that even the Broadwood piano did not sustain the notes as long as a modern piano. When Haydn called for an open pedal in his Sonata in C major Hob. XVI:50 or when Beethoven called for an open pedal throughout the entire first movement of Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 “Moonlight,” the notes certainly died away quickly enough to not have a horribly blurred sound.
Érard
Sebastian Érard was a French musical instrument maker who invented a piano with the double-escapement mechanism in 1821. With the double-escapement action, the hammer falls back only partly to allow for a quicker repetition of notes. He also increased the string tension and used a metal frame for an even larger sound.
The Modern Piano
The piano since 1850 had an accelerated action, 88 keys, and around 100 moving parts per key. The action of one key on a Steinway piano is made up of over 57 individual parts.