Pianoforte Essay

The piano—originally known as the fortepiano or pianoforte—is one of the most globally recognized instruments in history. Its unique timbre distinguishes it from preceding keyboard instruments and even from modern keyboard instruments that attempt to imitate it. The pianoforte has made many changes and contributions to music, which can be seen through how it came to be, what composers first thought of the instrument, and how it affected orchestral music.

Before the pianoforte was brought into existence, the keyboard instrument of the orchestra was the harpsichord. The timbre of the harpsichord was much different than that of the pianoforte, this being primarily because of the harpsichord’s strings being plucked, whereas the piano’s strings

Composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart embraced the sound of the pianoforte, using the instrument for a plethora of sonatas and piano concertos. An article published by the Oxford University Press contains excerpts of letters in which Mozart expresses his enthusiasm and preferences in regard to pianofortes, the title of the article even referring to the instrument as Mozart’s “beloved concert instrument” (Badura-Skoda 464-474). Late Baroque composers, such as Johann Sebastian Bach, found the pianoforte to produce too dull of a sound for their dramatic, elaborate music. This was due to the little hammers inside of the piano that struck its strings. Baroque composers preferred the crisp, sharp, and pointed sound of the harpsichord that cut through the sound of the rest of the orchestra. According to an article on the early pianoforte, Bartolomeo Cristofori knew of the flawed sound of his new instrument, and so he altered the surface of the hammers and their positioning so that the pianoforte’s sound would not become “tiresome” (Sutherland 341). Baroque composers disinterest in the pianoforte is understandable considering that the Baroque era of music was winding down as the pianoforte was becoming popular, ushering in the Classical