History of the Piano

The Pianoforte or Fortepiano

The piano was invented around 1700 by an Italian named Bartolomeo Cristofori (Chris-toff-er-ee). At the time this instrument was called a fortepiano, a combination of the Italian words for loud and soft. Instruments built from 1700 until the early 19th century are generally called fortepianos with later versions of the instrument simply called the piano.

Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) was born in Padua, then part of the Republic of Venice (now Italy). There are no reliable records that give any information about his early life. It was believed that Cristofori was an apprentice for Nicolò Amati, the famed violin maker in the city of Cremona since a census from 1680 listed a “Christofaro Bartolomei” living in the home at the time. However, Amati’s apprentice was listed as thirteen years old, while Cristofori would have been twenty-five, according to the surviving baptismal records. Therefore, the cellos and double basses that have sometimes been attributed to Cristofori were most likely built by someone else.

One of the first authentic pieces of information about Cristofori comes from 1688, when at age thirty-three, he was hired by Prince Ferdinando de Medici, a devoted patron of music, and son and heir to the Duchy of Tuscany, ruled by his father, Cosimo III. Prince Ferdinando traveled to Venice in 1688 to attend Carnival, the celebration preceding Lent, and perhaps the prince stopped in Padua on the way. The prince owned many musical instruments and was in need of a new technician to care for them since the previous employee had recently died. There were several qualified technicians in Florence at the time, so it makes one wonder why Prince Ferdinando instead hired someone else from outside the city. Some scholars believe that Cristofori was hired because he could not only repair instruments, but invented instruments as well and these technological innovations were valuable to the prince, therefore Cristofori was offered a higher salary than his predecessor. In an interview that Cristofori did with Scipione Maffei, a Venetian art critic and writer, which is one of the few surviving artifacts about Cristofori, he recalled “The prince was told that I did not wish to go; he replied that he would make me want to.”

After initially meeting in March or April, Cristofori arrived in Florence in May 1688 and was supplied with a house and the necessary equipment as well as a salary of 12 scudi per month. (It is incredibly difficult to find modern equivalences of older currencies. Sometimes a better equivalency is to compare annual salary. From what could be found the average yearly salary of a Venetian at the time was approximately 36 scudi per year. In his new role for Prince Ferdinando, Cristofori would be making four times the average yearly salary.) His duties for the prince included tuning and maintaining instruments, he also worked on new inventions and helped to restore older instruments owned by the family. At the time, the Grand Duke had over 100 various artisans in his employ, most of whom worked at the Uffizi Gallery, now a prominent art museum in Florence. Cristofori had workspace in this building, but was not happy with the accommodations, telling Maffei that it was too loud for him to work properly. Eventually Cristofori was moved to his own, quieter workshop, where he and one or two assistants worked on the family’s instruments.

In his first years working for the Medici family Cristofori invented two other keyboard instruments. The first was a spinettone, or big spinet, a large version of a harpsichord with several choirs of strings that are slanted to save space, perhaps so the instrument could be used in an orchestra pit for theatrical performances. The other was an oval version of the spinet, which usually featured the longest strings in the middle of the instrument case rather than at the end. Cristofori also built traditional instruments, including a clavicytherium and two harpsichords, one featuring an ebony case.

All these instruments appear in an inventory written by Giovanni Fuga, a court musician in 1700. This document also mentions “An ‘Arpicembalo’ by Bartolomeo Cristofori, of new invention that produces soft and loud, with two sets of strings at unison pitch, with soundboard of cypress without rose.” Arpicembalo means harp-harpsichord and was a new term, perhaps coined by Cristofori for his new instrument. However, the invention came to be called something else, in the original Italian, the quote says “che fail piano, e il forte” indicating that the instrument can play both soft and loud, piano e forte. Gradually this term was shortened to fortepiano (or pianoforte, often these terms were used interchangeably) and eventually to the term we use today, piano. This original version had a range for four octaves, which was similar to the standard range for harpsichords. By 1711 Cristofori had built three of his new instruments, one was gifted to Cardinal Ottoboni, the nephew of Pope Alexander VIII and a noted patron of the arts. The other two were sold.

