Year 10 Music Assessment Task 3 (Essay component) Semester 2, 2012 The Development of the Piano

The history of the piano is a long and complex one, evolving steadily from extinct instruments like the clavichord and the harpsichord and instruments that still exist today like the organ. There were also major developments along the pianos timeline subsequently leading to its development, including the development of its softer counterpart. These developments lead to amazing compositions that people playing on organs a few thousand years ago would never have even dreamt or thought of. As the oldest and most complex keyboard instrument, the organ has many features which make it that way. However, being extremely large, it was one of the least portable instruments. This instrument is extremely popular, interesting even composers like Mozart, who once called it the king of instruments. However, the exact inventor of the organ is unknown. One type of organ is known as the pipe organ. Pipe organs are made from either wood or metal, producing sound when wind is blown through. The length of the pipe determines the pitch of the sound, with a longer pipe producing a lower pitch. The pipe organ uses a keyboard to control the flow of air. Music written for the organ was generally slower and grander. Later the clavichord was invented in the early 14th century. The clavichord was extremely soft, hopeless for concerts. One piece that makes a contrast with pieces played on later instruments is Bachs Prelude and Fugue No. 23 in B major. This piece has unsustained notes throughout, unlike the romantic period, which has more feeling and emotion in their pieces. Unlike the harpsichord, the clavichord did not pluck strings, but hit them instead. It produces sound by striking the metallic strings with small metal blades. These vibrations are then transmitted through to the soundboard. The harpsichord was developed through the 1400s and was used as a major instrument all through the renaissance and baroque periods. When the fortepiano came and revolutionised the musical world, the harpsichord slowly went out of fashion in the 1790s. The harpsichord does not have an inventor. It was more of an instrument that was slowly developed one step at a time. Unlike the clavichord that would strike the strings and the forte piano which would hammer the strings, the harpsichord plucks the strings. A special mechanism is triggered each time a key is pressed. Pressing the key pushes this mechanism up. With the tiny hook attached, it plucks the string when going up and came back down with a damper when the key was released. This way, the sound would be completely suppressed. After the clavichords came the major turning point in the pianos timeline the development of the fortepiano. The fortepiano was a smaller version of the piano, with only five octaves when first developed by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori during the 1700s. In the early days of development, and for the next 30 years, fortepianos had a wooden frame with hammers covered with leather. Wooden frames had many disadvantages, including but not limited to bending and warping constantly due to strings that were strung too tightly. To produce a louder sound, it is necessary for the strings to be strung together more tightly. However, lower string tensions were necessary to prevent the frames from bending, and thus, fortepianos with non-metallic frames resulted in softer sounds. Despite these restrictions, the fortepiano had a much wider dynamic and expressive range compared to the clavichord and the harpsichord. It was capable of sounds both loud and soft, mainly due to Cristoforis ingenious ideas of using hammers that strike multiple strings

Year 10 Music Assessment Task 3 (Essay component) Semester 2, 2012 The Development of the Piano

at once instead of little mechanisms plucking the strings in clavichords and harpsichords. In addition, the strings the Cristofori used were thicker and tenser while mounting on a sturdier frame. This improves the sound when compared to older instruments like the harpsichord. All these improvements had to, obviously, lead to some major development and change in compositions by the main composers of those days. The fortepiano eventually began steady evolution during Beethovens time (late 1700s to mid-1800s) until it later evolves into the modern late 19th century grand piano. In a similar way to the harpsichord, the modern piano had no specific inventor; rather, it was a gradual change. The piano had a wider tonal range, spanning over more than 7 octaves instead of the original 5. It also used better quality wire as well as an iron frame to enhance the sound even further. In addition, as the pianos strings are not plucked like the harpsichord, each note would be longer. It was also much louder than the fortepiano, without the worry of tight strings warping the piano frame. A second improvement to the piano was the middle pedal. On upright pianos, it functions as a practice pedal, placing a piece of felt between the hammers and the strings and dampens the sound further than the una corda does. On some grand pianos, however, it is used as a sostenuto pedal that sustains only a few selected notes. Overall, the piano was a major development, reducing limitations on older instruments such as the lack of expressive techniques. One example of a piece aimed to be played on the piano without the limitations can include Chopins Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2. This piece is not only passionate and emotive but also cannot be played on a normal harpsichord, as the notes cannot be sustained, nor can there be dynamics. That was the main impact of developing instruments. It was mainly motivated by the composers and the people's desire for more. They wanted to bypass the limitations they had. Even Beethoven wrote music to challenge the development of a future instrument instead of writing his music for the instruments of his time. Keyboard instruments from as early as the organ were slowly evolved into something like the modern pianoforte. The desire of the people to have better instruments motivated instruments like the fortepiano, or even the modern piano, to be created for generations more to use.