Samuel Messenger PROJECT OUTLINE

Development of the Piano: A History of the Instrument and Technique

1. Intro:

● Though I will open with predecessors to the piano, this presentation will focus on

changes to the piano over time from its invention in 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristifori

to the present day. This includes several changes to the strings, the hammer

action, the pedals, the materials used, the design, and the range. Changes in

technique which corresponded to the changes in the instrument will be shared

simultaneously, though some changes to the instrument do not directly

correspond with changes to technique. I will then look at specific pieces from my

repertoire, analyzing how the development of the piano limited the composition of

the pieces and explaining how it influences our interpretation of them even today.

2. The Before and the Beginning:

● Clavichord

○ produced its sound with tiny metal blades called tangents. The tangents

gently pressed the strings when the keys were played

○ Limitations: quiet, range was very limited

● Harpsichord

○ the word was used to refer to a whole family of instruments, including the

spinet, the muselar virginal, the virginal, and what we now call the

harpsichord

○ they all produced their sounds by plucking the strings with ‘quills’

○ same limitations as the clavichord — small dynamic and physical range

 ● In 1700, Bartolomeo Cristifori began working on what would become the first

piano

○ called it the "clavicembalo col piano e forte" — a harpsichord that can

play soft and loud sounds

○ range was still small, but the tone was unique, and playing with dynamic

expression was finally possible

○ People were initially hesitant to switch to pianofortes. Because of the

complexity of the instrument, early pianos were more likely to malfunction

than harpsichords and clavichords

● Prepare

○ Before proceeding, it should be emphasizes that all of these changes to

the instrument happened simultaneously, affecting each other

3. Changes to strings:

● Material

○ Cristifori’s original strings: unknown, probably brass in the lower register

and iron in the upper

○ Industrial Revolution: better methods of purifying metals (steel especially)

○ Modern pianos: high carbon steel with copper winding around the longer

strings for stronger, longer lasting tones

● Length and Gauge

○ Cristifori’s pianos: string lengths varied roughly by a factor of 2 per octave

in a case 6 and a half feet deep on the bass end, and the gauge

(thickness) probably didn’t vary much, if at all

■ If they used the same ratio, modern grand pianos would need to

be almost 16 and a half feet deep on the bass end!

 ○ Modern pianos: string gauge varied from about 0.8 mm in diameter in the

extreme treble, to 1.0 mm in diameter for strings an octave below middle

C. Any thicker and the stiffness of the string would cause it to vibrate such

a way that the pitch would waver in a very unpleasant nonharmonic way.

In the lower end, strings are wound with copper, increasing the diameter

by up to another millimeter without making the string too stiff. The tone is

also made richer

● Tension

○ each string on a modern piano is tightened to anywhere from about 165

lbs. to 220 lbs. of tension

■ one string on a piano has more tension than a whole guitar!

■ The sum tension of all of the piano strings is around 20 tons,

which necessitates a cast iron frame — about the same weight as

three African elephants!

● Arrangement

○ Before 1850, strings were aligned perpendicular to the keyboard. This

was borrowed from harpsichords and still used in grand pianos until

Steinway introduced over-stringing (aka cross-stringing), which allowed

for longer low strings to fit in the frame, creating a clearer tone. Some

people argue that over-stringing causes murkiness when the high and the

low registers are used simultaneously. Also, we now use two or three

strings per note to enhance the richness of the tone quality. This began in

the late 18th century (Cristifori’s only had two per key)

● Techniques encouraged by these changes:

○ hint: they rhyme with talents and rejoicing

 ○ with greater and greater variation in dynamics and increased tone quality

available, musicians began to focus more on varying the speed at which

they pressed the keys down. Firm fingertips for loudness, balance, and

voicing became very important

4. Changes to hammers and action:

● Leather for hammer coverings and dampers was replaced by felt around 1850

○ able to withstand heat and humidity more easily, produced a better tone

● Action (definition): describes the mechanisms which cause the hammer to strike

the string, pull and hold the hammer back from the string until the key is pressed

again, and put the damper down once the key is released.

○ “Cristofori’s hammer mechanism was so well designed and made that no

other of comparable sensitivity and reliability was devised for another

seventy-five years” (metmuseum.org). That’s not to say it was perfect.