Prince Ferdinando, Cristofori’s patron, died in 1713 without ascending to the throne. Cristofori continued to be employed by the Medici family and apparently was made custodian of the collection of musical instruments. An inventory prepared in 1716 featured the signature “Bartolommeo Cristofori Custode.” As the fortunes of the Medici family declined in the 18th century, Cristofori began selling his instruments to other wealthy families, one was bought by the King of Portugal. A portrait of Cristofori was painted in 1726 and features him standing next to what appears to be a piano and holding a paper which appears to have a diagram of the key action. The original painting was unfortunately destroyed in World War II, only photographs remain.

Cristofori’s Piano Design

Cristofori continued building instruments and improving his design until near the end of his life. He was assisted by Giovanni Ferrini, who later became a well-known piano builder. There is some evidence that Cristofori employed a second assistant, P. Domenico Dal Mela, who in 1739 built the first upright piano, but there is no definitive proof of their relationship. Cristofori wrote two different wills at the end of his life. In the first, Ferrini was to receive all of Cristofori’s tools. In the second, he instead left all his tools and other possessions to a local order of nuns in gratitude for their care during his illness. This time, Ferrini was only left five scudi. Although this seems to indicate that something drastic changed in their relationship, especially since the two wills were written only two months apart. Most scholars seem to think Cristofori was acting out of a sense of obligation to the women who had cared for him, rather than a falling out between master and assistant. Cristofori died in January 1731.

No one knows how many pianos Cristofori built during his career. Three of his instruments do survive, all of which were built in the 1720s, unfortunately none are in their original, playable condition. One piano is at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. This instrument is still playable, but has undergone extensive alteration, including a replacement of the soundboard and a shifting of the range. Because of these changes, the sound is not an accurate reflection of what it would have been like when Cristofori made it. The second piano is at the Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali in Rome. This instrument was badly damaged by worms. The last is at the Musikinstrumenten-Museum in Leipzig, although the instrument was used for recordings in the past, it is not playable currently either. All the instruments bear a Latin inscription which states “Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, inventor made (this instrument) in Florence (on this date).”

Cristofori’s pianos are remarkably similar to the modern versions. The main difference is that these early versions lack the metal frame, consequently these original instruments are much quieter. Metal bracing was not added to instruments regularly until the 1820s. The most innovative part of Cristofori’s pianos was the action he devised to play each key. The mechanism he came up with is still the basic design used today.

Unlike the harpsichord which plucks the strings, the piano was more like the clavichord because the strings were struck instead. In his new instrument, Cristofori used hammers to strike the string to create the sound which created several differences. The hammers were larger allowing for a louder sound than the clavichord. Also, Cristofori came up with an ingenious action that moved the hammer away from the string after the initial strike allowing the string to keep vibrating. This mechanism also increased the volume of the instrument since the strings are unimpeded. The performer had a great degree of control over the volume since the harder or softer the key was struck directly correlated to the volume of the note. Notes on a piano can also be sustained longer than on a harpsichord since the hammer stays in contact with the string until the key lifts, giving the musician control over how long the note lasts.

Piano Mechanism

A piano has a set of mechanisms that move when a key is played. When the key is depressed, a series of levers and springs, called the action, move the hammer that then strikes the strings, causing them to vibrate. At the same time as the hammer moves, a felt damper that rests against the strings, is moved away allowing the strings to vibrate freely. Once the key is released, the damper moves back onto the strings, causing the vibration, and thus the sound, to stop. All this motion happens together in an intricate series of movements, which has changed very little since Cristofori first came up with the design. The action has to be constructed precisely to make sure everything works properly. The hammer must be carefully balanced so that it strikes the string, but does not stay in the way, stopping the vibration and the sound, and to avoid an inadvertent second striking of the note caused by too much momentum.

