Any musical instrument has its own unique history of origin, which is very useful and interesting to know. The invention of the piano was a turning point in the musical culture of the early 18th century.
Surely everyone knows that the piano - not the first keyboard instrument in the history of mankind. Musicians from the Middle Ages played keyboard instruments. The organ is the most ancient wind keyboard instrument, having a large number of pipes instead of strings. He still organ is considered the "king" of musical instruments, featuring a powerful deep sound, but it is not a direct relative of the piano.
One of the first keyboard instruments, which was based not on pipes, but on strings, was the clavichord. This instrument had a structure similar to the modern piano, only instead of hammers, like inside the piano, inside the clavichord metal plates were installed. However, the sound of this instrument was still very quiet and soft, which made it impossible to play on it in front of many people on the big stage. The reason is as follows. The clavichord had only one string per key, while the piano had three strings per key.
Clavichord
Since the clavichord was very quiet, naturally, it did not allow performers of such luxury as the realization of elementary dynamic shades - crescendo (gradual amplification of sound power) and diminuendo (fade out). Nevertheless, the clavichord was not only affordable and popular, but also a favorite instrument among all the musicians and composers of the Baroque era, including the great I.S. Baha.
Simultaneously with the clavichord at that time there was a somewhat improved keyboard instrument - the harpsichord. The position of the strings of the harpsichord was different compared to the clavichord. They were stretched parallel to the keys - just like at the piano, and not perpendicular. The sound of the harpsichord was rather sonorous, though not strong enough. However, this instrument was quite suitable for playing music on "big" scenes. On the harpsichord, it was also impossible to use dynamic shades. Plus, the sound of the instrument faded out very quickly, so the composers of that time filled their plays with a diverse variety of melismas (ornaments) in order to at least somehow “prolong” the sound of long notes.
Harpsichord
From the beginning of the 18th century, all musicians and composers began to feel a serious need for such a keyboard instrument, the musical and expressive possibilities of which would not be inferior to a violin. This required a tool with a wide dynamic range that would be able to extract powerful forte (loud) and gentlest piano (quietly), as well as all the subtleties of dynamic transitions.
And these dreams have come true. It is believed that in 1709 Bartolomeo Cristofori from Italy invented the first piano. He called his work “gravicembalo col piano e forte”, which in Italian means “keyboard instrument that plays quietly and loudly”.
The brilliant musical instrument of Kristofori was very simple. The device was a piano. It consisted of keys, a felt hammer, strings and a special return. With a blow to the key, the hammer hits the string, thereby causing its vibration, which is not at all like the sound of the strings at the harpsichord and clavichord. The hammer went back, with the help of the recipient, while not remaining pressed to the string, thus drowning out its sound.
A little later, this mechanism was slightly improved: using a special device, the hammer fell on the string, and then returned, but not completely, but only half, which made it possible to easily perform trills and rehearsals - quick repetitions of the same sound. The mechanism was named double rehearsal.
The most important distinctive feature of the piano from previous related instruments is the ability to sound not only loudly or quietly, but also to enable the pianist to do crescendo and diminuendo, that is, to change the dynamics and coloring of the sound gradually and suddenly.
At a time when this wonderful instrument first declared itself, a transitional era between baroque and classicism reigned in Europe. The genre of the sonata, which appeared at that time, was surprisingly suitable for playing the piano, the most striking examples of which are the works of Mozart and Clementi. For the first time, a keyboard instrument with all its capabilities acted as a solo instrument, which led to the emergence of a new genre - a concert for piano and orchestra.
With the help of the piano, it became possible to express your feelings and emotions through a fascinating sound. This was reflected in the works of composers of the new era of romanticism in the works of Chopin, Schumann, Liszt.
To this day, this wonderful, with multifaceted capabilities, tool, despite its youth, has a huge impact on all of society. Almost all the great composers worked for piano. And, it must be assumed that over the years his fame will only increase, and it will more and more delight us with its magical sound.
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