With his design, hammers would often rebound after hitting the strings. A

key, pressed once, could sound multiple times. Hammers could also miss

the strings or even break off if they were played too forcefully

● Viennese Action vs. English Action

○ English Action was started by John Broadwood in 1772

■ big strings and heavy hammers, which required a weighty touch

■ the tone produced was strong, but the lower notes often drowned

out the upper notes. This resulted in the creation of a legato,

sonorous, weight technique which differed greatly from

harpsichord technique

○ Viennese Action was showcased the following year by Johann Stein

 ■ a complex geared-and-levered ‘escapement’ mechanism allowed

the hammer to fall back into place while the key was still being

pressed

■ hammer attached to the key in the opposite direction as the

English Action

■ repeated notes were easier, but getting a full sound was harder

■ lighter strings and hammers, with only two strings per note, not

three. Rapid passages and extended trills sounded amazing, and

this instrument encouraged a quick, clear, precise technique.

Mozart defined the ideal Viennese style and technique, which was

still very similar to the harpsichord’s finger and hand technique

○ In 1808, Sebastian Erard’s invention of the double-escapement

mechanism allowed for speedy note repetition even with heavier strings

and hammers. English strength and Viennese dexterity were combined!

● Techniques encouraged by these changes: musicians such as Clementi and

Beethoven gradually strayed from the detached harpsichord technique to a

primarily legato touch. Beethoven pioneered a brutal, sometimes piano-breaking

arm weight technique, which easily left the light finger-tapping Viennese

techniques behind

5. Changes to pedals (in order):

● the una corda (a.k.a. the soft pedal or the shift pedal), invented by our good

friend, Bartolomeo Cristifori:

○ shifts the action mechanism to the right, causing the hammers to hit fewer

strings

○ Modifies volume and timbre

 ○ in upright pianos, the hammers aren’t shifted right, they are shifted closer

to the strings

● the sustain pedal (a.k.a. the damper pedal):

○ raises all the dampers off the strings, allowing them to vibrate after you

release the key.

○ Modifies resonance, tone, and decay

○ Overdamping vs. Underdamping (damping above or below the hammers):

both were practiced a while ago, but today manufacturers only use

underdamping because it is much more effective at stopping the sound

● the infamous middle pedal. There are 5 things the middle pedal can be:

○ sostenuto (a.k.a. selective sustain): only sustains held notes

○ bass damper (a.k.a. split sustain) only sustains bass notes

○ practice pedal (a.k.a. practice mute or celeste): used often in uprights, it

puts a thin layer of felt between the hammers and the strings

○ silent pedal: blocks the hammers from hitting the strings entirely with a

silencing rail. Keystrokes are recorded by infrared sensors and the signals

are translated into digital piano sounds which can be broadcast through

headphones

○ Nothing. That’s right! Nothing. Some pianos have middle pedals that do

absolutely nothing! This is because three-pedaled pianos are more

desirable and therefore more marketable than two-pedaled pianos

● Rewind to knee levers:

○ many early fortepianos had knee levers instead of foot pedals

○ the right lever acted similar to our right pedal today, the sustain pedal

○ the left functioned like the practice pedal on most modern uprights
 ○ the levels were more used for effect and less as tools for continually

shaping the music like our pedals today

● Technique encouraged by these changes:

○ Pedaling! What’s interesting to see is how the physicality changed going

from levers to pedals and how it’s used differently even in the modern-day

interpretation of music

○ In the opening bars of the 3rd movement of Beethoven’s Waldstein

Sonata, the pedaling seems to be very bizarre. But if you consider that he

was referring to the knee lever of his time, that the piano of his time had a

significantly faster decay, and that he was using the pedal for effect — not

for careful legato shaping — it makes sense. In improving the instrument,

markings which previously made musical sense can now be considered

non-musical

6. Changes to structure:

● In 1760, the square piano was introduced by Johannes Zumpe in London

○ sold to England, France, Germany, France, and America by 1775

○ improved tone and allowed sound to resonate louder

○ strings ran horizontally into a box on the side of the piano

● In the early 1770s, the upright piano piano was born

○ according to The Factory Times it “defie[d] the laws of acoustics and

physics by squeezing sound and tone in between the front and back of

the wooden case while sending the sounds towards the face of the

player.”