The hammers on Cristofori’s pianos are made of pieces of paper curled into a tight coil and then covered with a small bit of leather, which is what actually comes into contact with the strings. The leather was used to make the hammers softer so that the sound of the vibrating string was more prominent than the sound of the hammer against the string. Cristofori’s pianos had two strings per note and all the strings are equally spaced. The strings lay across pieces of wood called bridges that are attached to the soundboard, a large piece of wood, usually spruce, although Cristofori favored cypress for his instruments. The vibrations of the strings against the soundboard amplify the sound.

The soundboard is attached to an internal frame on one side, separate from the external case of the piano, to which the strings are attached. Cristofori believed that this would prevent compression and stress on the soundboard caused by the tension in the strings, which could lead to the soundboard warping. If the soundboard did change shapes, it could cause the strings to come into contact with the soundboard, which would not allow the strings to vibrate, thus ruining the instrument. As Cristofori continued building instruments, he further refined his techniques, making changes to improve the sound. In his three surviving instruments, each one has a heavier frame than the previous, allowing thicker strings to be used, which allowed the instrument to play louder without distortions to the pitch. On two of the surviving Cristofori instruments, there is a version of a pedal, which are used to change some aspect of the piano’s sound. In this case, the pedal was used to make the instrument softer. When the pedal is used, it shifts the entire action over four millimeters. With this slight shift, the hammer only hits one string instead of two, called una corda (one string), creating a quieter sound. It’s hard to tell what the strings on Cristofori’s instruments would have been like since they have all be replaced on the surviving instruments. Some museum records indicate the strings were perhaps made of iron wire with brass strings used for the bass notes.

It is also hard to know what the pianos actually sounded like, especially since the two of the three surviving instruments cannot currently be played and the last has been changed so drastically. However, early instrument specialists have made replicas based on Cristofori’s designs. These instruments have a unique sound that is somewhere between a harpsichord and a piano. This makes sense because the construction of the case and the alignment of the strings are much like a harpsichord, while the start of the notes and the variation in volume are more like a piano.

The Piano Becomes Integrated in Society

It took a while for the piano to become popular. In an article from 1711, Scipione Maffei wrote that he thought musicians had not given the piano the attention it deserved, partially because some thought the instrument was too “soft” and “dull.” Maffei served as an enthusiastic advocate for the instrument, helping it gradually gain popularity. Another early issue with the piano was its cost. This was an expensive and difficult instrument to make and only the wealthiest royal and noble families could afford to have a piano. As the instrument continued to develop, smaller, cheaper versions were produced that more people could afford. The first music written specifically for the piano was published in 1732, the Sonate da cimbalo di piano, by Lodovico Giustini. This was an isolated composition however, since pianos were not yet widely used. By the 1760s pianos began to become more popular and the first notices of public performance on the instrument occurred.

Cristofori was a liked and respected member of the musical establishment in Florence. His reputation as an instrument maker and inventor was known throughout the region. However, after his death, his name became less well-known. By the late 1700s it was widely believed that a German instrument maker, Gottfried Silbermann, was the inventor of the piano. Although Silbermann was well-known for his instruments as well, the action of his pianos was almost entirely based on Cristofori. Eventually scholars learned the true origin of the instrument and Cristofori was given the credit for his ingenious design.

In the 20th century, many musicians became interested in authentic or period performance. These performances feature instruments, either authentic or replicas, that would have been available at the time the composition was written, rather than using modern instruments. As these performances became more popular, replicas of the original instruments were made by modern makers. Many of these scholars and designers have expressed their respect for Cristofori’s work noting his ingenuity, inventiveness, and craftsmanship. One scholar, Grant O’Brien, stated that “...his genius has probably never been surpassed by any other keyboard maker of the historical period...I place Cristofori shoulder to shoulder with Antonio Stradivarius.”

