A piano is an instrument with strings and it relies on the vibrations of the strings to produce a pleasant resonating sound. The first piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori, an Italian harpsichord maker, in 1709. During the history, the external appearance of the piano was made by using different materials however, its internal design remained the same. Since the Cristofori was a harpsichord maker, the first piano looked like a harpsichord. When the piano was first invented, it was called ‘pianoforte’, which translates to ‘soft-loud’ in Italian, and the word referred to the sound of the piano. Cristofori only changed the interior design and left the external design as it is since harpsichord and pianoforte looked so similar. The pianoforte used a hammer instead of plectrum plucking the strings, which helped the player to control the pitch of the sound better. Before his death, Cristofori built only about twenty pianofortes. Three of them survive today and are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
It may seem interesting how the piano makes a sound. When a person presses a key, the hammer inside the piano moves upward and cause the strings to vibrate. Vibration on the strings causes the piano to make the sound and notes. The sound quality of a piano is affected by several factors, such as the length, diameter, density and tension of the wires. A shorter and lighter string vibrates faster and produces a higher pitched sound (frederickcollection.org).
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When someone compares the sounds of grand piano and upright piano, one can hear the difference because of these differences between two types of pianos. Pianos have a little hammer inside and the hammer strikes the strings to make a sound when one presses a key. There are 88 keys in a piano and each of them are connected to their own hammer and hits a specific string. Vibration of these strings are passed on to the soundboard and makes the sound louder. The materials used when making a piano affects the piano’s resonance, so it is better to use the best materials when making a piano; choosing a high-quality wood can make the sound better.
And to conclude this essay, I want to talk about the most popular piano composers. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven are considered as the most famous piano composers. Mozart is an Australian composer who was born in 1756 and he was one of the greatest composers of the classical period. He was already playing at different courts when he was only six years old. Mozart was a musical genius and he wrote many musical pieces including 41 symphonies, 27 piano concertos, a large amount of chamber music, 18 sonatas for piano, 23 operas, 18 masses, including one requiem, 4 horn concertos, 20 string quartets, serenades, divertimenti, and many others (listverse.com). Mozart’s most known piano pieces are Rondo Alla Turka, Fantasia in D Minor K. 397, Piano Sonata No. 15 in C K.545, Piano Sonata 16 in C Major, Piano Sonata No. 11 (cmuse.org). Beethoven is a German composer who was born in 1770 and he is known as the inventor of Romantic music. With the influence of his father, he started to play piano and violin at an early age. By the time he was twenty-six, he started to have a hearing problem and it’s a knowing fact that he was almost completely deaf when he was around forty-four years old. Despite his deafness, Beethoven was the most influential composer of his area. He wrote nine symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, one opera, five piano concertos, and 16 string quartets. His most famous piano pieces are Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor No. 2, also known as Moonlight Sonata, Fur Elise, Piano Concerto No.5 'Emperor', and Piano Concerto No. 20.
Resources
- http://pianonet.com/all-about-pianos/history-of-the-piano/
- https://bestdigitalpianoguides.com/famous-pianists-and-composers/
- https://www.ducksters.com/musicforkids/how_the_piano_works.php
- https://www.deviantart.com/mofooncrack/art/Mozart-and-Beethoven-94684938
- https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cris/hd_cris.htm
- http://www.frederickcollection.org/works.html
- https://www.cmuse.org/mozart-famous-piano-pieces/
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