○ strings ran vertically, from floor to sky

 ○ the upright piano and square piano competed with one another in market

sale and the upright piano triumphed in Europe and America due to their

low cost and small size

● In 1777, Robert Stoddard introduced the first “Grand Pianoforte” in London,

England

○ as with stringed keyboard instruments other than the square and the

upright, strings ran front to back

○ range was greater

● A large cast iron frame was patented in 1825

○ allowed for the use of thicker and strings with more tension, creating the

powerful sound of the modern piano (still with the ability to play softly, a

larger dynamic range overall)

● Material of keys:

○ ebony and ivory were replaced with Sitka spruce or Japanese spruce,

which are virtually free from warpage

○ artificial ivory or acrylic were used to cover the top surface of the white

keys

● Technique encouraged by these changes: a movement from terraced dynamics

to graded dynamics mirrored the piano’s departure from the harpsichord. Greater

dynamic contrast and vastly improved tone allowed for more subtlety in

interpretation

7. Changes to range:

● originally 4 octaves (Bach, and other Scarlatti Baroque-era composers)

● 5 octaves in the late 1700s (Mozart)

● 6 octaves in the very early 1800s (Beethoven)

● 7 octaves by about 1840

 ● 7 1/3 octave range we have today arrived around 1860.

● Then, of course, someone took it to the extreme. In 2012 the first 108-key piano

was born. It was nearly ten feet deep and it had four pedals!

● Technique encouraged by these changes: lateral movement, large leaps, and

fingering became more and more important, as did various wrist and arm motions

which prevented injury and increased efficiency of motion

○ Harpsichord fingering utilized mainly the middle three fingers, a practice

which Bach discouraged, and with the transition to the piano, fingering

became much more prevalent. Sure, fingering was still important on

instruments of smaller range, but larger range allowed more room for

larger scales, arpeggios and other shapes, meaning fingering was more

important than ever

8. Scarlatti: Sonata in D Major K.430; L 463

● range is limited to just four octaves

● dynamics are terraced, less dynamic contrast

● pedaling is used only for connecting leaps, not for maintaining legato.

● articulation is largely disconnected

● movement is quick

9. Beethoven: Bagatelle in E-flat Major Op. 33, No. 1

● the range is four octaves and a fifth

● mix of terraced and graded dynamics, a good deal of dynamic contrast

● minimal pedaling

● firm Fingertips

● arm weight

● lateral movement

● scales and arpeggios

10. Chopin: Prelude in D-flat Major (“Raindrop”) Op. 28, No.15

● range is 4 octaves and a whole step. So, not really utilizing the range available to

him, which is perfectly fine, considering his artistry

● mainly graded dynamics, huge dynamic contrast

● balance is very important. The melodic right hand needs to stand out

● voicing is probably the most essential technique for interpreting this piece

● pedaling is stylistically essential

● arm weight

● wrist rotation

11. Relevance: Why this topic?

● Besides being incredibly fascinating, this topic is incredibly relevant for any piano

player, but especially for piano teachers. Understanding the history behind the

piano’s construction and technique gives a more comprehensive understanding

of it, and allows for more stylistically accurate, informed performances. This topic

has also given me far greater respect for this wonderful instrument.
Sources:

● https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/musicalofferings/vol5/iss1/1/

● https://syntheway.com/What_is_the_difference_between_Harpsichord_and_Clavichord.h

tm

● https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/501788

● https://millersmusic.co.uk/blogs/blog/piano-strings and

https://millersmusic.co.uk/blogs/blog/straightstrung-and-overstrung-pianos

● https://www.jstor.org/stable/3127401?seq=6#metadata_info_tab_contents

● http://tegrity.columbiabasin.edu/classes/MUS115RP/Dynamics_Lesson_12/Dynamics_L

esson_128.html

● https://acousticstoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/The-Invention-and-Evolution-of-th

e-Piano-1.pdf

● https://www.lindebladpiano.com/blog/history-of-the-piano

● https://rolandcorp.com.au/blog/the-evolution-of-piano-foot-pedals

● https://pianopricepoint.com/the-sostenuto-pedal/

● https://www.danieladammaltz.com/tcp/beethovens-pedal-markings and

https://www.danieladammaltz.com/tcp/knee-levers-pedals-effects-lost-on-modern-pianos

● https://www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/piano/manufacturing/manufacturi

ng002.html

● http://www.thefactorytimes.com/factory-times/2019/4/11/the-creation-of-the-piano

● https://kawai.com.au/2020/07/27/a-very-brief-history-of-the-piano/

● https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/501788,

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/504496, and

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/503046