Other Piano Makers

Gottfried Silbermann was an instrument maker in the city of Freiberg, Saxony, in what is now Germany. Previously he had built harpsichords, clavichords, and organs. In 1725 a description of Cristofori’s piano action was translated into German and most likely Silbermann read the account. Around 1730, Silbermann made his first fortepiano which used Cristofori’s design as a model. Silbermann’s first pianos were not terribly popular, Johann Sebastian Bach played one in 1736 and did not like the instrument because it had a weak treble, and the touch was too heavy. Silbermann continued to refine and improve his version of the instrument. Some scholars speculate that Silbermann’s improvements to his version of the piano came after he saw one of Cristofori’s instruments, rather than simply reading about the mechanisms. There is no definitive proof if Silbermann played one of Cristofori’s instruments, however. When Bach played another version eleven years later, he found the instrument much improved and gave the instrument his approval, even becoming a sales agent for Silbermann, extending interest in the new instrument throughout central Europe. Several of Silbermann’s instruments were purchased by Frederick the Great, the king of Prussia, who was a well-known patron of the arts.

Silbermann made one important addition to the piano by adding an early version of the sustain pedal to the instrument. This mechanism removed all the dampers from the strings at the same time, allowing all the strings in the instrument to vibrate freely creating a richer tone because of the sympathetic vibrations. This pedal also helps the musician play chords or patterns that might otherwise be out of reach by using the pedal to hold certain notes while they move their hands to play others. Silbermann achieved this sustained sound using a hand stop. Since the stop had to be pulled out, the musician would have to plan ahead and could only activate or release the sustain at a rest in the music when their hands were free. Later the hand stop was replaced by a lever which could be activated by the knee, which was easier to use, but still not ideal. Eventually the sustain was moved to a pedal, one of the three that is on a modern piano.

Other instrument builders followed Cristofori and Silbermann, making their own changes and improvements to the piano. Some tried to simplify Cristofori’s action, but often these instruments were too simple and did not work as well as the original design. One of Silbermann’s students became the most well-known instrument maker of his generation. Johann Andreas Stein set up shop in Augsburg, Bavaria and began building his own pianos. Stein changed the action in his instruments, turning them “backwards” so that the striking end of the hammer is closer to the musician rather than the hinged end, as in Cristofori’s version. This style of action became known as the “Viennese” and was used in pianos made in and around Vienna into the 19th century. This mechanism was much simpler than Cristofori’s and was very sensitive to the player’s touch; to depress the key takes only about a fourth of the force as on a modern piano and the key descends only half the distance, thus requiring far more sensitivity to play this version of the piano. Stein weathered the wood in his instruments for a considerable amount of time, which sometime led to cracks in the wood, which he would repair with inserted wedges. Many of Stein’s pianos lasted for a very long time, thanks in part to his treatment of the wood. Several of Stein’s instruments survive today.

Stein’s daughter, Nannette, and her husband Johann Andreas Streicher continued the family instrument business. Interestingly, especially for the time, it was Nannette who owned the company and was the master builder. He husband, Andreas, was on the company’s books as her employee rather than a co-owner. She was a talented keyboardist in her own right, who performed for Mozart at the age of eight. Although Mozart thought her posture was poor, he called her a “genius.” By age ten, she had learned her father’s techniques and was mechanically adept. Following her father’s death, she and her husband used rafts to transport their pianos from the original studio in Augsburg to Vienna, a distance of almost three hundred miles. The couple, along with Nannette’s younger brother, established their business in Vienna, changing the name to the Geschwister Stein (Siblings Stein). The relationship between Nannette and her brother faltered in the early 1800s and they had a dispute over who could use the family name; Nannette eventually sold her pianos under the name Streicher née Stein. She also faced personal difficulties. Like many women, she had to balance work with motherhood, caring for two small children, and dealt with loss when her six-year-old son died.

Streicher Pianos and Beethoven

Nannette had met Beethoven in Augsburg and for a concert in 1796 he asked to use one of the Streicher pianos. Andreas, Nannette’s husband, thought their instruments were ill-suited to Beethoven’s performance style, which tended to be forceful, since their pianos had a light touch and quieter sound. In a review of the performance, Andreas wrote, “Already the first chords will have been played with such violence that you wonder whether the player is deaf.” Andreas’s remarks were prescient, although Beethoven had not publicly admitted it, his hearing was already beginning to decline. His desire for a louder, more robust piano at this point was only for his performance requirements, not because of his hearing difficulties yet.

The Streichers became closer to Beethoven, who owned one of their pianos and encouraged them to add range and dynamic capabilities to achieve his compositional goals and to keep up with competition from other Viennese and French manufacturers. Nannette reworked many of her father’s designs and by 1809 the company was producing over fifty grand pianos per year that were some of the loudest pianos available and which many considered to be the finest in Vienna.

The couple built a concert hall next to their shop, which not only served as a showcase for their instruments but became an important venue for concerts in the city. Nannette agreed to become Beethoven’s household manager in 1817 during a particularly trying time; Beethoven’s hearing had continued to worsen, he was writing very little, and he was engaged in the drawn-out custody battle with his sister-in-law, Johanna, for his nephew. There are over sixty letters spanning eighteen months from Beethoven to Nannette outlining household needs including mundane tasks such as grocery shopping and mending of socks. The letters also highlight Beethoven’s fragile mental state accusing his servants of trying to harm or rob him. Since many of his household tasks were being tended to by Nannette, Beethoven was free to write, completing his Piano Sonata No. 29, known as the Hammerklavier which was his longest sonata to date and the most complicated, featuring an incredibly difficult fugue at the end. Beethoven was playing his Broadwood piano most often at this point in his life, however in a letter to Nannette he wrote that her improved Streicher piano, using the modifications she made after 1809, had always been his favorite instrument.

The Streicher company continued to make pianos for two more generations, first with Nannette’s son Johann Baptiste and then her grandson Emil, whose pianos were played by Brahms. The company closed after Emil’s retirement in 1896. Like many women before her, Nannette’s legacy has been marginalized over time. Her husband, rather than she, was often credited as the manufacturer, designer, and owner of the company. However, she, who in a manuscript for the Hammerklavier was called “one of Beethoven’s oldest and most sincere friends” played an important role in the development of the instrument.

Other Viennese and English Piano Manufacturers

There were other high quality piano manufacturers in Vienna at the time, each developing their own slightly different styles of instruments. Anton Walter was a friend of Mozart, who played a Walter piano at home because of its dynamic capability. Conrad Graf was another instrument maker in Vienna. He was able to come up with a way to make the instruments in a larger quantity, allowing his business to grow. Beethoven’s last piano was built by Graf.

The first fortepianos built in England were created in the 1760s by Johannes Zumpe, a German immigrant who began building square pianos, similar to a modern upright piano, with a simple action. These instruments, while not adding any technological advances, became popular for home use and helped lead to the shift from harpsichord to piano as the favored keyboard instrument. One of these square pianos was used for public performances by Johann Christian Bach. Zumpe’s first job in England was in the harpsichord workshop of Burkat Shudi, a Swiss immigrant who made fine instruments. Two of Shudi’s other employees, John Broadwood and Robert Stodart, along with Americus Backers, who had worked for Silbermann, developed their own mechanism, called the “English grand action,” which created a louder sound, but less sensitive touch than its Viennese counterpart.

Fortepiano builders continued to develop the instrument throughout the 18th century, eventually creating the instrument we would recognize today as the modern piano. As the piano took over and became the preferred instrument for home and concert use, the fortepiano faded and was no longer built. Arnold Dolmetsch, a musician and instrument maker, became interested in period instruments in the late 1800s, building three fortepianos. Several decades later, more musicians became interested in playing on historically accurate instruments, leading to the restoration of surviving instruments and the building of new versions of old instruments, like the renewed interest in harpsichords, as noted above.